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Co-operation and Community Radio:A Handbook for Combining the Two

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Table of Contents

Acknowledgments....................................................................................................................................3

Introduction...............................................................................................................................................3

Chapter One The Co-operative......................................................................................................................................5

Chapter Two Starting Your Own Co-op Campus Or Community Radio Station...........................................................19

Chapter Three Shared Values: A Natural Fit.....................................................................................................................36

Chapter Four Community Radio Co-ops in Canada......................................................................................................38

Chapter Five Working With, and Reporting on, Other Co-ops in Your Community.......................................................44

Chapter Six Innovative Co-ops Around The World.....................................................................................................47

Appendix A.............................................................................................................................................55

Budgets..................................................................................................................................................55

Resources...............................................................................................................................................57

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Acknowledgments

This handbook has been compiled and written by Zoë Creighton at Kootenay Co-op Radio CJLY-FM in Nelson, British Columbia. All work from other sources is much appreciated and has been attributed. Any

mistakes are unintentional and the author’s own. The work was guided by an editorial committee, including Daniel Aucoin of CKJM-FM in Cheticamp, NS; Jay Mowat of CHES-FM in Erin, ON; Robin Puga of CFRO-FM in Vancouver, BC; and Shelley Robinson of the NCRA. Many thanks to the people who contributed to this handbook, or allowed their publications to be referenced, including the NCRA’s Shelley Robinson and Freya Zaltz for original material and editing; Carol Murray of the BC Co-operative Association for permission to base Chapter One on BCCA’s Cultivating Co-ops Guide; the good folks at the Prometheus Radio Project; Barry Rueger and Victoria Fenner for their work at community-media.com; Prudence Breton and Lyne Chartier for their good-humoured work in translating and assembling Chapter Four; Morgane Croissant for her excellent translation of the French edition; Tara Cunningham for her diligent copyediting; Paddy Duddy at Big Cranium Design for his creative and thoughtful design work; community radio staff and volunteers across the country for providing perspectives from the field; and the creators of all the other websites and materials referenced.

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Introduction

Both co-operation and communication have been around, in one form or another, since the beginning of humanity. This handbook and resource guide provides readers with an overview of how these two

concepts have been, and can be, combined in the form of co-operatively-governed community radio stations. Many maintain we are at a time in history similar to the social and economic upheaval of the nineteenth century’s Industrial Revolution, when co-operatives, in their present-day form, originated. As such, we can continue to look to co-operation as a way of organizing generally. More specifically, when it comes to organizing community media, co-operation encourages a democratic and inclusive process that ensures representation by groups and individuals historically under-represented in corporate media, and it builds dialogue and understanding in the communities in which we live. This handbook is dedicated to the tens of thousands of volunteers across Canada and around the world who have learned how to introduce the historical values and principles of co-operation into their efforts at building community radio enterprises to tell local stories and play music not heard anywhere else. The handbook has itself been created co-operatively, through a collaboration between the National Campus and Community Radio Association (NCRA), based in Ottawa, Ontario, and Kootenay Co-op Radio, CJLY-FM, in Nelson, British Columbia. Financial support came from the Innovative Co-operative Projects program jointly offered by the Canadian Co-operative Association and the Co-operative Development Initiative of the Government of Canada. The project’s website is at soundscooperative.coop.

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CHAPTER ONE:THE CO-OPERATIVE

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Much of the content of this chapter is based on the Cultivating Co-ops Guide, created by the British Columbia Co-operative Association. The full publication is available here.The co-operative movement

unites over one billion members around the world. The United Nations estimated that in the 1990s, the livelihood of nearly three billion people, or half of the world’s population, was made secure by co-operative enterprise. These enterprises continue to play significant economic and social roles in their communities.

What Is a Co-op?Co-operatives are founded on the idea that people, no matter what economic class or educational level, know what’s best for themselves, and that people can work together to meet their own needs.

The International Co-operative Alliance, a non-governmental co-operative union representing the co-operative movement worldwide, defines a co-operative as “an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social, and cultural needs and aspirations through jointly owned and democratically controlled enterprise.” In simpler terms, it is a business or organization owned and controlled equally by the people who use its services and by the people who work there. This means co-ops and credit unions (a common type of financial services co-op) are democratically controlled: each member has one vote, regardless of how much investment is made in the co-op or credit union. Co-op members are not responsible to outside owners or to government, but are responsible to each other. Together, members decide how the co-op or credit union will be run, elect the board of directors, and, in the case of for-profit co-ops, decide what should be done with any profits generated. They may be large or small, simple or complex. Some co-ops serve the whole community; some serve particular groups within a community. In non-profit co-operatives, the members own the co-op, not only for their own benefit, but for the overall benefit of the community. These are called community service co-ops. Members set the strategic direction for the co-op and have a responsibility to manage it, but they do not have a financial stake in its operations, nor is there the possibility of any financial return to them.

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What kinds of services and products do co-ops offer?Co-operatives have been formed in almost every business or social sector you can imagine. Co-ops are bakeries and health-care facilities, forest stewardship organizations and furniture factories, dairies and fisheries, housing complexes and media outlets. Chapter Six provides some good examples of the diversity of co-ops around the world.

What types of co-ops exist?In addition to the different services or products that co-ops offer, there are also various types of co-operatives operating in Canada. Although some co-ops might fit into more than one type, these are the most common:

Community-service co-ops have similar legal status as non-profit societies or corporations and are therefore models for the campus and community radio sector. Community-service co-ops are sometimes eligible for charitable status, but under the current framework, it’s nearly impossible for any campus or community radio station to become a registered charity. Community-service co-ops also include health co-ops and social-service co-ops.

Consumer or user co-ops help members use their combined purchasing power to buy goods and services they need. Examples include farm supplies, food retailing and wholesaling, elderly care, health care, housing, and funeral and burial services.

Financial co-ops provide financial services, such as insurance, loans, and savings plans to their members. Financial co-ops include credit unions and caisses populaires in Quebec.

Multi-stakeholder co-ops are where a variety of member groups share control. For example, different levels of workers, suppliers or consumers may be represented on the board of directors. Some examples of multi-stakeholder co-ops are local food co-ops in which control may be shared by both producers and consumers, and in health co-ops, patients and health-care providers are the member groups.

Producer co-ops have members who pool their resources to produce or market products, such as grain, dairy products, processed foods, handicrafts or video and film works.

Worker co-ops combine worker ownership and democratic control. Members provide themselves with employment while making goods and/or services available to the community. An example of this is the employee buyout of a retail enterprise. The worker co-op model is being used increasingly as a model for business succession. There are different ways of categorizing co-ops. For other methods, see here.

In Canada, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), the federal agency that regulates broadcasting, requires that campus and community radio stations be controlled by non-profit entities, which can include community-service co-ops.

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We interrupt this fascinating treatise on co-operatives for…“Quickie Facts on the Canadian Co-op Sector”

According to the Canadian Co-operative Association, in 2010, there were approximately 9,000 co-operatives in Canada, employing more than 155,000 people and representing more than 18 million members.

These included:more than 2,200 housing co-operatives, home to about 250,000 people,•more than 1,300 agricultural co-ops,•more than 650 retail co-ops,•nearly 900 credit unions and caisses populaires with close to 11 million •members,about 450 co-ops offering child care or early-childhood education,•more than 600 worker co-ops with a total membership of over 13,000 •people,more than 100 health-care co-operatives, and•15 community radio co-ops (see Chapter Four).•

Together, Canadian co-operatives had an estimated $252 billion in assets. As if that weren’t enough, 35 percent of the world’s maple syrup is produced by co-operatives in Quebec.

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HISTORY OF CO-OPS

When did co-ops begin?The co-operative movement has a long and fascinating history. The common thread that runs through it is a desire by everyday people to care for each other and to work together. Although co-ops have existed since the 1700s, the first formal co-operative, structured as we know most co-ops today, was incorporated in Rochdale, England, in 1844 by a group of weavers. At that time, almost every facet of a worker’s life was controlled by the factory owners, including where the workers could live, where they could shop and what they could buy. The weavers in Rochdale were tired of paying high prices for poor-quality food, so they decided to start a store of their own. Individually, they did not have enough money, but they decided to pool their savings. Anyone interested in becoming a co-owner of a store contributed a small amount of money to a fund. When the fund was big enough, the Rochdale Pioneers, as they came to be called, were able to rent a building and buy supplies. On December 21, 1844, they opened up their shop. The shop sold candles, tea, fuel and basic foods. The co-op kept track of each member’s purchases and distributed the profits in proportion to how much each member bought. This first consumer co-op was so successful that the members were soon able to rent the upper stories of the building. The extra space was used for a library and educational lectures.

The lessons of Rochdale were the basis for the growth of the co-operative movement as a worldwide phenomenon. The legacy of Rochdale lives on in the many thousands of co-operatives all over the world, because these pioneer weavers passed on their values, as expressed through their organizing principles, known still as the “Seven International Principles of Co-operation.”

The Rochdale weavers had discovered the value of co-operation as a powerful tool for economic freedom, launching a turning point in economic democracy.

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CO-OP PRINCIPLES

1st Principle: Voluntary and Open MembershipCo-operatives are voluntary organizations, open to all persons able to use their services and willing to accept the responsibilities of membership, without gender, social, racial, political or religious discrimination.

2nd Principle: Democratic Member Control Co-operatives are democratic organizations controlled by their members, who actively participate in setting their policies and making decisions. In primary co-operatives, members have equal voting rights (one member, one vote) and co-operatives at other levels are also organized in a democratic manner.

3rd Principle: Member Economic ParticipationMembers contribute equitably to, and democratically control, the capital of their co-operative. Members allocate surpluses for any or all of the following purposes: developing their co-operative, benefiting members in proportion to their transactions with the co-operative, and supporting other activities approved by the membership.

