“The goal of this fundraising campaign is to raise the balance of our operating budget, just $148,500 a month; ongoing giving and other income has already been taken into account. We are looking for one-time gifts and new monthly ongoing gifts to hit our goal. God is faithful and always provides for our need through His people.
Last year it took almost two weeks, but the fulfillment rate was 98% on one-time gifts and 92% on monthly gifts. This is almost unheard of – God not only moved in the right people; He also provided, by His hand, the fulfillment of the money pledged!”
The 2016 Proposed Operating Budget for the Ministry of Z88.3
Prepared by James S. Hoge, President,
for Z88.3’s board of directors, staff, listeners and supporters.
This year marks 20 years of service for Z88.3 to the Body of Christ in Central Florida and we have been publishing this budget as long as we have had a website to put it on in an effort of transparency. We were new then and now we have a long solid history of our faithfulness and God’s blessing and provision.
Our transparency and accountability is evidenced in our independent audits. The budget is the starting point, but the audits and the ratings show how we spent and accounted for your gifts, and the wonderful life-changing impact that they have had to present Christ and serve in His wonderful name.
Our goal is to accomplish the mission of Kingdom building with four different radio stations on multiple transmitters all over Central Florida, plus streaming on the Internet and Smartphones all over the world. In addition to Z88.3, found multiple places on the dial in the region, we also operate HOT 95.9, our Christian Hip-Hop and R&B station on HD radio and simulcast in Orlando on 95.9 FM; G106.3, our Urban Gospel station on HD radio and simulcast in Orlando on 106.3 FM; and, 103.7 The ROCK, our Christian rock and alternative station on HD radio and simulcast in Clermont on 103.7 FM.
We are able to have this impact on Central Florida because of our faithful donors. The 2016 proposed operating budget is just over $4.6 million, with $1,782,000 or $148,500 per month remaining to be raised in this campaign. Approximately 62% of the budget amount has already been raised or accounted for – truly, the hand of God already at work! If one sees God at work in any ministry, one can safely assume it is a great place to invest your family’s treasure. And with that said and with much gratitude, it is my pledge to always be the good steward with your gifts for God’s ultimate glory alone and to build His Kingdom until He comes. Below is our best evidence of our faithfulness with the gifts that have been entrusted to us to run this ministry.
The Last Five Years of Independent Financial Audits
2014 Audit • 2013 Audit • 2012 Audit • 2011 Audit • 2010 Audit
Z88.3 is a wonderful place to invest your family’s treasure in the Kingdom of God. A gift of any size, either ongoing or one-time, will help us reach the goal. However, I would like to ask if you would prayerfully consider making a $30 monthly ongoing gift to the ministry as a dollar a day is our backbone. To make your gift, please click here to begin. If you have any comments regarding the audits, ratings, this proposed 2016 budget, or the operation of the stations; please feel free to contact me or give me a call during business hours at (407) 869-8000.
The question I receive most often is how the one-time gifts are accounted for. Seven years ago, we switched to a single goal system to simplify the need. Therefore, a one-time gift is divided by twelve and added to the monthly totals. One-time gifts are convenient because they save on accounting and processing costs. We deeply appreciate any gift, regardless of how you choose to bless us, and you have my promise that we will use it for that which it was intended and we will account for it properly (see The Legal Stuff).
Beyond this point in the discussion, things begin to get technical as we look at the specifics. If you have seen or heard enough and would like to make a secure gift, please click here; and may God richly bless you! For those who revel in numbers, read on.
Revenue Overview
Unlike many other listener supported stations, we do not get receive our funds from foundations, public funds, large corporate donors, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, etc. We derive approximately 77% of station operating budget from our listeners’ generous donations, for which we are most thankful! Of that 77%, approximately half, 39%, is on-going gifts leaving the balance to be raised on-air.
The non-donated portion, 23%, of the organization’s annual gross income is derived primarily from two other sources: Rental income and the sale of paid public service announcements (“PPSA” or “spots”) to fellow non-profits, churches, and limited corporate underwriting. The rental income is from leases of both real property in the Z complex and from leasing space on broadcast towers we own. The PPSAs or spots are sold to non-profit organizations to promote their events and services (for more information see On-Air Announcements).
