Total Donations & Membership for 88.1 FM, Your NPR News Station

Community College of Baltimore County

WYPR 88.1 FM, a Baltimore-based National Public Radio affiliate, relies heavily on the generosity of its members to support commercial-free news and entertainment. WYPR's listener base is incredibly varied. Supporting members come from many different backgrounds, socioeconomic statuses, faiths, and political views.

Using ArcGIS 9.3 software, WYPR's donation and membership data from 2005 through 2008 was mapped to Maryland ZIP Codes to see which areas donated more and had higher membership. Adobe Illustrator CS3 was used to lay out the map in its final poster form. The resulting maps of Maryland showed the highest amount of donations and memberships in northern Baltimore City and central Baltimore County. The inset maps show the yearly change in the immediate Baltimore metropolitan area and how steady those areas are in their support of WYPR, with a decrease in membership southwest of Baltimore City.

The maps also show the negative effects of having two membership drives in 2008 instead of the three WYPR regularly has each year. Membership and donation totals were down significantly in all but their most successful ZIP Codes. With this research, WYPR knows where its membership resides and can make new efforts to expand membership in other areas.

Courtesy of Louis Umerlik. State, City, and ZIP Code boundaries provided by Esri. Membership and donation data provided by 88.1 WYPR radio station.

Map Book Page [PDF]