PBS Western Reserve ramping up fundraising in face of federal cuts

Reeling from the federal government’s decision to claw back already-approved funding, public broadcasting stations are left to find money.

PBS Western Reserve’s loss is some $1.5 million—$1.2 million in federal funding and another $300,000 in state funding. That’s close to 30% of the station’s budget, local PBS President and CEO Natalie Pillsbury told attendees at the first of two open houses on July 23 and 24.

Without the cuts, PBS Western Reserve would be celebrating a “highly successful year and planning more ways to grow and serve its community,” she said. With them, she said, “we’re in the process of revising our budget and looking for every way that we can reduce expenses without reducing services.”

If there is a bright spot, it’s that by cutting its own staff and programming, PBS’ national office reduced the dues all member stations pay on an annual basis. Western Reserve’s dues shrank by about $300,000, but that’s not enough to wipe out the station’s red ink, Pillsbury said.

To fill its sudden $600,000 budget gap and bolster its sustainability fund to ride out the next few years, the station is ramping up pleas to potential donors: asking for one-time and sustaining gifts, as well as approaching existing and new corporate and foundation partners. 

(Sustaining gifts are those that donors commit to on a scheduled, repeating basis).

Complicating matters is that if government authorities see that PBS stations can raise their own funds, they might continue to defund public television and radio. That could be fatal to smaller and rural stations, which can rely on federal funding for over half their budget.

It could also harm larger stations, which may be able to gain one-time donations but not sustaining ones, she said.

“We recognize that we have to build a budget that is sustainable over time. And it might mean that things would have to shrink,” Pillsbury said.

Should the station fail to raise enough money, tough decisions lie ahead. Options include reducing services and staff and ultimately presenting fewer programs, Pillsbury said.

It’s not a choice she wants to make.

“We’re committed to serving this community,” Pillsbury said. “Part of our strategic plan is about growing our local content and documentary work to make sure that we’re here to tell the stories of our communities.”

PBS Western Reserve is located on Campus Center Drive in Kent. Its core weekly broadcast audience is 320,000 people, Pillsbury said. In fiscal year 2025, which ended July 1, its streaming audience grew from 54,900 to 110,300. Web viewers increased from 12,000 to 23,000. And PBS Kids programming reached 18.2 million people.

In addition to cash, under specific conditions, the station also accepts gifts directly from IRAs and stocks, bonds and mutual funds. People can donate unused vehicles, RVs, boats and real estate, and can mention PBS in their wills.

“We know that our community can and will step up to help us get there,” Pillsbury said. “PBS is here, and we’re going to remain here, serving our communities.”

To make a one-time or sustaining donation, contact PBS Western Reserve Chief Development Officer Lindsay Kuntzman at 330-474-5038.