Expenses
Here is how the Z88.3 2016 proposed monthly operating expenses breaks down as illustrated by a pie chart. Simply mouse over the “slices” to see each item and then click to be taken directly to the discussion of that particular line item.
| Line Item | Monthly Budget | Percent |
| Accounting, Legal Fees, and Professional Services | $ 12,000 | 3.1% |
| Conferences and Meals | 2,200 | 0.6% |
| Vehicle and Travel Expense | 1,100 | 0.3% |
| Equipment Rental and Maintenance | 8,500 | 2.2% |
| Occupancy | 16,000 | 4.1% |
| Salaries and Wages | 230,000 | 59.6% |
| Postage and Shipping | 2,000 | 0.5% |
| Printing, Publications, and Supplies | 2,000 | 0.5% |
| Telephone and Internet | 8,000 | 2.1% |
| Advertising, Promotions, and Donor Relations | 36,000 | 9.3% |
| Business Insurance | 15,000 | 3.9% |
| On-Air Programming | 15,000 | 3.9% |
| Taxes, Fees, and Business Expense | 13,000 | 3.4% |
| Contributions | 4,000 | 1% |
| Capital, Depreciation, and Contingency | 21,000 | 5.4% |
| TOTAL Monthly Budget | $ 385,800 | 100% |
| Already On-hand from Generous On-going Giving and Other | 237,300 | 62% |
| Remaining GIFTS needed for 2016 | $148,500 | 38% |
The Goal
The goal of this fundraising campaign is to raise the balance of our operating budget, just $148,500 a month; ongoing giving and other income has been already been taken into account. We are looking for one-time gifts and new monthly ongoing gifts to hit our goal. God is faithful and always provides for our need through His people.
Last year it took almost two weeks, but the fulfillment rate was 98% on one-time gifts and 92% on monthly gifts. This is almost unheard of – God not only moved in the right people; He also provided, by His hand, the fulfillment of the money pledged!
Did you notice that we didn’t do a special projects fundraiser in May? There was no need for the last two years since we accomplished our special project goals! The biggest special project, our $3.8 million dollar Strong Tower capital campaign, was completed this year with the jump of WPOZ (Z88.3) going from 13,000 to 100,000 watts!
WPOZ now has a “Class C” designation, the most powerful class of FM station authorized in the United States. This is an exclusive designation only for those stations with the maximum effective radiated power of 100,000 watts and with an antenna over 1,500 feet above average terrain. To think that over twenty-five years ago, we went through the FCC hearings with an application for just 950 watts, certainly God has brought us a long, long way!
The 2016 Budget Specifics…
This is how we propose to spend your gifts that you have entrusted us with. Our 2016 budget is $385,800 monthly, or $4.63 million annually, about the same as a medium size church or parish.
Accounting, Legal Fees, and Professional Services
This line item is $12,000 (3.1%), up from $10,500 last year.
Our professional help involves using three different law firms on an ongoing basis, plus an excellent non-profit accounting firm which just happens to be located here in Orlando, Batts, Morrison, Wales and Lee, P.A. They have helped our Board of Directors install strong accounting systems and controls in order to keep the integrity of the ministry beyond reproach. Their independent audit reports for the last six years are listed at the top of this page.
The professional services portion of this category is generally for consulting engineers who prepare the technical portions of FCC applications and reports.
Conferences and Meals
This line item is $2,200 (0.6%), unchanged from last year.
Business travel, meals, tuition and travel to the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) convention, Neilson (Arbitron) fly-in conferences, and others are covered under this line.
We also host an industry conference, the Christian Music Broadcasters (CMB) conference, is at Disney in September each year. Over 700 fellow broadcasters and artists are always very complimentary of waking up to your radio station every morning in their hotel rooms.
Vehicle and Travel Expense
This line item is $1,100 (less than 0.3%), unchanged from last year.
This maintains and fuels four (4) station vehicles.
Equipment Rental and Maintenance
This line item is $8,500 (2.2%), up $500 from last year.
Most of this budget item is for electrical and electronic parts, service, and component repair used in broadcasting. Any items costing $1000 or more are normally capitalized and not in this budget item; they are listed in the Capital, Depreciation & Contingency category.
This includes maintenance contracts on items that we cannot repair in-house, as well as items such as thousands of gallons of diesel fuel for the emergency generators. It is our normal operating policy to switch to the generators during thunderstorms or high wind events to protect sensitive electronic equipment from power line surges. This has resulted in burning a lot of diesel fuel making both the generators and the on-air broadcast much more reliable. This reliability is what we need in order to get you the emergency information you need to help you protect your family in a storm!