4th Principle: Autonomy and Independence Co-operatives are autonomous organizations controlled by their members. If they enter into agreements with other organizations, including governments, or raise capital from external sources, they do so on terms that ensure democratic control by their members and maintain their co-operative autonomy.

5th Principle: Education, Training and Information Co-operatives provide education and training for their members, elected representatives, managers, and employees so they can contribute effectively to the development of their co-operatives. They inform the general public—particularly young people and opinion leaders—about the nature and benefits of co-operation.

6th Principle: Co-operation among Co-operatives Co-operatives serve their members most effectively and strengthen the co-operative movement by working together locally and through local, national, regional and international structures.

7th Principle: Concern for Community Co-operatives work for the sustainable development of their communities through policies approved by their members.

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WHY CO-OP? ADVANTAGES

Co-ops have a unique set of advantages over other kinds of enterprises and organizations. By organizing the way they do, co-ops challenge prevailing economic systems and work together to reinforce values and practices that work positively to better the communities in which they operate. In the case of campus and community radio stations, which share many values and practices of established co-ops in other sectors, one of the biggest advantages to becoming a co-op is that it ties the station with other co-ops working in the community, as well as with an international movement of people with similar values and practices.

Generally, co-ops and campus/community radio stations share a number of attributes:

•They help people obtain goods and services they may not otherwise be able to afford on their own. By pooling their purchasing power through a co-op, members can obtain affordable, high-quality products and services.

•They are inclusive and accountable. They are open to everyone, regardless of income, social status or anything else.

•They help build stronger communities. Since most co-ops are community or regionally based, investment in and surplus revenue from the co-op stays within the local economy. Every dollar invested in a local co-op has a significant multiplier effect for the community.

•They are loyal to their communities. They are less vulnerable to takeovers and closures by outside decision makers. In fact, in many communities, co-ops have stayed to serve their members long after other businesses have fled to more profitable locales.

•They are mandated to co-operate with one another.More on this in the next chapter, but in communities that have credit unions, natural food stores, carshare enterprises, social-service agencies, radio stations and other businesses that are organized as co-ops, each one of these is hardwired to support the others. The possibilities for collaboration are limitless!

“I like being a co-op radio station, because we’re part of two big families: one of co-operatives and one of community radio stations.”–Jackie Allard, CHLI-FM, Rossland, British Columbia

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In the words of one co-op community radio station member

Community Radio Co-ops

1. are tied to other co-ops in their communities, meaning they have support and expertise beyond the station’s members;

2. are tied to other co-ops across the country and around the world in a global movement that provides an economic alternative focused on people helping themselves and working together, a natural fit for community radio;

3. have members as literal owners, meaning people outside of station staff, board members and volunteer programmers, are deeply invested in the co-op station’s success;

4. involve members who provide some financial sustainability beyond other fundraising. Each year most members will pay their annual dues, providing a significant source of revenue to the station.

CO-OP STRUCTURE

“The biggest benefit I see to operating as a co-op is the sense of ownership that is held among the members of the co-op. A good number of them are very engaged in the running of the station and can be called upon to help accomplish activities at the station, because they see it as their responsibility, like maintaining their own car or bicycle. This sense of ownership is also reflected in a deep concern for the health of the co-op by the members.”–Terry Brennan, CJLY-FM Kootenay Co-op Radio, Nelson, British Columbia

In addition to belonging to the wider campus/community radio community, the reality of ownership and being part of a broader, international co-op movement are at the core of community radio co-ops and distinguish them from societies.

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How are co-ops organized?Co-ops are organized so members control the organization. Members elect the board of directors. Members may also run for the board. The board of directors puts in place and oversees the management. The manager hires the staff. In co-operatives, the board of directors is responsible to the members—the people who need and use the co-op’s services. While some co-operatives, like housing co-ops, receive some government funding, co-operatives are not government organizations. Co-ops are community-initiated organizations and businesses.

The Big ThreeConsider the fundamental questions that will jumpstart your co-op development process:

HOW TO START A CO-OPGETTING STARTED

There are a number of steps to follow if you are interested in exploring any co-operative idea, including starting a co-op radio station. You may have a burning desire and the will to do more. You may already have a core group of people with whom you are working, or your existing station may want to convert to a co-operative structure. This section provides an overview on starting from the ground up, and it also shows you where to go if your sleeves are already rolled up and you’re further along in the process.

1. Do you have a Steering Committee? 2. Who are your members?3. How will your co-op make money?

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1. Group Development: The Steering Committee

In the case of a campus/community radio station, find other people in your community who share your passion for community radio and want to run the station as a co-operative. To start a co-op you need at least three members, but it usually takes three to seven interested people to form a working group. Spread the word. Put out some calls and search online for radio and co-op people in your area who might be keen to help. It is important for you and the future co-operative to have a strong support network in place within your community and within the co-op sector from the beginning.

Who Brings What Keep in mind the skills and resources that each group member can bring to the Steering Committee. It is a good idea to have someone with financial or accounting expertise, for example, or someone with advanced computer or technical skills, or experience in broadcasting, journalism, advertising sales or community media—and someone with a wicked record collection wouldn’t hurt either. Ensure you have a group with a broad set of skills that represents the diversity of your community.

To Think About: Group ProcessCan you all get along? How will you accommodate those who are very detail-oriented with big-picture thinkers? Will you work by consensus? How will you handle the fact that some have less time to give to the co-op development process than others? How will you deal with questions of leadership, power, authority and equity on your Steering Committee?

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2. Members

A key question to resolve with your Steering Committee: who will be the members of the co-op? For campus and community radio stations, this concept is explored further in Chapter Two and involves discussions around programming content and station structure.

3. How Will We Make Money?

It is quite common for groups started by passionate and committed volunteers to overlook or underestimate the ongoing financial needs of the station (or other emerging enterprise). It is critical that your group sketch out, crudely at first, but in more detail further along the way, how the venture’s expenses will be paid. For an emerging radio station, the labour might be of love for the first little while, but as that key volunteer who put in 60 hours per week for the first two years burns out, wages will need to be budgeted for. Equipment, furniture and studio space don’t grow on trees either, so the key financial forecasting, including expenses and revenue sources, need to be hammered out in broad strokes at the beginning to see whether the project is feasible. More on this in Chapter Two. After figuring out the Big Three, there are some additional steps that will help prepare your path to developing a healthy co-op:

4. Market Research: Needs and Opportunities

Does your co-op serve a need or respond to an opportunity for you, your members, and your community? Is there a demand for your service beyond your Steering Committee? Look at the four Ps of marketing: (1) product/service (the programming you put out), (2) packaging (how it sounds), (3) price points (your membership fee scale and sponsorship/ ad rates), and (4) the best promotional vehicles. The most common mistake people make in market research is to introduce their own personal bias. They project their own motivations onto their prospective members or customers. To avoid this, market research must be designed using open-ended questions to prospective members and by having a sound sampling strategy. More details here.

5. Is the Co-op Model Right For Your Station?

There are many different structures that work for campus/community radio, as long as they’re not-for-profit. At this point you will have to determine whether the co-op model is right for you.

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6. Developing a Mission Statement

Kootenay Co-op Radio’s mission statement was developed prior to the station incorporating as a co-op, and it is still used today:

It is important to get a concise mission statement put together as soon as possible, so new volunteers, members and partners can get a quick sense of what the station is all about. It seems simple, though you would be surprised at how long it can take a group to hammer one out. Have a meeting exclusively dedicated to creating a mission statement. Bring snacks, take breaks, move around and keep those ideas flowing. It often helps to have someone not involved in the process to record and collate all of the ideas and reflect them back to the group. The mission statement should answer the question, why are we starting a radio station (or any co-op)?; it should clarify your goal and purpose and motivate your board, staff, volunteers and donors.The mission does not need to include all the subtleties of your future programming policies, which may dictate types of music your station will focus on or languages of broadcast, etc. These can be tackled later.

It is strongly recommended that your group seeks the guidance of an experienced co-op developer for, at the very least, the next three of these steps, as co-op regulations vary from province to province. There is a Canadian network of these skilled and friendly people, so find one online in your area through coopzone.coop.

“KCR uses its facilities and the initiative and skills of its membership to create a medium for balanced expression of the varied perspectives of our community. KCR aims to entertain and inform listeners through its commitment to innovative broadcast journalism and high-quality programming.”

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7. A Comprehensive Feasibility Study and Business Plan

A good chunk of the business plan is prepared by completing the CRTC application for a regular licence, but we recommend you follow through and prepare a full plan now, saving yourself time and headaches later. There are a number of resources online to guide your group through an official feasibility study. Here are a couple of examples to get you started: Cultivating Co-ops Guide (pages 18-19)

Canadian Worker Co-op Feasibility Study

8. Incorporating Your Co-op

Here’s a good resource for incorporation requirements from the Canadian Co-op Association. The resources are broken down by province.It includes links to sample Memoranda of Association and Co-op Rules, two key incorporation documents. Samples of some co-op radio stations’ Memoranda of Association and Co-op Rules are also included here.

WARNING!Each province has its own specific requirements for incorporation; be sure to research these regulations. For example, audit requirements vary from province to province and may necessitate additional planning and finances. As with everything else about this process, you will want to flag requirements now rather than be surprised later.

HEADS UP!If you’re starting a campus or community radio station as a co-op, it needs to be an incorporated community-service co-op.Community-service co-ops require the inclusion of non-alterable clauses in their rules that ensure the co-op operates on a non-profit basis. They cannot issue investment shares, cannot pay members patronage dividends and, upon dissolution, must transfer property to another community-service co-op or charitable organization.

