FCC Proposes to Allow NCE Stations to Conduct Third-Party Fundraising

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) invited comment on whether to allow public broadcasters to spend a modest amount of their total annual broadcast time – up to one percent, or about 88 hours per year – to conduct on-air fundraising activities for charities and other nonprofits. This proposal is a recommendation of The Information Needs of Communities report, which was released in June 2011. The proposal gives viewers of public broadcasting the opportunity to raise funds for non-profit organizations in their communities and around the world. The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) is another step in the FCC’s effort to review existing regulations and reduce unnecessary burdens.

Under longstanding FCC policy, noncommercial educational (NCE) public broadcast stations can only conduct fundraising activities for the benefit of the station itself. Fundraising activities for third-parties is prohibited if fundraising activities conducted on-air would substantially alter or suspend regular programming. The policy reflects concerns that public stations are licensed to meet their mission of public service to local audiences through noncommercial and educational programming, not through fundraising activities for other organizations.