By the way, and thanks to your generosity, we have installed large industrial uninterruptable power supplies (UPS’s) to carry the load in case of a sudden power failures or surges at all of our transmitter sites. These huge units not only keep us on the air until the generators have time to start and come on-line, but they also condition the power protecting sensitive electronic equipment from sudden and adverse conditions.
Occupancy
This line item is $16,000 (4.1%), unchanged from last year.
This item has dropped significantly from $19,000 per month spent in 2014, before the purchase of our main 1,600 foot transmitting tower for WPOZ near Lake Pickett in East Orange County and the WMYZ site in Clermont for the Strong Tower project. This balance of this item is primarily for rent for the other tower sites for WHYZ, WDOZ, and the nine translators.
Utilities such as electric, water, trash service and lawn maintenance are included in this item, along with tree trimming, janitorial services, pest services, etc.
Salaries and Wages
This line item is $230,000 (59.6%), up from $203,500 (55.2%) last year.
This is our largest single budget item, and the one with the largest increase. Included in this category are payroll taxes, salaries and wages plus benefits. The benefit side (the escalating cost of health insurance) plus adding new employees this past year account for the increase.
Postage and Shipping
This line item is $2,000 (barely 0.5%), down significantly from $2,600 last year.
The decrease is due to you. Normally, we mail out statements and receipts to everyone giving a donation. The past few years, if you auto-draft through your checking or credit card, you have the option to receive your receipts via email. Many of you have switched to paperless and we thank you! (To change your preference on receipts/statements, click here. Log in with your user name and password. Once in, look on the right side-bar click “Change Statement Preferences,” which is the last item under “My Profile”.)
For the receipts and statements we do mail, we are now using volunteers and staff to assemble and process non-profit “bulk” mailings, which has saved a boatload of money over individual first class postage. The balance of the category covers the shipping costs for equipment.
Printing, Publications, and Supplies
This line item is $2,000 (0.5%), down $1,300 from last year.
Stationery, envelopes, receipts and printing costs are the printing portion. Supplies are mainly office supplies and other consumables.
Telephone and Internet
This line item is $8,000 (2.1%), unchanged for the last two years.
A better name for this category would be “connectivity” for in this modern age, data and voice are now the same.
This category covers dedicated connections from our studios in Altamonte Springs out to distant transmitter sites. Also included are special circuits for remote broadcasts, dial tone circuits (mostly VoIP and some copper), and one HUGE fiber “pipe” to the internet for audio streaming to the world. There are two dedicated fiber connections to connect our studios to our transmitters, but most of the heavy lifting is done by our owned private microwave network that circles Orlando, starting from the Altamonte Studios out to Lake Pickett to downtown Orlando to the WMYZ site in Clermont and back again to the studios. That investment has saved us thousands in the category, and because of the loop, is inherently redundant should a link fail.
Because of the nature of the business and our commitment to keep your family safe in an emergency, we have built many redundancies into our entire connectivity infrastructure. Our Director of Engineering, Randy Woods, has carefully researched workarounds for virtually any failure. This complex connectivity stretches over 150 miles across the state to distant transmitter sites from The Villages to Melbourne to Palm Coast. This redundancy can save lives during emergencies, such as severe weather outbreaks. Multiple systems are absolutely crucial to keep us operating during an emergency to provide the information needed to help you keep your family safe!
Advertising, Promotions, and Donor Relations
This line item is $36,000 (9.3%), down from $43,000/month from last year.
This is the second largest expenditure behind salaries and wages. Advertising and Promotions cover a major billboard presence, extensive Z bumper sticker coverage, pens, shirts, prizes and other branding items and promotional boggles that help promote Z88.3 and G106.3, and our youth oriented outreaches, HOT 95.9 and 103.7 The ROCK. All four stations are available over-the-air, in HD, or on the web.
This category is pure and simple evangelism. Our goal is to point individuals to Z88.3, G106.3, Hot 95.9, and 103.7 The ROCK — these stations then point the way to Christ! Jesus Christ said “I am the resurrection and the life, no man comes to the Father except by me.” and “If I (Christ) am lifted up, I will draw all men unto Myself…”
Therefore, this item is critical to the mission of the ministry. Imagine the effect for the Kingdom if we could double or even triple this category!