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9. Defining Internal Structure and Roles

Once incorporated, you’ll want to formally establish the internal structure of the co-operative. Co-op members are required to hold an Annual General Meeting to elect a board of directors and its officers: president, treasurer and secretary. The board hires the manager. The manager—or the board, if you don’t need a manager—hires the staff. All positions will need to have clearly defined roles and responsibilities, and defined ways of communicating with one another. As discussed further in Chapter Two, defining your structure also involves the setting up of committees and developing policies around what they do and how they do it. For more information, a number of guides put out by helpful provincial associations across Canada, cover these steps in elaborate detail:

Cultivating Co-ops Guide, by the BC Co-operative Association

How to Start a Co-op, by the Nova Scotia Co-op Council

From the fine folks at the Ontario Co-op Association

Some Final Thoughts

Generations of Canadians have used the principles and values of co-operation to make an invaluable contribution to the development of communities and the country. We have used co-operatives to overcome harsh geographical and economic realities. Like other people around the world, Canadians have used co-operatives to provide democratic solutions to the problems and challenges that affect our lives.

“I love working in campus radio because of the passion and creativity of our hosts and volunteers. Everybody loves their genre or topic so much that they spend hours every week producing something amazing for the community. I love the window each show provides into different subcultures, and I love being part of such a locally responsive and grassroots service.”Brenda Gruneau, CiTR-FM, Vancouver, BC

What do you like best about campus radio?

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CHAPTER TWOSTARTING YOUR OWN CO-OP CAMPUS OR COMMUNITY RADIO STATION

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If you’ve read Chapter One, you’ve learned about the benefits and some mechanics of getting a co-op off the ground. This chapter ties those lessons together with what you need to know about starting your own

campus or community radio station, including important steps, potential pitfalls, and where to go for more information and support.

What’s Out There?In Canada, there are various types of radio stations on the AM and FM dials:

CommercialFor-profit, may be privately owned or part of a commercial network, funded primarily through advertising revenue, with content hosted by professional DJs, often a set format involving hit music or “all-talk”

CommunityNot-for-profit, community-owned and governed by an elected board of directors, may rely on some advertising, as well as local fundraising and grants, opportunities for volunteers to host and produce programs, often mixed-format with a wide variety of content

CampusThe same as community stations but located on a college or university campus and therefore have more student volunteers, as well as other members of the community, usually receive funding from students in addition to some advertising and community-based fundraising and grants, must include student and university representation on their boards of directors

EthnicMay be commercial or not-for-profit, with revenue streams that suit that classification, primarily target one distinct ethnic or linguistic group

PublicThe Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC)—independent federally-funded broadcaster, created and developed through special provisions of the Broadcasting Act, provides local, regional, national and international coverage, as well as some music programming, no advertising on radio services

These stations are all licenced and regulated by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), an arms-length agency of the federal government.

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A Note on Terminology

Throughout the handbook, we refer to “campus and community radio”, “c/c radio” and sometimes just “community radio.” “Campus and community radio” is the most correct term from a regulatory point of view, but often the sector as a whole is simply referred to as “community radio,” after all, each station is a community of communities, coming together. We use all of these terms interchangeably, if for no other reason than we like to mix it up.

In this chapter, we will focus mainly on campus and community (“c/c”) stations, though much of this advice could also apply to not-for-profit, community-based and volunteer-driven ethnic stations. Although internet-only stations are not regulated by the CRTC, the sections on working with volunteers and developing programming and policies could also apply to these stations.

Campus and community stations are mandated to:facilitate community access to programming;•promote the availability of training throughout the community;•provide ongoing training and supervision of those within the community who wish to participate in •programming.

The CRTC also requires c/c stations to offer diverse programming that reflects the needs and interests of their communities, including:

music by new and local talent;•music not generally broadcast by commercial stations;•spoken word programming;•local information. •

What do you like best about being involved in community radio?

“Being surrounded by enthusiastic, open-minded and passionate volunteers who support creativity in our community.” –Keith Colhoun, CJTR-FM, Regina, Saskatchewan

Many English- and bilingually-licenced campus and community stations in Canada are members of the National Campus and Community Radio Association (NCRA). Most French-licenced community stations are members of either l’Association des r adiodiffuseurs c ommun autaires du Quebec (ARC-Q) or l’ Alliance des radios communautaires du Canada (ARCC). These are all excellent resources for the community radio sector in Canada.

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So Where Do You Start?The Big Three in Action...and Nine More!

A NOTE ON GOVERNANCE“Governance” refers to the structures and processes c/c stations use to make big decisions, plan for the future, and ensure accountability for both what goes out over the air and how they spend their money. In co-ops, governance is usually led by the board of directors. The Prometheus Radio Project is a non-profit organization of radio activists, founded in 1998 and based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The project builds, supports, and advocates for community radio stations and movements for social change. Among their resources is a great Handbook on Station Governance, produced in conjunction with WSLR-FM, a low-power community station in Sarasota, Florida. Though some of the details are for the U.S. system, they offer great material on developing your station’s mission, as well as samples of varying philosophies behind different stations. They also say in the handbook:

“Avoid envisioning your station’s governance as a Swiss watch, with complicated independent mechanisms (committees) that all must work perfectly to accomplish its mission. Try to think instead of your station as a party, with plenty of food and drink and good music. People talk in small groups, move from conversation to conversation, a good song will come on and the tables get pushed against the wall and a lot of people start dancing. Some people don’t know anyone, but if the hosts are nice they find a way to draw them in to the party and soon they are part of it. Most of what makes a party (and a community radio station) successful is the people...and the good atmosphere created between them.” (Handbook on Station Governance, page 8.)

You can access the full handbook here.

1. STEERING COMMITTEEAs outlined in the last chapter, before starting anything, you need to have a group of people who are passionate about community radio and who have the time and energy to get this project off the ground. Ideally, there is a mix of people who have technical backgrounds, experience with non-profit and community organizing, and some grasp of financial management. These skills make starting a station easier, though we’ve also seen stations set up by a few keen volunteers without experience but a strong will and a love for radio. It’s important to ensure, from the beginning, that the group is actively recruiting and open to a diverse range of people from across the community. This will be important when applying for a broadcasting licence, as it demonstrates the station has broad-based support. It also gets to the heart of what community radio is all about: providing direct access to the airwaves, particularly for those under-represented and marginalized in mainstream media, cultivating conversations between neighbours, and providing a trusted source of music and local information.

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2. MembersA Co-op Community Station Serves Its Members: Who Are These People?Radio stations need listeners, programmers, volunteers and supporters. In co-op radio stations, all or some of these groups may also be your members. The process of answering the “who are our members?” question will guide everything, such as the look of your programme schedule, your recruitment of on-air volunteers, your priorities for getting gear, the signal strength and coverage you want to achieve, and all of your outreach activities. It will be a lifelong and evolving question that will occupy much of your successors’ mental bandwidth as well. Decide who these people are, and plan carefully how you will bring them into the fold.

FACTOIDKootenay Co-op Radio, CJLY-FM in the small town of Nelson, British Columbia, started in 1997 when options on the local radio dial were limited to the CBC and two commercial stations. The founders decided they wanted to produce programming for listeners who wanted more. By highlighting the local flavour the station would bring to its listeners, they generated support from people eager to hear their neighbours on the air talking about local news and events, and playing music they couldn’t hear anywhere else. Their first batch of members were people who supported the concept; the following ones were people who wanted to be on the air as programmers; and the next wave came from the listeners. In its second decade, new members regularly come from all three of these groups.

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Some Questions to PonderWill all of our volunteers be members of the co-op? What about our on-air programmers? What are the benefits we can offer to our members that our non-member listeners won’t receive? Can we have members who are listeners online, or do they need to be local? What are the responsibilities of membership in the co-op? As an example, Kootenay Co-op Radio, uses the standard that volunteers do not need to be members of the co-op, either until the co-op provides them with training or until they use the co-op’s resources. So a friendly listener who volunteers to put up posters for a fundraising event or who makes cookies for a bake sale or who shovels the front stoop in the winter does not need to be a member of the co-op. A person who wants to be trained in the production studio, however, or who wants to use the portable recording equipment, vote at the annual general meeting or have a show of their own, needs to be a member.

How to Get Members to Join Your Co-opAnswering this question will get you thinking about critical aspects of setting up and maintaining a successful member-driven and member-owned station. This can include:

membership drives•volunteer recruitment•outreach into the various cultural, geographic and social communities in your area•defining member benefits•public education around the social and community benefits of co-operative organizations•

If you know who your members will be and have outlined ways to get them to join, you’re off to a good start.

A NOTE ON MEETINGSAgain, from the good people at Prometheus and WSLR-FM:

“You are going to be having a lot of meetings. You need good people who are experienced in facilitating meetings, and the same person should not facilitate every time. Facilitators should be good at: eliciting ideas from people at the meeting; keeping the agenda on track; keeping overzealous people from dominating, but not in a way that puts them down in front of people (this is one of the trickier things); creating a friendly and even fun atmosphere; summarizing what other people have said in the meeting and figuring out what the next steps need to be; and generally making people feel good and excited to be part of the project. Please, please try to keep your meetings to an hour and a half...Always do introductions at the beginning, if only so people get a chance to say a few words right away. If people come in late, welcome them but do not let it get you off track, and do not get into repeating everything you said earlier for their benefit. If they want to find out what they missed, they can stay afterwards and ask the facilitator about it. Minutes should be kept for all meetings so there is a record of how and why certain decisions were made. A facilitator should not dominate the meeting with his/her own views, but try to maintain a neutral and objective perspective, drawing ideas and seeking consensus from others participating in the meeting.” (Handbook on Station Governance, page 9)

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3. MoneyCommunity radio does not survive on love alone. The early stages of generating vast amounts of sweat equity will eventually morph into the reality of start-up costs and quickly move on to regular operational expenses, like rent for office and studio space, lights, phone and other services and, if possible, some people to help run it all smoothly. If the Steering Committee can craft a bare bones “this-is-what-we-need-and-this-is-how-we’ll-get-it” budget, while maintaining the enthusiasm to work together, you’re still in the game. And remember that a budget is a living document—the more you know, the more detailed and realistic you can make it. More on budgets below, under “CRTC Application” and in Appendix A.

