GOOOOOALLLLL!
Ahem. Sorry. Got a little excited.
With 20 hours remaining, 88.1 KDHX exceeded its Kickstarter goal of $50,000 to build The Stage at KDHX: a brand new venue in Grand Center for the entire community to enjoy, hang out in, and hear some great music. We did it through community support and a whole lot of people sending emails, tweets and posts about the venue. KSDK gave us a little boost too, which was really great.
At KDHX, we're used to doing pledge drives twice a year to cover our basic operation costs, but we've never done a Kickstarter for a new project like The Stage at KDHX. It was pretty harrowing watching the clock tick down at points. If you're not familiar with Kickstarter, it's all or nothing: if you don't reach your goal, you don't receive any of the pledged money. And, everything over the goal, we get to keep as well for the project.
In those final 20 hours, even though our goal had been met, the community continued donating to the tune of $8,520 more in funding. This shows me how passionate people are about independent music and media in St. Louis, and also makes me grin like an idiot: our St. Louis communities have the best fans and the best local supporters in the entire world. There's nothing else like it.
What other radio station has a community that feels like one big family?
And the national support we received from everyone (and bands like Wilco, Gogol Bordello, Neko Case and many, many more) was simply stunning to our little station. Smack dab in the heart of the country, we're part of a scene that just gets better and better. To see the whole country take notice is pretty awesome.
Thank you to the 635 backers who participated, and to everyone who posted, tweeted, blogged and supported us in spirit. We'll see you soon at The Stage at KDHX