Keep The Beat

Keep The Beat: You Power CKUA!

You power CKUA. We’re fundraising at CKUA and we need you. Your donation makes everything happen. When you donate, you’re investing in an original, authentic broadcaster that values musical variety.

Are you moved by the music you hear on CKUA? Can you imagine all the other people listening at the very same moment, the feet tapping, heads nodding, and hearts lifted together – miles apart? That’s the power of CKUA: it connects us, unites us, and enriches our lives through music and storytelling.

Keep the Beat is more than just the theme of our Fall Fundraiser—it’s a call to action. It’s about sustaining the rhythm of discovery, connection, and community that CKUA brings to Alberta, and beyond. And it’s only possible because of you. Join us in keeping the beat alive.

Keep the Beat, our fundraiser theme, is an optimistic call to action. Join us October 17 – 26, 2025.

Join Our Donor Community

Your Gift. Your Way. Your Direct Impact on CKUA and Music, Arts and Culture

DONATE MONTHLY DONATE ONE-TIME DONATE AN HOUR

Donating by cheque?
Please make cheque payable to CKUA Radio Foundation and mail to:

CKUA Radio Network
9804 Jasper Avenue NW
Edmonton, Alberta T5J 0C5

Please email donors@ckua.com prior to mailing your cheque, as Canada Post service disruptions may delay delivery.

Your Donation At Work.

128 hours of original programming. Beyond genre, what these hours all have in common is that they are curated with care by real people. A diversity of styles, artists, ideas, and eras can be heard during each day of broadcasting.

300 interviews. That’s how many conversations we have each year with artists. This work grows careers, reaches new audiences, and supports a vibrant cultural sector in the province.

3,000 Canadian artists, 1,000 from Alberta. CKUA plays true musical variety with strong connections to the local arts scene, and a focus on local, emerging and independent artists.

62 events and festivals across Alberta were covered during CKUA Summer and CKUA Chillout. The depth of our yearly festival coverage would not be possible without donor support.

Let’s bust some common myths:

A common misperception is that we are based out of the U of A. Our call letters are “UA,” but we don’t receive student fees or university funding. We started at the U of A in 1927 and became part of the Government of Alberta in the 1940s. Since the mid-1990s we have been independent and donor-supported. Donate today!

Today, if you live outside Alberta, not a penny of your tax dollars supports CKUA. Each Albertan contributes $0.013  (yes, 1.3 cents) of their provincial tax to CKUA through an operating grant. Donate today!

CKUA is legally capped at 6 minutes of advertising per hour due to our charitable business model and public mandate. At 6 minutes in an hour, if we sell every minute we are legally allowed to sell, that’s a maximum of approximately $1.4M, while our operating budget is more than $8M. Donate today!

CKUA owns the Alberta Hotel in Edmonton as our broadcast and administrative home. While we do rent space out to office tenants, the building is intended to offset our operating costs. Today, the post-COVID real estate market has effectively collapsed in downtown Edmonton. This has put pressure on our operational finances while we weather this storm and seek new tenants. Donate today!

Join Our Donor Community.

CKUA is donor-supported. The majority of CKUA’s annual revenue comes from donations. Currently, more than 11,232 listeners donate monthly and / or make one-time gifts to support CKUA’s original, authentic broadcasting. Every donation makes a difference, including yours. Thank you for supporting CKUA!

Between September 2023 and August 2024, CKUA welcomed 2,033 new donors, including 729 new monthly donors who provide predictable revenue.

Last year CKUA received donations from 495 towns and cities. With our 16 transmitters, CKUA reaches many rural communities across Alberta.

CKUA has donors all over the world! We received donations from 13 countries this past year. We’ve been streaming online since 1996.

Become a donor now.

CKUA can create a welcoming, connected, healthy, and inspired community because listeners choose to donate. To learn even more about the concrete impacts CKUA has made on listeners, artists, and communities through the support of our donors, read our 2023-24 Community Report.

We are grateful to our donors who give every month through scheduled contributions. These reliable donations provide predictable revenue that enable CKUA to plan for the future and be flexible and innovative. Ongoing support provides financial consistency as we continue to create new content and offer engaging experiences for the community.

DONATE MONTHLY

Each listener who becomes a donor makes a difference. Revenue from donations also allows us to support our hosts, celebrate local and emerging artists, expand our programming, reach new audiences, and dream big dreams about CKUA’s next 100 years.

DONATE ONE-TIME

Donating an hour of your favourite CKUA program is a great way to celebrate a special occasion, honour the memory of a loved one, or simply connect with your favourite host to talk about the music you love. A donated hour is a special opportunity for host and listener to connect, with the host creating a uniquely curated hour of programming.

DONATE AN HOUR

Please make cheque payable to CKUA Radio Foundation and mail to:

CKUA
Alberta Hotel
9804 Jasper Avenue NW
Edmonton, Alberta T5J 0C5

Please email donors@ckua.com prior to mailing your cheque, as Canada Post service disruptions may delay delivery.

There are many additional ways for both listeners and businesses to contribute to a sustainable, strong, CKUA. We would love to talk with you about numerous options to support CKUA. Could you consider:

• Planned giving through your will, estate, or life insurance policy
• Setting up an endowment fund
• Employer matching
• Transferring stocks or securities
• Gifts in memory of a loved one

For more information, email: donors@ckua.com

Listeners who donate at a level of $1000 or more are leadership donors. CKUA pools these donations to create what we call the “Double Your Dollars” pool. At specific times, One-time and Monthly pledges of support that come in during the Spring and Fall Fundraiser are matched by the contributions of our leadership donors.

When you become a Leadership Donor, you give at a high level and motivate others to give with your generosity.

For more information, email: donors@ckua.com

The Centenary Club is a major gift fundraising campaign that will create a fully sustainable CKUA through the generosity of individual and corporate donors.

Led by volunteer community leaders across the province, Phase One of the Centenary campaign will raise $18M by December 2027, empowering CKUA to move boldly into its second century.

Looking to make a greater impact as an individual or business? Email: kfitzgerald@ckua.com

Are you already a donor? Update your payment information, update your contact information, and/or change your donation amount with the CKUA Donor Services Portal.

Please Note: Your username is the email we have for you on file, and if you have never logged in before, you will need to use the “forgot password” feature to create a new password.

Visit the Donor Services Portal.

Registered Charity: 118776830 RR 0001

One time donation tax receipts are emailed with your donation receipt. All other tax receipts are emailed every February.

CKUA’s fundraising expenses for fiscal year 2023-2024 were 13.9% of the annual operating expenditure and in line with the CRA’s range of 5% to 35% for reasonable fundraising costs.

Have a question about your donation? Need to get in touch with our team about giving?

Contact Us

donors@ckua.com