A Feasibility StudyThis exercise looks at the viability of your idea, with an emphasis on identifying potential problems, and attempts to answer two main questions: Will the idea work? Should you proceed with it? As discussed in Chapter One, doing a feasibility study can really help determine whether it’s the right time and place and whether you have the right people to start a station. Is there a demand for what you are proposing? Can you raise the money to fund it? This can be an informal exercise, but it is a critical one.

BEFORE YOU MOVE ON….A CHECKLIST

If you answered “yes” to all of these, then it’s time to forge ahead. A number of next steps can happen concurrently, depending on the size of your group and the amount of time each person has.

Is your Steering Committee still committed and/or open to recruiting new members as others leave?

Are more people helping out than at the beginning?

Have you:

Determined who your members will be?

Figured out approaches to enlist members?

Sketched out a prospective programme schedule based on the interests of volunteers, members and listeners?

Found some people who want to be on-air?

Discussed how you’ll communicate with the public about this project?

Determined how you can make enough money to cover start-up and ongoing expenses?

Determined the geographic area you want to cover, based on the communities you want to serve?

Researched potential partnerships?

YES NO

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4. Work on Your Co-op’s Incorporation DocumentsChoose a legal name, have fun with potential call letters (this always gets people going), and hammer out your rules—the co-op equivalent of bylaws—and memorandum of association. As mentioned in Chapter One, this is a good time to use the services of a co-op development consultant.

5. Investigate Your Responsibilities to the Agencies That Regulate Campus and Community RadioFrom a regulatory standpoint, you’ll be dealing primarily with two agencies: the CRTC, which licenses stations and regulates content; and Industry Canada, which oversees the technical side of things.Many of these regulations are quite complicated. Fear not! All new stations have been there and getting on top of these requirements is possible. Contact other c/c stations and the national associations that represent c/c radio for more information. A good resource is the NCRA’s Regulatory Support Guide.

Much of the content for these next steps was drawn from How to Start an FM Community Radio Station, a publication by Barry Rueger and Victoria Fenner, who were active in the non-profit and community-radio consultation field in the 1990s. Many stations owe heaps of thanks to these two people and the resources they generated. The website has evolved from these origins and is maintained by Barry Rueger. It continues to be a valuable resource for community media folk across Canada.

6. Frequency SearchOnce you know the geographic outline of the area you want to cover, you will need to hire an engineer to conduct a frequency search and produce a technical brief. This is the first stage of the engineering process. Using Industry Canada’s databases and topographical information, your engineer should be able to determine the best available frequency for your proposed station.If frequencies that will cover the entire area you wish to serve are unavailable, you may want to think about alternatives for reaching your intended audience; you may broadcast to a smaller area, choose Internet broadcasting or try to get carried by your local cable provider.

What do you like best about having helped to start a community radio station?

“It appealed to my values around responsible anarchy, where we can agree to act with respect and for the good of the community based on shared understandings that we develop. It’s good to be a part of developing an alternative to pre-packaged corporate culture.”–Catherine Fisher, CJLY-FM, Nelson, British Columbia

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7. Transmission and Studio Budgeting and Design and Gear!

Back to the numbers! Once you’ve found your frequency, you can begin to develop your capital budget. Your engineer should be able to tell you what kind of antenna and transmitter you will need and help you shop for the best deal. You may also have to budget for renting space on a nearby tower or buying and setting up your own. You do not necessarily want the biggest or newest transmitter you can afford. Many factors will determine your coverage, including antenna type, height and location, and what must be done to protect the contours of other nearby stations. The aim is to find the best combination of many elements at the lowest price. Your studio needs will be determined by the programming you plan to broadcast. Keep in mind that equipment salespeople may try to sell you high-priced and fully-automated systems like those at commercial stations. In all likelihood, this will not match your budget or needs. Unless you’re planning a fully automated studio, you will probably need an on-air studio with a mixer, microphones, an on-air computer, CD players, turntables, and an audio logging system that records everything that goes over the air, which is nice for you and required by the CRTC. You also have to budget for not-so-obvious stuff, like soundproofing, on-air lights, chairs that don’t squeak, speakers, headphones, mic stands, and portable recording gear for reporting from the field. Some groups prioritize top-of-the-line broadcast equipment from the beginning, others rely on borrowed, second-hand or salvaged components—the choice is yours. If you are friendly with people at local commercial or CBC radio stations—and there’s no reason not to be—they may give you used equipment for free. Often community radio folk are perceived by better-funded radio people as their broke and dishevelled little sisters and brothers, and this can work to your advantage! Be selective, though; it can be cheaper to buy new than to refurbish used gear, especially if it’s 20 to 30 years old. There’s also a lot of DIY capacity and open-source software that can help. This is where the national associations or other c/c stations can give you some pointers. Get in touch for some hard-won advice.

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8. Where Will We Broadcast From?

Location, location, location. This is where partnerships can play a role: Maybe there’s space in a local community or youth centre? Maybe the upstairs in somebody’s house? CFAD-FM in Salmo, British Columbia, uses the former volunteer information centre on the highway, which they rent from the municipality. In looking for space, you will be balancing two distinct needs: price and utility. Before taking any free space that is offered to you, consider the work and money needed to make it a good broadcast studio. Aside from the size of the rooms, you may have to consider office space, music storage, ventilation, power supply, parking, zoning and after-hours access. When designing your space, also think about the needs of everyone who will someday use it. This includes accommodations for people with disabilities (ramps and wider hallways for wheelchairs and other mobility devices, bright lights, a mixing board in Braille and screen-reading capability for those with visual impairments), as well as a flexible-enough set-up so you can host live bands, panel discussions, children’s storytime or whatever else your programmers come up with! For more information on making campus and community radio stations accessible for people with disabilities, go here. Finally, plan for growth. Get as much space as you can now, with longer-term plans for making it useful. CIDI-FM in Knowlton, Quebec, had empty space at their station. The donation of a grand piano meant they could convert the empty space into a recital and concert room, used now for live broadcasts and other community events.

“L‘appui d’un mouvement fort.”–Angus LeFort, CKJM-FM, Cheticamp, Nova Scotia

What do you like best about being involved in community radio?

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9. CRTC Application

In this tome, you will tell the CRTC who you are, what your programme schedule will be, and how you’ll financially support the station. If you haven’t already, this is a particularly good time to consult with people knowledgeable about campus and community radio policy, like the NCRA, ARC du Canada and ARC du Quebec.

Perhaps a Developmental Licence to Start?Developmental licences are short-term (up to five years) and low power (only five watts). They are intended to allow you to get established and build community support before applying for a full licence. Five watts of power doesn’t reach too far, although it will cover most small towns quite well, and it will allow you to get on-air very quickly. The application form is very brief, cheap (no engineering brief is required), and needs to demonstrate why your community needs you. You can also sell advertising/sponsorships and solicit the support of local business to help build your station. Note, however, that it is not possible to renew a developmental licence; stations must apply for a regular licence before the expiry of the developmental period in order to continue broadcasting.

STAY PROTECTED! If you are licensed, under a regular or developmental licence, to broadcast at less than 50 watts, your frequency will be “unprotected.” That means if another applicant wants to use or cause interference with your frequency at more than 50 watts, you will have no choice but to apply for a new frequency, or go off the air. In the past, unprotected community broadcasters have suffered considerably when commercial broadcasters have applied for full power stations at the same, or an adjacent, frequency. Even if a commercial applicant does not succeed, the process of responding to their application can be a nightmare. The cost of starting your station with a regular licence is more than a developmental licence, mainly due to the cost of the engineering brief; when you apply for a regular licence, however, the cost of starting up at 100 or even 250 watts is not appreciably more than 49 watts, and certainly the difference will cost less than having to do a second frequency search and technical brief later.

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CRTC Application Basics

Developmental licence application

Community licence application(To be updated 2012/2013 to reflect new policy CRTC 2010-499)

Campus licence application(To be updated 2012/2013 to reflect new policy CRTC 2010-499)

Certain information is required in the CRTC application to get a licence. The same information is also, conveniently enough, crucial in planning a sustainable station. This includes

your plans for • on-air programminggovernance and committee • structurea detailed • budgetother information to be included in a • supplemental brief

When drafting this work it’s easy to imagine the potential of what you’re planning and to want to impress the CRTC with your resolve and ideas, but this is the time to be cautious. Overestimate expenses and the time it will take to do…everything. Underestimate revenue projections, the number of people who will volunteer (and the number of hours they can volunteer) as well as the amount of business support in the first few years. Always have a Plan B: If you don’t raise as much money as you expect, how will the station get by? What’s your bare minimum for staff support? For equipment? Remember you will need to meet these promises, as well as other regulatory commitments. As above, for more information on the relevant regulations your station will face, go here.

Also, though it can be tempting in your application to promise more than the minimum requirements—more local content, more Canadian music—it may be difficult for stations to sustain higher amounts. Instead, we suggest you work on always being compliant with the existing minimum requirements, week in and week out. Overperforming is always possible!

REMEMBER YOUR REGS!You may not have much money and be run entirely by volunteers; you may produce the best local programming ever and be well-loved by listeners, but full compliance with CRTC licence requirements is an essential part of running any c/c station. If you’re not following the rules, it’s only a matter of time before your station gets into hot water. The CRTC is a complaint-driven regulator, so they do not breathe down the necks of stations to monitor compliance, unless they have cause to believe they should, but if there is an official complaint, or if your station is chosen at random for a regular CRTC audit, then you must have your ducks in a row. Know what the CRTC’s current requirements are for Canadian content, audio logging, locally produced spoken-word programming, specialty music, annual returns, and all of the records you need to keep, and follow them. Even deviations from content requirements as small as two per cent can cause serious problems for your station’s future licence renewal. Did we mention www.ncra.ca/compliance-resources?

