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10.If the station is commercial why do you need to operate as a charity and receive donations?
Firstly, whilst we see the station being mostly self-funding through commercial income, significant donations will be necessary for the ‘capital’ needed to start the station. In any normal company this would be provided by investors in return for ownership of the company and profits. However, we believe that, given the public service nature of the station, it should not be owned by any individual. For this reason we will be setting the station up as a charity run by trustees rather than a share company owned by individuals.
Secondly, whilst we don’t anticipate this to be a major source of income, because of the “public service” nature of the station, there will be people who wish to make donations. This being the case, it’s wise to facilitate this by having a charitable structure.
Finally, experience has shown that it’s wise not to depend on any one source of income for the station. As well as sourcing commercial income from more than one avenue donations are a further way of diversifying our income streams.
