Financial Report from Sarah Scudder, Board Treasurer

KMUD Member Meeting Report 

Submitted by Sarah Scudder, Board Treasurer, 1/19/21 

2020 in Review: 

I am feeling very happy and grateful for the state of RCR’s finances. As always at this time of year our numbers are not final, still waiting on final details, write-offs, and depreciation though we can speak to the cash numbers for 2020 as we know them to be currently. We ended 2020 with over $125K in the bank, this is aside from the $67K that we currently have in our “Reserve Fund”. That $67K is still spendable if need be, though our policy does require a written proposal and repayment plan from the Station Manager to spend from the Reserve Fund, just an added “pause” so we can be intentional about any spending of that money.
 COVID, of course, was a huge emergency for everyone in 2020, though we were lucky at KMUD to be the beneficiary of an extra grant as part of the CARES Act. The station received over $112K in extra grant funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, nearly doubling our normal grant money from them. We were able to save most of it because we received so much from this community as well.

Our whole staff as well as so many volunteer programmers and engineers have been amazing during this time and stayed connected to the community, thus helping to bring in the needed funds for this year as well. Despite COVID shutdowns and in part due to great and extensive News Dept. coverage of the fall fires and the shutdown, we were able to keep much of our income at levels close to 2019 levels. 2020 Underwriting funds nearly kept up to 2019 with over $89K compared to $97K in 2019. Income from Membership in 2020 was $147K, which is close to the $160K from 2019. The Membership Drives that ran almost all year were hugely successful, particularly in how little volunteer and staff power they took. The “Keep Us Connected” Drive in the summer and the “Make it Rain” Drive in the fall & winter have kept KMUD funded while minimizing staff time and volunteer hours: KMUD members have been taking more initiative to contribute by snail mail and online, and we SO appreciate it!.

The only income section that was significantly different than 2019 was Income from Fundraising Events as we had very limited events due to COVID. This resulted in only $2000 in Fundraising funds compared with $20K in 2019. Also, it’s very important to note that we had 3 CPB grants come in during 2020 making our total income look huge even though a chunk of that money was used to pay items from 2019 and the 3rd grant is mostly surplus and will be mostly spent in 2021 or ideally continue to be saved in our Reserve Fund. Those 3 CPB grants coming in 2020 and no grants coming in 2019 make up the majority of the difference in income between 2019 and 2020. That is also why the Total Income projection for 2021 is so much lower overall than 2020: 3 CPB grants vs. only 1 CPB grant expected to come in at the end of 2021.

There isn’t much of significance to note on the expenditures side, though our Station Manager did a great job keeping staff wages under budget, even with occasional overtime clocked by staff due to intentional shortages of volunteers to protect us all from too much exposure. The Facilities section came in costing $89K instead of the projected $73K, due to higher than predicted costs for transmitter site rentals and transmitter site PG&E expenses.

I’m very grateful for this community and this radio station at the end of such a funny year. Thank you for being a part of it all (just by reading this, donating, listening or anything you do for Redwood Community Radio).

2021 Budget Commentary: 

Our projected income is optimistic compared to 2020 numbers, though it is similar to 2019 and 2018 final numbers, and that is why I feel confident about it. For expenditures, we kept them pretty close to 2020 across the board, though we raised staff wages by the 2% Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) that we do each year. I’m proud of all staff and board for keeping the budget that we do, the ‘Mud does a ton with such a small budget and provides a beautiful hub for this community to connect through.

Reflection: 

Overall, having been your KMUD treasurer for 5 1/2 years now, I am super impressed with and grateful for the KMUD Staff and so many Volunteers we have currently. I feel confident that KMUD Radio will continue to thrive and survive any new events that come our way. I will be done with this position in April and we are looking for someone with Bookkeeping experience in step in, step up and run for a Board Member seat. Thank you for your love of the ‘Mud and for the wonderful community that I have been surrounded with while having the privilege to serve as your Treasurer and Membership Representative.