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A. On-Air Programming Don’t be too prescriptive about exactly what will fill your schedule: a big part of the magic of community radio is that you don’t (yet) know what people in your community are passionate about. Campus and community stations have shows about dog-training, book reviews, local luminaries and rabble-rousers, youth theatre, international human rights and discoveries in science, as well as music programmes featuring soul, punk, hip hop, klezmer, folk, electro-acoustic, classical, gospel, gagaku, grindcore, glitch, gabber, gamelan, J-pop, Ethiopian, Irish, Polish and Arabic music. Canadian c/c stations also broadcast in over 60 languages. You will likely have more music shows than spoken-word shows, and music shows also tend to be much easier for volunteers to produce week after week. Some shows may work as collectives, where many people take turns contributing. This can work well with students and other people who can’t always commit to participating weekly, and it builds teamwork.

How will you get the music you want to put on air?Will you ask volunteer programmers to provide their own? Will you work with local and touring musicians to perform live in your studio? Will you use an online music database or contact music distributors, record labels and local musicians to send you CDs or MP3s? Lots of established c/c stations have good processes around this—receiving an avalanche of new music each week—and would be happy to offer advice. Many stations also produce weekly charts of the new music most played by their programmers and submit them to the NCRA’s online music hub here. In describing your programming and proposing a grid for the CRTC, you want to give a sense of the general type of programming you’ll carry and ensure it meets the minimum standards for regulatory compliance. It’s just as important to explain in detail how you will get this programming: with plans for recruiting and training diverse volunteers.

A Note about PartnershipsFrom the beginning, do you want to establish programming or financial alliances with local co-ops, educational institutions, businesses or credit unions? You don’t want to suffocate under too much paperwork, but you also want to have clear understandings of what you’re getting into with partnerships, so think about drafting a memorandum of understanding (MOU) or simple partnership agreement on any activities with a financial or programming component.

Spoken-Word and Music ProgrammingSome types of shows are very time-consuming, like pre-produced news. Think about sustainable ways of providing listeners with a variety of spoken-word content, maybe mixing small amounts of pre-produced local news with live studio and phone interviews and panel discussions to round it out. Especially in smaller communities, think realistically about how people will volunteer, and plan programming choices around that. Can other stations in the region share their programming or ideas? Can you record and repeat some of your own shows more than once per week? Can you pre-record some programming to better fit volunteers’ schedules? Can local students participate as part of their class work or after school? What about seniors? Local community groups? Some stations have paid journalists and on-air hosts or staff who produce some of the programming. Just make sure there is still a wide range of times and days left for volunteers! You also want to think about what types of music you will feature. In general, most c/c stations focus on music that is not heard on commercial radio, and campus stations cannot play more than 10 percent hit music per week.

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B. Station Structure

Board, Staff, CommitteesAs outlined in Chapter One, co-ops consist of a pre-defined organizational structure. At its most basic, this structure includes members and a board of directors but often extends to include one or more paid staff member and a series of committees. Campus and community radio stations operate under a variety of different structures. For example:

a paid volunteer coordinator, with all administration and programming aspects taken care of by volunteers•part-time programming, technical and administrative staff, with all other work being carried out by •volunteersa paid station manager, with all other work done by volunteers•all volunteers and no paid staff, except for paid technicians on retainer•a station manager who supervises other paid staff•a staff collective, where staff work together non-hierarchically to make management decisions•all models in between•

The constant in c/c radio, however, is the committee. Committees usually reflect the critical functions of any organization. In the case of community radio, these functions include:

programming, including news, spoken word and music•training, (including technical, production, content, and policy training)•development, including fundraising, membership drives, advertising and sponsorships, outreach and •promotionstechnical work•administration, including finance, budgeting, regulatory affairs, member relations, human resources•

For most co-op c/c stations, the founding board of directors will be the same people who get everything into place for getting on-air: raising funds, buying equipment, building community support, drafting the programme schedule and building the studio. In the ensuing years, however, this work is usually delegated to various committees, often under the same names as the critical functions above.

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C. A Detailed Budget

This is where you drill down on the budget concepts you developed in the planning stages.

See Appendix A for more on budgets, as well as some examples.

D. Your Supplemental Brief

This is your chance to address all those issues not directly asked about on the CRTC licence application form. Some examples of additional information include:

a profile of the communities you will serve, in all their diversity•the level of community engagement with the station, including letters of support from individuals, •organizations, and businessesvolunteer recruitment and training plans•job descriptions•mechanisms for volunteer supervision, particularly in ensuring regulatory requirements will be met •consistentlyvolunteer contracts•policy development and decision-making (board, committees, staff, etc.)•complaints processes for handling complaints and grievances from staff and volunteers, as well as listener •complaints

Many stations have this material and some policies posted here.

For concrete examples, Kootenay Co-op Radio posts many of its policies here. Or go to the NCRA’s policy exchange here.

A NOTE ON POLICYPolicy is a body of work that allows questions to be answered consistently over time, reflecting the values of the station’s members. Some stations put a lot of work into policy as they develop, and others don’t. If you don’t have policy in place, you run the risk of resorting to arbitrary decision-making measures later, which can get complicated or be unintentionally biased by the nature of their subjectivity.

Key policies and procedures could include:Decision-making, outlining how the board relates to staff and volunteersStaff responsibilities, authority and accountabilityCode of conduct for volunteers, which can be very simpleConflict resolution and complaintsProgrammer selection, discipline, and discontinuationProgram proposals and selectionFinancial managementObscenity and profanity in programming

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Wait, You’re Not Quite Finished!

10. Industry Canada Engineering BriefAt the same time you submit your CRTC application, you must submit an engineering brief to Industry Canada (applicants for developmental licences are exempt from this requirement until they apply for a regular licence at the end of the five-year developmental period). This is usually prepared or supervised by an engineer with a P.Eng accreditation, although the engineer can be from any part of Canada and does not have to be located near your community in order to carry out this work. This will probably be done by the same person who did your frequency search. The brief tells the government your frequency, power levels, location and assures them you will not interfere with any other protected broadcasters. Sometimes if you’re not in one of the big cities, you can find Industry Canada people at regional offices who will help you out, which may reduce costs for the professional engineer to prepare the brief.

By this time, you will have chosen the station’s call letters. Your choices cannot sound similar to the call letters of any other local station, so despite the fun you had in the heady days of dreaming up rhymes to your town’s name or acronyms for your first four members, there are limitations. Your engineer can help you find the available choices. If you are near the U.S. border, Industry Canada may also have to ensure your application meets requirements set out in reciprocal agreements with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the U.S. broadcast regulator. After you submit your application, CRTC staff may notify you if information is missing or insufficient and send you questions to clarify the content of your application. Once your application is accepted as complete, there will be a call for interventions for or against your application—and you can certainly encourage people to file interventions in support of your application! This is followed by a hearing, which is often non-appearing. Sometimes there is a public-hearing process where applicants and interveners make presentations to CRTC commissioners in person or by video link, but that usually only happens when there are competing applications for the same frequency. The CRTC will then review your application and interventions, and make a decision on whether to grant your station a licence to broadcast. Some c/c stations have had to apply more than once to successfully obtain a licence, so brace yourself for potential disappointment, while hoping that your application does not need to be substantially reworked or restructured before resubmitting.

At the same time your engineering brief is prepared, it may be necessary to contact existing broadcasters whose signals are “short-spaced” or “adjacent” to the frequency you have selected to notify them of your application and obtain their permission if your signal will impact theirs. This is mostly a concern in urban areas or in rural areas near big urban centres, and it can add a lot of extra time to the licencing process. You may have to work with those stations to find ways of protecting their contours before they will agree not to oppose your application. Industry Canada will not approve applications for frequency use that may impact the protected contours of existing stations without their agreement.

BURNOUT!As with any project of passion, you are going to put in more hours than you ever imagined. This is okay—for a while. To ensure the long-term sustainability and success of your station, however, work needs to be shared among a number of people, and those people need to know how to delegate. The station is no good to anyone if the founders run away screaming before you get your licence, with nobody to carry the torch through the next steps.

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11. Licence ApprovalIf successful, you could receive approval of your CRTC licence within three to nine months of submitting your completed application. The CRTC usually grants licences on the condition that Industry Canada approves your engineering brief, if it has not done so already. The CRTC will add conditions to the licence as set out on the licence application form, including requirements for stations to adhere to the Canadian Association of Broadcasters’ Equitable Portrayal Code and Broadcast Code for Advertising to Children. The CRTC will probably give you a fixed period of time in which to actually begin broadcasting. If you are delayed, you may be able to obtain an extension if you can justify the reasons for the delay.

What do you like best about being involved in community radio?

12. Building Up to Going On-AirWith licence in hand, you can now ramp up. Be sure to send out press releases far and wide to herald the news! Confirm your on-air schedule and recruit the programmers who will make it a reality; secure your local business sponsors, if you choose to have them; hire any staff; develop initial policies and procedures; and savour this all-too-short time of excitement and rising enthusiasm as the big day approaches. And start training! This is a great opportunity to use the skills and expertise of locals who might not want to commit to being permanent programmers but do want to help. People from the land of the newspaper may be happy to provide training in basic journalism skills, particularly interviewing techniques and ethics; local actors may be able to offer vocal technique workshops; representatives from local cultural groups may provide workshops on cultural sensitivity; lawyers can explain libel and slander, and so on. It’s also a good way to get a wide cross-section of people aware of your station—and its need for support.

The first few minutes of live broadcasting after you turn on the transmitter will likely be one the great joys of your life.

If it goes well (or well enough, as is usually the case), words cannot express the ecstatic delight, surprise, giddy glee and relief that follow the sounds you have helped move over the airwaves.

