Who Are The “Friends of KWMU”
The current ownership of KWMU, KMST and WQUB is the Board of Curators of University Of Missouri.
So why would UM system want to divest itself of three stations in the St. Louis area and KCUR in Kansas City? That’s the main question that I’m asking. Interestingly it seems that the UM system is going to keep KBIA which serves the Jefferson City and Columbia area.
According to the original story that was published on February 10th, 2025 the University of Missouri is going to “transition” KWMU to the Friends of KWMU (click on that link for information from the STLPR.org website). The officers are Diane Katzman (President), Laura Brayton (Secretary), and Elizabeth Larson (Treasurer). There are 24 board members.
Friends of KWMU, Inc., is a 501(c)(3) organization that has supported the station off and on since 1977. According to the Missouri Secretary of States website there are (were?) two Friends of KWMU nonprofit corporations. The first Friends of KWMU was incorporated April 25, 1977. That non profit was administratively dissolved apparently because of a missed yearly filing. The current Friends of KWMU was incorporated May 24, 2004.
I couldn’t find an individual website for Friends of KWMU, only links back to the STLPR.org website. But I was able to find financial information about Friends of KWMU. According to the Friends of KWMU page on Philanthrophy.org the Friends have received dontations totalling $2 million from 76 donors between 2019 and 2024. The largest donor was Donor Advised Charitable Giving who gave $540,000 with 5 grants.
Friends of KWMU isn’t sitting on the kind of balance sheet you’d normally associate with purchasing (if that is the case) a major-market FM operation. Its fiscal-2025 Form 990 shows about $540,000 in total assets and no liabilities. That’s up dramatically from only about $38,000 in assets the previous year, but it still doesn’t look like an organization preparing to write a multimillion-dollar check for a major FM license and broadcast operation
Listening to KWMU (remember, I’m a listener and a fan) I’ve heard them mention during one of their more recent fund drives that it takes somewhere in the area of $6.5 million yearly to operate the station. So, over the course of 5 years, 2019 to 2024, Friends of KWMU only received $2 million.
I’ve heard it said many times the station is “listener supported”. But to what extent? Does the UM system provide funds above and beyond what the Friends of KWMU and KWMU’s on air fund drives bring in (and yes, I do have a KWMU tote bag)?
Currently all of the staff members are employees of the University of Missouri and receive state paychecks and benefits. So, in this transition, will the current staff become employees of Friends of KWMU. Will the Friends of KWMU pick up the retirement plans (I believe the KWMU staff members currently are in the Missouri State Pension System)? Here’s a link to the HR page from the University of Missouri.
Won’t the current KWMU staff members have fewer (maybe none?) benefits by leaving the UM system and being employed by the Friends of KWMU?
So are the current staff members on board for this transition from stable ownership by the University of Missouri to a nonprofit with no history of station ownership or management?
And why am I the only one asking these questions?
