In 2011, an opportunity arose for a non-profit entity to apply for a Low Power FM station. we researched the availability in the River Valley region and identified two frequencies with minimal interference. 91.1 and 102.3 were available in Rumford. At the time, we did not know that The Seventh Day Adventist school in Dixfield was also applying. we picked 91.1, and the SDA group chose 102.3. Had they both picked the same frequency, they would have competed with each other, requiring them to commit to numerous restrictions that would have become very costly to the Rumford group. we formed River Valley Community Association with a three member board. Then Town Manager Carlo Puiia suggested that the station could place their antenna at the town’s High Street transmitter site. Unfortunately, that site would later become problematic due to concerns by the Police Chief Stacy Carter over interference with his 2-way communication. The group applied for and was granted the construction permit. Due to the concerns over the High Street location, they later filed to relocate the station to Kevin’s garage, which is much lower, and reduces the coverage by 80%, but has fewer complications. When completing the engineering of this application, we consulted with an engineer who verified our work prior to the application being submitted.
We recently received a construction permit from the F.C.C. to increase our tower height and power. Funds and donations have been secured to make the upgrade possible. However, the change will result increases to operating costs.
Donations
We are people powered and community funded. Please consider making a donation to help us develop and expand our signal and programming.
Individual Donations Business Donations
Business Donations
As we have no staffing costs, we operate on a relatively small budget. Our expenses include music licensing, electricity, Internet, insurance, studio rent, building our music library, equipment repair and replacement, and software subscriptions. We appreciate whatever level of support you may be able to provide. All announcements are made in rotation with other donor donations. Businesses can choose to have twice as many announcements by doubling their donation. If you have an announcement airing already, the term would be extended to accommodate the time remaining on your current announcement.
Due to our licensing as a non-commercial station, we cannot run commercials, but we can acknowledge donations using business information.
Announcements will be made using the following format: “This hour of programming is made possible in part through a donation by [business], located at [address]. They provide [ products/services]. Their phone number is [phone] and they are available on the Internet at [website/Facebook]. Their email address is [email].”
Level 1
Donations made will be acknowledged as follows: $200 donations will be acknowledged for one year (55 cents per day) $100 donations will be acknowledged for six months (56 cents per day) $ 50 donations will be acknowledged for three months (56 cents per day)
(Double donation for twice as many announcement spots. Existing donors maintain their current rate.)
Level 2 We have a new category for larger donations. These announcements would run on the quarter hour and be limited to 6 donors, assuring many more announcements per day than our current rotation. The rate for this category is $500 per year ( $1.37 per day)
Please note that broadcasting relies on equipment and licensing. In the event that we cannot broadcast for any time period, we will do what we can to make up for lost airtime by extending the period or frequency of the announcement, if we can. We are unable to refund full or partial donations due to ongoing expenses.
Make checks payable to River Valley Community Association P.O. Box 91 Rumford, Maine 04276