Savour this delight, as the real work has only just begun…

When we flipped the switch at CJLY-FM in Nelson, British Columbia, our sleep-deprived techies were out driving to the far reaches of our untested broadcast range, calling in from pay phones, rhapsodically announcing the coordinates from which they could hear the fresh signal on the car radio. In the studio, veteran commercial radio DJ (then-turned community radio enthusiast) Wade Porter was “jacking up his cans” and sharing the booth with newbie community radiotarian Jocelyn Carver, who recalls “the shocking and gratifying reality of that moment, that we had actually—after all of the meetings and late nights and early mornings and in betweens—created a whole new communication medium for our town.”

“Ensuring a community-focused, independent and accessible media outlet exists in town to provide an alternative to the mainstream messages.”–Dan Kellar, CKMS-FM, Waterloo, Ontario

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CHAPTER THREE SHARED VALUES: A NATURAL FIT

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Below you will find how the underpinning values of co-operation and community radio intersect and how the combination of their respective values is a winning recipe.

Community radio values (in black), were expressed by community radio volunteers and staff across the country; co-operative values (in white), were defined by the International Co-operative Alliance, and gave rise to “The Seven Co-operative Principles” (outlined in detail in Chapter One), which serve as guidelines to put the these values into practice:

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CHAPTER FOURCOMMUNITY RADIO CO-OPS IN CANADA

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Kootenay Co-op RadioCJLY 93.5 FM

Address:308a Hall StNelson, British ColumbiaV1L 1Y8250.352.9600

www.kootenaycoopradio.com

Went on-air: November 2000

Range/geographic area: Rural mountains, around 100 square km

Members: 2,600

Programmers/volunteers: 129

Benefits provided to members: Access to KCR training programmes; reduced admission to events put on by the station; eligibility for on-air giveaways; KCR Friends Card, providing discounts at dozens of supporting local businesses; right to vote at the AGM; opportunity to run for the Board of Directors.

Cost for share/annual dues: $2 lifetime share, annual dues between $30 - $240

Annual budget: $118,000

Bulk of revenues: Memberships,sponsorships, and fundraising.

Coopérative des Montagnes Ltée.CFAI-FMEdmundston 101.1 FMGrand-Sault 105.1 FM

Address:318 Boul Broadway,Grand-Sault/Grand Falls, NBE3Z 2K4 505.737.5060

www.cfai.fm

Went on-air: April 2 1991

Range/geographic area: Northwest New Brunswick (Madawaska and Victoria)

Communities/groups served: A community of 40,000 active Francophones

Members: Around 425 members for 2011-2012

Programmers/volunteers: Four paid programmers and 12 volunteers

Benefits provided to members: Members get the right to speak at the AGM and corporate members get a discount on advertising

Cost for share/annual dues: Member-listener: $5 Businesses: between $50 and $100

Approximate annual budget: $450,000

Bulk of revenues: advertising sales

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Vancouver Co-operative RadioCFRO 102.7 FM

Rossland Radio Co-op CHLI 101.1 FM

Address:110-360 Columbia StreetVancouver, BCV6A 4J1604.684.8494

Address:1807 Columbia Avenue, box 408Rossland, BCV0G 1Y0250.362.0080

www.coopradio.org

Went on-air: April 15 1975

Range/geographic area: Metro Vancouver/Lower Mainland

Communities/groups served: Large diversity of cultural, linguistic and political communities e.g. Latin American, Iranian, Ethiopian, Queer, First Nations, labour activists etc.

Members: 1,250

Programmers/volunteers: 350

Benefits provided to members: Free semi-annual mailing of the Listener’s Guide with notice of special programming, current program schedules, and news; a tax receipt for donations over $25; voting privileges at the Annual General Meeting; unlimited on-air giveaways; discounts on Co-op Radio swag; access to technical and other skills training; discounts at local businesses

Cost for share/annual dues: Share purchase is $2. Annual dues vary from $5/year to $10/month.

Annual budget: $118,000

www.rosslandradio.com

Went on-air: Streaming over the internet since 2005 and went to FM in January 2007.

Range/geographic area: Broadcasting with a low power FM (LPFM) license at 20 watts.

Members: 100

Programmers/volunteers: 12 programmers and approximately 15 volunteers

Benefits provided to members: We offer discounts to any events that we put on; voting privileges at AGM.

Cost for share/annual dues: Regular $20, Family $60, Organization $100, Lifetime $500.

Annual budget: $6500

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Co-opérative Radio ChéticampCKJM 106.1 FM

Address: C.P. 699 Cheticamp, NSB0E 1H0902.224.1242

www.ckjm.ca

Went on-air: October 1995

Range/geographic area: Cape Breton Island, Antigonish County

Communities/groups served: French communities

Members: 397

Programmers/volunteers: 45

Cost for share/annual dues: $5 lifelong member

Approximate annual budget: $230,000

Bulk of revenues Advertising, production and fundraising

Address: P.O. Box 2282 Station MainWinnipeg, MBR3C 4A6204.942.2568

www.cjnu.ca

Went on-air: December 2006

Range/geographic area: Greater Winnipeg (50 watts)

Communities/groups served: Seniors

Members: 1,000+

Programmers/volunteers: 60 to 70

Cost for share/annual dues: $40 first year, $25 each year thereafter

Annual budget: $125,000

Bulk of revenues: Sponsorships, membership fees and community donations

Nostalgia Broadcasting Cooperative CJNU 107.9 FM

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Co-opérative Radiophonique- La Brise de la Baie LtéeCHQC 105.7 FM

www.chqc.capacadie.com

Went on-air: March 26, 2006

Range/geographic area: Saint John, Hampton, Grand Bay

Communities/groups served: Francophones and francophiles of Saint John area

Members: 250

Programmers/volunteers: Two radio hosts and eight volunteers

Cost for share/annual dues: $10, $100 bronze, $250 silver and $500 founder

Approximate annual budget: $90,000

Bulk of revenues: National and provincial ad sales

Address: 67 Ragged Point,Saint John, NB E2K 5C3506.643.6994

Radio Halifax Métro CKRH 98.5 FM

Address: 5527 Cogswell StreetHalifax, NS B3J 1R2902.490.2574

www.ckrhfm.ca

Went on-air: October 15, 2007

Range/geographic area: Municipality of Halifax, from Peggy’s Cove to Musquodoboit and Beaver Bank.

Communities/groups served: French Acadian

Members: Around 50

Programmers/volunteers: 30 +

Benefits provided to members: Ten percent discount on advertising, voting at the AGM, invite to special events, email newsletter about promotion and radio activities.

Cost for share/annual dues: $5 per year

Approximate annual budget: $100,000

Bulk of revenues: Fundraising from the community and advertising

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www.ckbn.ca

Went on-air: May 2007

Range/geographic area:100km area from Becancour to Donacona and from Berthierville, St. Tite and Drummondville.

Programmers/volunteers: Four radio hosts, two journalists and three volunteer radio hosts

Bulk of revenues:Half of income is from grants and the other half from advertisingLa Co-operative Radiophonique de Toronto

La Voix de la Rive-SudNicolet CKBN 90.5 FM

Address: 127-10275,Chemin LeblancWolinac, Quebec G0X 1B0819.294.2526

www.choqfm.cawww.grandtoronto.ca

Went on-air: May 2006

Range/geographic area: Greater Toronto

Communities/ groups served: Multi-cultural French communities and English speakers

Cost for share/annual dues: $20/year regular, $10/year students and seniors

CHOQ-FM105.1 FM

Address: 302 425 Adelaide Street WToronto, ON M5V 3C1416.599.2666

www.cignfm.ca

Went on-air: Launching Spring 2012!

Range/ geographic area: Coaticook County

Programmers/volunteers: Recruitment will be done in the spring 2012.

Cost for share/annual dues: Will be between $50 and $100

Address: 39 Main OuestCoaticook, QuebecJ1A 1P3819.804.0967

CIGN Coaticook 96.7 FM

M105CFXM 104.9 FM

Address: 135, rue Principale, bureau 35Granby, QuébecJ2G 2V1450.372.5105

www.m105.ca

Went on-air: April 1997

Range/geographic area: Granby, St-Hyacinthe, Bromont, Waterloo, Rougement, Cowansville, St-Césaire and surroundings.

Members: 13

Programmers/volunteers: No volunteers, six part-time programmers

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CHAPTER FIVEWORKING WITH, AND REPORTING ON, OTHER CO-OPS IN YOUR COMMUNITY

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The sixth co-operative principle is Co-operation Among Co-operatives. Although many co-ops do not spend a lot of time or energy expressing this principle, for community-radio co-ops, as well as for

campus and community stations that aren’t co-ops, it is a great opportunity for further integration into your community, where your station can benefit from similar co-operation with other sectors.

What does “Co-operation Among Co-operatives” mean, and how does it apply to us?We’re glad you asked. It’s about mutual aid and reciprocity. It’s about supporting enterprises in other sectors that share your values. It’s about the power of collective action. It’s about introducing your radio station into parts of your city/town/area that you might not otherwise reach.

REAL-LIFE SCENARIO #1Your radio station is hosting a well-known speaker or putting on a great live concert. There are a number of people who want to attend, but they live out of town, and public transit doesn’t reach them. Is there a carshare co-op in your area? You could ask if one of their members would be willing to drive one of their bigger vehicles and bring people to the event. If they do not want to supply this service for free, you could offer them on-air promotion during their next membership drive.

REAL-LIFE SCENARIO #2Your radio station is looking for partners for an exciting new project, like releasing a compilation of local bands that have performed live on-air. Don’t forget that credit unions are also co-operatives! They too operate by embracing the sixth principle of co-ops, and you could use this angle to ask for support. To reciprocate, you could acknowledge their support on the compilation package and offer to produce and air public service announcements (PSAs) that would promote their upcoming call for directors.

REAL-LIFE SCENARIO #3Your radio station has the opportunity to hire a student subsidized by a national or provincial job-creation program. You would like to pay the employee more than the subsidized rate but can only afford to do this for two days a week. Are there other co-ops in your area that might want to hire this person for the other three days? This gets you what you need, provides fair employment, and adds to the student’s experience in a variety of co-ops.