Business Insurance
This line item is $15,000 (3.9%), unchanged from last year.
Broadcast and general liability, hazard and loss, and worker’s compensation insurance are covered here. Unchanged from last year is good news since there have been significant increases in prior years.
On-Air Programming
This line item is $15,000 (3.9%), down from $18,000 last year.
The item includes research in the listening habits of Central Floridians and the costs of Nielsen Audio, formally Arbitron, the service that measures radio listening.
This category also provides talent coaches and program consultants …and we have really “interesting” ones! Check out the bios of consultants John Frost, Alan Mason and talent coach Beth Bacall.
Voice-over work, promos, features, station imaging, traffic reports, news wire and the huge research budget are in this category. Included are a brand new set of Z88.3 jingles that every four-year-old can sing!
Taxes, Fees, and Business Expense
This line item is $13,000 (3.4%), unchanged from last year.
This category contains the music licensing fees or the “performance rights” we have to pay for the music played on the air and the internet. Also, a chunk is for bank fees.
Dues, subscriptions and miscellaneous charges are also lumped into this item. We subscribe to non-profit guides, trade journals, newspaper and magazines. Dues are paid annually to trade associations such as the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), the Society of Broadcast Engineers (SBE) and the Christian Music Broadcasters (CMB). Memberships in these organizations often pay for themselves in what we save in insurance pools, supplies and training costs that are benefits with these groups.
Contributions
This line item is $4,000 (1%).
This is actually a tithe of our lease and royalty income (non-donated, non-broadcast money) to fellow, worthy ministries who are making a difference for Christ.
The Board of Directors felt that a personal tithe is important for Godly living and as an act of worship. As a not-for-profit ministry dependent on donations from faithful supporters, it isn’t ethical to divert monies given to one purpose (broadcast) to another purpose. However, the Board can give 10% from non-broadcast lease and royalty income and this line item represents that amount.
Capital, Depreciation, and Contingency
This line item is $21,000 (5.4%), unchanged from last year.
This covers capital or “big ticket” purchases for the ministry. The massive shift is due to an increase in non-operating revenue which has helped to fund this category.
The term “Depreciation” was added to this line item years ago to accurately account for money set aside to replace capital items as they wear out. Many businesses budget for this, but very few ministries.
Also, we always “squirrel” away at least 90 days of operating expenses for contingencies. These funds will carry us through a hurricane or other disasters.
Final Thoughts
Thank you for taking the time to read this! May God move in your heart to stand with us. To make your secure gift, please click here. As always, if you have any comments or questions regarding the budget or the operation of the stations, please feel free to contact me or give me a call during business hours at (407) 869-8000.
Your partnership is vital to our mission! Soli Deo Gloria! (To God alone be all the Glory!)
Respectfully Submitted,
Jim
James S. Hoge
Z88.3’s Founder and President
The Legal Stuff
… or the really technical things the auditors would like me to remind you:
Contained herein is the proposed budget for the operation of non-commercial radio stations WPOZ, WMYZ, WHYZ, WDOZ, and associated HD offerings and translator stations collectively known doing business as (DBA) Z88.3.
Z88.3 is owned by Central Florida Educational Foundation, Inc., and is operated by Z Ministries, Inc. Both organizations have the same board of directors and are local Florida not-for-profit corporations, recognized by the IRS as charitable under §501(c)(3) of the tax code. All donations to Z88.3, a registered DBA of Z Ministries, Inc., is tax deductible to the fullest extent allowed under law.
We assume the solicited and collected are for the general ministry activity of Central Florida Educational Foundation, Inc., and Z Ministries, Inc., conforming to IRS rules for unrestricted use of these monies in station operations unless we hear differently from you.
We have had funds donated for specific projects, i.e., we had a very large donation that went towards the purchase of the 1,600 foot tower for the 100,000 watt upgrade for WPOZ. If the Lord is telling you to do something specific, we want to accommodate your desire. Rather than use the regular donor route, please call the office at (407) 869-8000 and ask for Judy Wise, Cathy Ligato, or me, and we will manually setup your gift so that it will be accounted for properly and your desires carried out.
Also, we have some who like to make their donation with stock for the tax benefit, see this page for instructions and contact Judy Wise in the office at (407) 869-8000 and she can quickly and easily accommodate your gift.
Bless you!