Your Public Radio Contribution Can Support our Congregation

Overview - How you can help / how it works

At First UU, we have a wonderful opportunity to extend the benefit of our individual public radio support! Since 1999, First UU members and friends have pooled individual contributions to local public radio stations in order to purchase First UU underwriting. This work falls under our Communications efforts. Underwriting messages are promotional in nature, and ours are aimed at generating community awareness of who and what our congregation is about, in part to draw interested visitors. A sample message:

Support for this station comes from the First Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Ann Arbor ... a welcoming community exploring life's meaningful questions with reason, tolerance, and compassion for 139 years. Located on Ann Arbor-Saline Rd. at Ellsworth and on the web at uuaa.org.

This broad communication, reaching tens of thousands of radio listeners, is made possible solely from the benefit of pooling our individual contributions. Pooling has generated typically $7,000-$10,000 per year total for the two local stations, WEMU and WUOM (Michigan Radio). This effort is fully separate from our congregation's operating budget and is well beyond what that budget could afford. It's a unique opportunity to support two causes at once. Here's how it works and how you can participate:

When

We pool checks just before and during the stations' spring and fall membership drives, usually late March and mid-October.

Logistics

Individuals give checks or cash intended for the radio stations to a committee representative at a Coffee Hour table or directly to the congregation office (4001 Ann Arbor-Saline Rd., Ann Arbor, MI 48103). We have two separate pools -- one for WEMU and one for WUOM. We transfer each pool to the stations in the name of the congregation, which generates a contract for underwriting.

Payee

For WEMU, the check payee is: WEMU. WEMU allows us to hand them literally a bundle of individual checks (and cash).

For WUOM, the check payee is: First Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Ann Arbor (with "public radio" written in the check's memo). WUOM requires that we provide one check from First UU; our pool is turned into one check handed to the station. This is a change of policy (as of 2003), resulting from WUOM's internal legal review of our underwriting relationship.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What kind of receipt do I receive?

A: This varies by station:

For WEMU, you receive a receipt directly from the station. Participating in our UU pool is pretty much transparent.

For WUOM, your receipt is in the form of a "public radio" line on your quarterly First UU statement, similar to the handling of payment for a Religious Education class. Receipts are not directly from the station (or U-M).

Q: How does this affect income tax returns?

A: This too varies by station:

For WEMU, it's as if you contributed directly to the station, because your check is made out to the station. As you may know, the state of Michigan includes a "public contribution" credit, which involves reducing your tax owed for gifts to a set of public institutions that includes public radio stations.

For WUOM, this handling requires personal judgment or the advice of a tax preparer. A few things to consider: the Michigan "public contribution" credit involves gifts not only to public radio, but also to public television, public libraries, Michigan colleges and universities, and more. The credit has a limit of 50% of total public contributions or $100 ($200 for join returns), whichever is smaller. You may be eligible for the maximum credit from non-radio gifts.

Q: Will I be a member of the public radio station?

A: Only if you make a separate membership contribution directly to the station, outside of the First UU pooling. Underwriting is separate from public radio membership. Some UUs divide the total amount they wish to give to public radio between our underwriting pool and personal membership. Both avenues of support go fully to public radio, but only the underwriting participation has the added benefit of UU messages.