REAL-LIFE SCENARIO #4An easy one. If you sell sponsorships/ads, why not offer a substantially reduced rate for co-ops and credit unions? They’ll love you for it, and you’ll be offering your listeners an opportunity to find out more about local businesses!

REAL-LIFE SCENARIO #5You want to create local programming filled with solid information. While maintaining basic journalistic credibility, there is room for using local co-ops as sources. For instance, maybe a local film co-op would like to produce weekly movie listings and contribute to reviews; the agricultural co-op could be part of a panel discussion on local food production and pesticide use; or the credit union could give simple financial information to listeners around tax time. What other undiscovered stories are happening within your local food, dairy, housing, media, carshare, internet or cable co-ops?

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As we’ve said throughout this handbook, co-ops share many of the values of campus and community radio. Even if your station is not a co-op, and is not bound by the “Co-operation Among Co-ops” principle, it makes sense to support and work with other organizations that have so much in common with what you do.

How can we do this?Although this is more straightforward when working with and reporting on co-ops in your area, it can also make great radio to educate the public about co-op enterprises anywhere.

Stations across the country suggested that in working with co-ops they could do the following:1.Offer on-air time, either PSAs, interviews or a show, for local co-ops to publicize their activities. 2. Produce a series of PSAs on the co-op principles and why they matter.

3. Produce a progam focusing on co-operation that discusses issues of concern to the co-operative sector.

4. Each year during Co-op Week in October, host co-op related events, like station open houses and public talks.

5. Document the co-op experience and share it with others as a way to encourage and mentor other co-ops.

6. Host a “co-op spotlight” each month where a volunteer could produce a short five-minute piece on a different co-op around the world. It would give the volunteer a broader knowledge of co-ops and the listeners too!

7. Step up collaborations with the Dominion News Co-op, a network of independent and grassroots Canadian journalists who have created media co-ops in Halifax, Vancouver, Toronto, and Montreal. They are a great source for both text and audio stories, and stations could contribute their stories to them as well.

“There are a number of co-ops in our area, and there is a lot of resource- and knowledge-sharing between us. For example, the food co-op is loaning its video projector and meeting room to other smaller co-ops; the community resource co-op is providing one of its training coordinators to oversee a board development day for local co-operators; the credit union is offering its boardroom for regional radio conferences; and the local co-op bakery and food co-op are teaming up to donate muffins and danishes to every big co-op event in town. This provides a great sense of fellowship among the staff and members of these co-ops.”–Zoë Creighton, CJLY-FM, Nelson, British Columbia

Why would we choose to promote co-ops more than other kinds of businesses and organizations?

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CHAPTER SIXINNOVATIVE CO-OPS AROUND THE WORLD

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The United Nations declared 2012 the International Year of Co-operatives (IYC2012), to raise public awareness of the invaluable contributions of co-operative enterprises to poverty reduction, employment

generation and social integration. IYC has provided an opportunity to highlight the strengths of the co-operative business model as an alternative means of doing business, solving problems, and furthering socio-economic development.

In the words of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon:“Co-operatives are a reminder to the international community that it is possible to pursue both economic viability and social responsibility.”

Details of projects and initiatives to mark the year can be found at 2012.coop. This guide is being written during this international year, when the sites listed above were active, but beyond 2012 perpetual fun can be had at the International Co-op Alliance site, or at the online home of the Canadian Co-op Association, which can also connect you to the provincial and regional association sites.

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This chapter profiles a small but diverse sampling of co-ops, big and small, that have chosen this model of organizing to provide products or services to their communities.

Seikatsu Club Consumers’ Co-operative Union

The Seikatsu Club is a Japanese food co-operative system that, according to its organizers, “aims not only to supply wholesome food to its members, but also to fundamentally change the relationship between producers and consumers and between people and their environment.” It started in 1965 when a group of neighbours formed a collective to buy milk at lower prices. They believed then the companies that dominated the milk market in Japan were offering an inferior product and manipulating prices.Since that time, the Seikatsu Club has grown and organized itself into an umbrella organization, and in 1990 it became the Seikatsu Club Consumers Co-operative Union. In 2009, the union had 29 club members, which in turn have 320,000 individual members, most of whom are women. With the growth in female participation in Japan’s labour force, the SC also set up women’s workers’ collectives for jobs that include recycling, health care, education, food preparation and child and elder care. The SC has also established a not-for-profit insur-ance company for its members. In 1989, the Seikatsu Club was recognized by the RightLivelihood Award, sometimes known as the “Alternative Nobel Prize.”

Location: Tokyo, JapanMain trade: consumer goods (food, clothes, etc.)Number of employees: 106 (1,300, including member staff)Number of members: 29 consumer co-ops and 320,000 memberswww.seikatsuclub.coop

We interrupt this chapter to bring you another edition of “Quickie Facts on the Co-op Sector”

Co-operatives provide over 100 million jobs around the world, 20 per cent more than multinational enterprises. In Norway, agricultural co-operatives hold 96 per cent of the market for raw milk and 55 per cent of the cheese market, 80 per cent of the timber market, over 70 per cent of the egg and fur markets, and 52 per cent of the seed market. In Korea, agricultural co-operatives have a membership of more than two million farmers (90 per cent of all Korean farmers) and an output of US$11 billion. Korean fishery co-operatives also report a market share of 71 per cent. In Spain, co-operatives provided jobs to 21.6 per cent of the labour market in 2007.In Kenya, co-operatives are responsible for 45 per cent of the gross domestic product, and 31 per cent of national savings and deposits. They also have 70 per cent of the coffee market and produce 95 per cent of Kenya’s cotton. In France, the co-operative movement has an annual turnover of €181 billion. Co-operatives handle 60 per cent of retail banking, 40 per cent of food and agricultural production, and 25 per cent of retail sales. In Iran, co-operatives have created and maintain 1.5 million jobs. And finally, in Canada, four out of every 10 Canadians are members of at least one co-operative. In Saskatchewan, it’s 56 percent, and in Quebec, approximately 70 percent of people are co-op members!

International Co-operative Alliance, 2012:

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Taz Verlagsgenossenschaft (Taz Publishing Co-operative)

The Taz is a daily newspaper with an independent voice. The Berlin co-operative has 11,000 members who have joined to see that independent journalism in Germany continues in a dramatically shifting media landscape. “Nobody gives us a chance—but we’ll grab it with both hands.” So read the first edition of Taz in 1979. Twelve years later, the paper embraced a co-operative structure. Fast forward to 2012 and the co-op remains the only publication in Germany owned by its readers. In their own words here.

“Pressure is mounting on daily mastheads to replace ever dwindling advertising revenues and to manage the rising forces of the internet. These forces have had a myriad of effects on the quality of daily journalism around the globe. The evils of self-censorship have pared away at the independence of journalists in all corners of the world through fear for their jobs. This, combined with business imperatives breaking into editorial decision-making, have whittled away at reportage which was once made without fear nor favour. The Taz Co-operative has been able to rise above these travails which plague other newspapers. It has a solid capital base of nearly 11 million euros. It has about 250 contributors to its pages. And, 33 years on from its inception as a newspaper, the Taz is still independent. The same deep-seated beliefs permeate the publication.”

Simpang Beluru Secondary School Co-operatives Limited

This school-based co-operative is situated in a village about 30 kilometres from the nearest town and serves students and other people in the village so they don’t need to go to town for school supplies and other basic goods. The members plan the co-operative’s main activities, thereby having many opportunities to develop their entrepreneurial skills. The co-operative’s profits are returned back to its members in the form of a dividend payment to the school through community programmes. It is a model that has thrived in almost all secondary schools in Malaysia. In 1997, the SBS Co-op began in a small room, selling stationery items, sportswear, neckties and nametags to students. Its activity has since grown in number and range. The above information about SBS was obtained fromYouth Reinventing Co-operatives: Young Perspectives on the International Co-operative Movement, edited by Robin Puga, Julia Smith, and Ian MacPherson, BC Institute for Co-operative Studies, 2005. For more information visit www.learningcentre.coop

Location: Berlin, GermanyMain trade: newspaperNumber of employees: 250Number of members: 11,000 www.taz.de

Location: MalaysiaNumber of members: 858Main Activity: education, social service, household and school products

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Undredal Stølsysteri (Undredal Co-operative Dairy)

Shift Co-op

Shift is a new cycle-based distribution service and worker co-op in downtown Vancouver. They aim to replace conventional delivery trucks by transporting loads of up to 600 pounds using their zero-tailpipe-emissions, heavy-duty cargo trikes. They haul a diverse range of products, including coffee, catering, office supplies, clothing, produce and other goods, and they offer advertising space on their custom-built delivery trikes. “Shift’s vision is to build community resilience by transforming the urban goods movement industry, shifting the way business is done,” says Loretta Laurin, board member and co-owner.

Shift describes its mission as:providing innovative, low-impact urban goods movement solutions•offering an outstanding, personable and reliable service to business partners•creating empowering and meaningful work through the worker co-operative model•promoting cycling, sustainable transportation, and increased use of the co-operative model.•

Undredal Stølsysteri is a co-operative dairy, making raw-milk goat’s cheese with the milk from the goats of three families. In their own words here. “A cluster of red, white, blue and yellow houses nestled on the green shores of a breathtaking Norwegian fjord, the tiny village of Undredal has a population of 70 people. And 500 goats.‘We all keep our own goats, we cut the hay, and do the milking in addition to the cheese production,’ says Anna Karine Marstein, the co-op’s chairwoman. ‘Six adults have more skills than two; we have more time off and we can do what we like and are good at.’” The co-op aims to combine tradition with modern solutions, improving hygiene and efficiency. The cheese is sold directly at farmers’ markets and the local grocery store, which sells it to other stores around the country. The co-op has brought pride to the villagers. A cheese festival is held every other summer, and “fjord safaris” for tourists advertise stops in Undredal with a tasting of the local goat cheese.

