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Your Donation At Work

In music and in conversation, CKUA provides vibrant, engaging content that you simply cannot find anywhere else. CKUA’s programming includes music from every style and era. Our programs are interesting and diverse, with music chosen by enthusiastic, knowledgeable hosts. Your donation makes this original, authentic experience possible.

Despite careful, strategic cost management, our budget has grown significantly, with the knock-on effects of the economy, necessary technology investments, maintaining 24/7 operations, managing our loan, and making strategic personnel investments for long-term stability. As donor-powered radio, CKUA needs all listeners to play their part with helping to fund the station. The donation revenue generated during the Spring and Fall Fundraisers provides approximately 20% of the income CKUA requires to operate annually.

Because you value the important part CKUA plays in your life, we are asking you to make a donation today. 

DONATE MONTHLY DONATE ONE-TIME DONATE AN HOUR

Your Donation at Work:

CKUA is donor-supported. 65.1% of CKUA’s annual revenue comes from donations. Currently, more than 15,750 listeners donate monthly and / or make one-time gifts to support CKUA’s original, authentic broadcasting. Every donation makes a difference, including yours.

$21,800 per day. That’s the average cost of 24 hours of original radio broadcasting. 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. How many days does $1 Million dollars fund? 46. Donate today!

$660,300. That’s CKUA’s average monthly operating cost for 2024-2025. Approximately 27% of our expenses are covered by monthly donors. Having more listeners become monthly donors would provide CKUA with the stable and predictable income we need to pay our monthly expenses. Become a monthly donor today!

$38,200. That’s the combined monthly cost of CKUA’s power and utilities. CKUA is powered by donors. We are asking all listeners to play their part with helping to fund the daily broadcast. Donate today!

$27,600 per month. That’s the combined monthly operating cost of our 16 FM transmitters and online stream. When you donate, you help to create a better world by connecting listeners in 378 communities across Alberta, and around the world with CKUA’s original music, arts and cultural programming. Donate today!

Impacts that Matter:

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.

Did you know that last year, CKUA played music by more than three thousand Canadian artists? And did you know that a third of those artists are from Alberta? CKUA’s donors recognize the value of authentic, original programming that celebrates local and independent artists. Thank you for doing your part to keep the music playing. Donate today!

Every year, CKUA airs hundreds of interviews with artists, festival planners, and creative people all around Alberta. This work grows careers, reaches new audiences, and supports a vibrant cultural sector in the province. When you donate, you make this work possible. Donate today!

61 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. Donate today!

127.5 hours. That’s the number of hours of original programming CKUA shares each week. Some hours are full of jazz. Other hours share classical symphonies and sonatas. And some have a little bit of everything: folk, pop, blues, funk, and soul. Your donation makes this authentic musical experience possible.  Donate today!

CKUA’s Community Pillars:

CKUA nourishes the soul, while elevating a thriving arts sector. When you donate, you’re investing in an original, authentic broadcaster that values musical variety. We can’t stop and we won’t stop working to create a bright future for CKUA. With your help, CKUA creates a community that is welcoming, connected, healthy, and inspired.

We all need to belong. To connect. To find a place where we feel welcome. CKUA creates that community—a meeting place for people with a shared love of music, arts, and culture. And all are welcome. Your donation ensures CKUA continues to welcome everyone to this special and rare community where arts, music, stories, and belonging are celebrated.

CKUA connects people, through shared experiences and a common appreciation for original, authentic programming. When CKUA first went on the air in 1927, its mandate was clear: to bring the broadcast to the people. Early audiences, in Edmonton and in rural areas, heard music, radio dramas, farm reports, and university lectures. Your payment today ensures that the connection CKUA fosters remains strong.

Music can play a role in stress relief, mood regulation, and even pain relief. Music can make times of grief and isolation less overwhelming. CKUA nourishes minds and souls by offering musical programming that is thoughtful, positive, and authentic. Your support today allows the heartbeat of music, arts, and culture in Alberta to remain strong.

CKUA fosters artistic excellence and broadcasts to the world the latest news about festivals, concerts, and live performances. CKUA programming and interviews provide exposure to local, national and international artists, helping to sell tickets, fill venues, and draw visitors to local communities. The time is now to show your support for a more beautiful world.

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!

Costs are rising. Like every other organization or business, we face increased technology, utility and debt servicing costs.

CKUA’s business model works. Listenership is growing, and programming is deliberately diverse, attracting more young listeners than ever before.

CKUA must increase revenue. Fundraising and advertising sales must grow to meet rising costs. We don’t have any other way of monetizing public airwaves. Radio is a free, essential, service. We can’t charge a fee to everyone who tunes in.

Please support the radio in your life. We rely on listeners like you to pay for the programming we create. Your investment in CKUA keeps us on the air, accessible for everybody who needs it, 24/7.

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

Learn more about ways to amplify your support:

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Registered charity: 118776830 RR 0001