Donation FAQ

Why does Tri States Public Radio need to raise money?
We are a non-commercial service (no advertising!) and need to raise funds to pay for programs, broadcast and production equipment and other operating expenses.

Don’t you receive financial support from WIU the government?
Yes , we do receive some funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the State of Illinois in the form of grants. However, the CPB and state grants are formula-funded to the amount contributed by our listeners. The more local financial support we have, the larger the grant.

We receive limited direct financial support from WIU. We do receive substantial indirect support from WIU. Indirect support means things like space on campus and access to campus services.

Is it safe to use my credit or debit card to make a contribution online?
Tri States Public Radio uses the best security and encryption technology available for your protection. The personal and financial information that your computer sends us, and that we send back to your computer, must be encrypted while in transit. Encrypted files are scrambled and can only be reassembled with the correct encryption key. Your credit card is never stored unencrypted, and it is only decrypted at the time of processing your information.

What about online privacy?
Tri States Public Radio recognizes and respects the importance of your privacy and is firmly committed to protecting it. We adhere to a strict policy for ensuring the privacy of your personally identifiable information (such as full name, address, email address, telephone number and/or other identifiable information). Tri States Public Radio and its third party vendor, who supports our contribution pages, utilize up-to-date best practices to guarantee credit card account information security and to secure any information from your computer to our server. All online credit card transactions are done through a secure server using VeriSign, and your credit card information is used only for your intended purposes – for the purchase of concert tickets, or the contribution you wish to make.

Why did I receive a receipt from the Western Illinois Western Illinois University holds the FCC licenses for Tri States Public Radio. TSPR is a service of the University. While the WIU Foundation deposits your contribution to Tri States Public Radio's account and generates the acknowledgement of your support, 100% of your gift supports Tri States Public Radio.

What is a Sustaining Donor - “Auto-Renew” Donation?
When you become a Sustaining Donor your donation automatically renews until you tell us to stop it. Sustaining Donations are a convenient and reliable way to manage your financial support of Tri States Public Radio through ongoing monthly or quarterly contributions using your savings or checking account, your credit card, or if you are an employee of Western Illinois University, through the WIU Payroll Deduction plan. When you choose this option, you authorize Tri States Public Radio to automatically debit your account in the amount specified by you on a monthly or quarterly basis until you contact us to change or stop your donation. Your donation will automatically renew each year, saving you time and saving Tri States Public Radio the costs of annual renewal reminders. If your circumstances change, you can choose to increase, decrease or suspend your monthly contribution amount by calling TSPR during business hours at 309.298.1873. Please notify Tri States Public Radio as soon as possible if your credit card expires so we can work with you to make alternate arrangements for your donation.

I just renewed my donation. Why did I receive another renewal notice?
We make every effort to process donations in a timely manner, so if this has happened, your contribution and our next renewal mailing probably crossed in the mail. If you have received an email from us asking for your contribution, it is possible that the email address in our donation database does not match the address we use for e-communication (different systems). So, if this has occurred, please let us know and we’ll adjust our records so that your email address is the same in both systems.

Member Service
If you have any questions or comments about your donation or your dealings with this website, please don’t hesitate to contact us via email: publicradio@wiu.edu or by phone at 800-895-2912, or by mail at:

Stephanie Foulk
Membership Marketing Manager
Tri States Public Radio
Western Illinois University
1 University Circle
Macomb, IL 61455