Location: Undredal, NorwayMain trade: agricultureNumber of employees: 1Number of members: 6www.undredalsost.no

Location: Vancouver, British Columbia, CanadaMain trade: urban cargo deliveryNumber of employees: 1Number of members: 4www.shift.coop

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Keta Sandlanders

Sandlanders Football is a network of community-focused amateur soccer clubs in four African countries. Each club in the network is run as a co-operative and is owned and managed by local people, with international non-voting memberships managed over the internet. The Sandlanders name is derived from the location of Keta, located in Ghana, on a sand spit between the sea and a lagoon. The Keta townspeople lived on the sand, and much of the town’s football was played on the sand too. It occurred to the founders that much of Africa’s football is played in this way and the name stuck. Today, all of their clubs are Sandlanders clubs and members are Sandlanders too. Football in Keta goes back to the 1950s, when the Keta Highlanders played at the town’s London Park ground. Since this heyday, however, the game has been in decline in the area with London Park a victim of the coastal erosion that has devastated much of Keta. Turning the club into a co-op has turned things around. “Sandlanders offers a model of ownership that may be the future for many smaller clubs throughout the world.”–The Financial Times, London, United Kingdom This information about Sandlanders can be found on their profile at www.stories.coop. There is a similar co-op football club in Cork, Ireland, at www.corkcityfc.net.

Cooperativa A.L.P.I.

A.L.P.I.’s mission is to prepare individuals who have mental and physical disabilities to participate in the workforce. To reach that goal, the co-operative provides guided, hands-on job training. Established in 1990 by 20 founding members, A.L.P.I. contracts with local firms looking to outsource production of goods and services. The co-operative gains clients not through a plea for charity but by providing diligent, responsive, cost-competitive labour that firms are happy to use. The co-op also generates earnings through production of their own saleable items, such as aprons and gardening accessories. As trainees assemble items, package orders, and enter data, they earn a wage and also receive mentorship and tutoring from support staff. Membership consists of volunteers, support staff and trainees. Though they fulfil different roles in the work of the co-operative, the 32 members possess equal power in the governing structure and decision-making process using a one-person-one-vote system. This Information about Cooperativa A.L.P.I. can be found at here.

Location: based in Keta, Ghana, with clubs in Ghana, Uganda, Liberia and KenyaMain trade: community development, footballNumber of employees: 24Number of members: 135www.sandlanders.com/clubs/keta/

Location: Trento, ItalyMain trade: social servicesNumber of employees: 80Number of members: 32www.coop-alpi.it

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Zaytoun Community Interest Company

Organopónico Vivero Alamar (Alamar Urban Organic Garden)

This UK-based co-operative works with Palestinian farmers’ co-operatives to help them market and distribute their products. As the Zaytoun Community Interest Company explains: “Palestine is home to ancient olive groves, some over 2,000 years old, and the greenish-grey trees dominate the agricultural landscape. But Palestinian producers struggle to export their olives and oil, and in 2004 Zaytoun was founded to create and develop a market for fairly-traded Palestinian produce in the United Kingdom. Converted to a co-operative in 2008, the company helps farmers’ cooperatives in Palestine get organic and fair-trade certification for their products, and gives them access to the UK market.” The extra-virgin olive oil and olives are the world’s first to be certified fair trade and are sold through wholesalers to retail stores through the fair-trade organizations Traidcraft and Oxfam, and through a network of volunteer regional distributors in communities across the UK.

Location: United KingdomMain trade: agricultureNumber of employees: 5Number of members: 7www.zaytoun.org

Location: Havana, CubaMain trade: agricultureNumber of employees: 17Number of members: 150

Cuba used to have an industrialized agricultural system, exporting sugar and citrus to Russia and importing most of its food, as well as oil, machinery, fertilizers and pesticides. When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, combined with a US trade embargo, the country turned to agricultural self-sufficiency and urban gardens, or organipónicos, sprouted everywhere. Organipónicos feature raised plant beds and grow a diverse range of fruits, herbs, and vegetables. Some also raise chickens and other small livestock. Irrigation water comes from urban supplies, as well as wells and rivers. The urban gardens minimize transportation costs and the need for big machinery. Farmers traded tractors for oxen and manual labour, fertilizers for manure, and cash crops for vegetables. “People of all backgrounds turned to growing in the cities,” explains Julia Wright, author of Sustainable Agriculture and Food Security in an Era of Oil Scarcity: Lessons from Cuba. “The state responded by supporting them with access to land, with local shops providing seeds, equipment and advice, and with structures to recycle and distribute composted urban wastes.”One of Havana’s largest and most successful urban gardens is the Organopónico Vivero Alamar. Covering 11 hectares in the residential Havana suburb Alamar, the urban farm produces fresh vegetables, fruits, ornamental plants, seedlings, timber and medicinal and spiritual plants, and the co-operative also uses some of these products to make dried herbs, condiments, garlic paste, tomato sauce and pickles, vermicompost, and goat and rabbit meat. The Organopónico also welcomes tourists and holds workshops and courses in organic agriculture. Products are sold to local restaurants and directly to community members from the farm shop. This information is from www.2012.coop.

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Conclusion

The 2012 International Year of Co-operatives has provided an ideal opportunity to highlight the benefits of the co-op model as a way of organizing people, communities, and economies. We hope that the Sounds Co-operative Project and this handbook have helped further this effort. The project has also funded five audio documentaries on co-op campus and community radio stations and co-operation in Canada and around the world, as well as a series of regional conferences across Canada that teach community radio folk how to work more co-operatively. You can find the audio documentaries with further information and project updates here.

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APPENDIX A

BUDGETS

This appendix outlines key areas to include in planning for revenue and expenses in your developing station.

Potential Revenue Line Items

MembershipsHow much will you charge per share? What will annual membership dues be? What percentage of your budget will come from member contributions?

Student LevyIf you’re applying to be on a campus, will you get any money through a fee levy from individual students or from the student union? Are some students allowed to opt out of paying their portion of the levy?

Advertising/Business UnderwritingHow much will you charge? Will you have different rate levels for different groups (discounts for co-ops and non-profits or local independent businesses)? Will you contract out part of the work, like national advertising? Will you have restrictions on advertising content or sources? Will you hire someone to seek sponsorships or ads? Will volunteers be encouraged to seek sponsorships for their shows? If so, do they get a commission for this work? This is one area where it is easy to let enthusiasm cloud your judgment, so check with other c/c stations in similar-sized communities: How much revenue do they earn now? How long did it take to get there? What are their advertising and sponsorship policies?

FundraisingAgain, underestimate and plan, plan, plan. Is radio bingo legal in your province, and if so, is it something the station wants to endorse? Are any bingo licences required? If you want to host an on-air funding drive, how many days will it last? What resources will it take (giveaways, station swag, food for volunteers, extra phone lines)? How many volunteers can you count on to help out? If you’re organizing benefit concerts, can you cover all the costs, even if attendance is low? Beyond this, what else can you do that’s different from every other group in your community trying to raise money? What can you learn from other c/c stations?

GrantsUnderestimate! This is one of the hardest areas of fundraising to realistically project and one of the few where other stations’ examples don’t necessarily mean much. It’s worth checking out your options, from project grants to employment programs, like university-subsidized work study options, Canada Summer Jobs or the New Horizons program for seniors. Don’t assume the answer is about one big project; it’s most likely the opposite. Your municipality might have some money to help, particularly with local services, like emergency broadcasting. Some stations have also received money from local and provincial arts councils, business associations, and provincial lottery or gaming grants. You may also be eligible for some federal grant programs, particularly those aimed at broadcasting and communications, official languages, multiculturalism and students.

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Potential Expense Line Items

Administration/Organizational Developmentrent•printing/photocopying•Internet•phone•web design•web hosting•streaming•licencing fees and copyright tariffs, including SOCAN•consultant/engineering fees•furniture•office equipment•outreach/promotional expenses•insurance•utilities for studio and transmitter/antenna•tower rental fees for antenna•incorporation fees•audit•co-op development consultation fees•

Equipmentmixers/mixing boards: You don’t need to build a full studio from year one, but do you want a second •studio for pre-production? microphones: consider multiple hosts, with the potential for multiple guests and mic stands•computers: for studios, office, volunteer use, audio logger (and backup)•CD players•record players•speakers/monitors•portable recorders•software•soundproofing•lighting•kettle, coffeemaker, etc•

Potential Staff Positionsstation manager•program director•music director•news and/or spoken-word director•advertising/sales manager•volunteer coordinator•bookkeeper or financial manager•program hosts and producers•

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RESOURCES BC Co-op Association: www.bcca.coopwww.cdfcanada.coop

Canadian Co-op Association: www.coopscanada.coop

Co-operative Development Foundation of Canada: www.cdfcanada.coop

Devco, a British Columbia-based co-op development co-operative: www.devco.coop

International Year of Co-operatives, Canadian website: www.canada2012.coop

International Year of Co-operatives, worldwide website: www.2012.coop

Kootenay Co-op Radio: www.kootenaycoopradio.com

National Campus and Community Radio Association (NCRA): www.ncra.ca

Nova Scotia Co-operative Council: www.novascotia.coop

Ontario Co-op Association: www.ontario.coop

Smith, Julia, Robin Puga and Ian MacPherson, eds. Youth Reinventing Co-operatives: Young Perspectives on the International Co-operative Movement: British Columbia Institute for Co-operative Studies, 2005.

Stories.coop, a project of EURICSE, the European Research Institute on Cooperative and Social Enterprises www.euricse.eu

The Co-operative Learning Centre, a collaborative online resource for co-operatives, co-op educators, and researchers worldwide:www.learningcentre.coop

The CoopZone Developers’ Network Co-operative: www.coopzone.coopwww.ncra.ca

The Prometheus Radio Project:www.prometheusradio.org