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Seattle Radio Station KEXP Celebrates a $10 Million Gift

The Seattle radio station KEXP has received a bequest of just under $10 million from a donor known as Suzanne.Credit...Ruth Fremson/The New York Times

SEATTLE — Yellow-and-black stickers indicating a donor to the local broadcaster KEXP are a common sight on bumpers and laptops in this music-loving town. But the venerable independent station found at 90.3 FM on Puget Sound airwaves would have to exhaust its sticker supply to thank its most recent donor.

On Monday, the 46-year-old station announced a bequest of just under $10 million from an anonymous donor known as Suzanne. The station’s executive director, Thomas Mara, believes it is the largest-ever gift to a single U.S. public radio station. The donation will create a permanent endowment, secure six months’ continuous cash reserves and fund a full-time education and outreach team.

While the nature of a 24-hour live radio station doesn’t easily allow for an all-hands office meeting, Mr. Mara, 54, described the jubilant atmosphere at the station after informing the staff via email. “It was deeply moving to simply watch people’s expressions,” he said. “A lot of smiling, head shaking, even some tears.”

Suzanne died in 2016 and her estate lawyers informed the station of the gift in February 2017. For the last year, the station’s leadership and board kept the gift under wraps while they received a crash course in setting up a permanent endowment.

“There is not a manual for this,” Mr. Mara said. The gift is larger than the station’s average two-year cash budget of $8 million, half of which comes from individual donations. In addition to providing financial stability, he intends for the gift to allow more musician workshops on topics like securing festival bookings, understanding contracts and staying healthy on tour.

“Thanks to Suzanne we’ll be able to play a better role as a guide to musicians,” Mr. Mara said.

KEXP began in 1972 as a 10-watt student-run operation at the University of Washington under the call sign KCMU. In 2001, the former Microsoft executive Paul Allen donated $3 million to build an off-campus studio. The station changed its name to KEXP to align with the nearby, Allen-funded Experience Music Project (now the Museum of Popular Culture, or MoPOP) and began operating under a nonprofit organization independent from the university.

After outgrowing the cramped studio, KEXP launched a capital campaign in 2012 to raise $15 million for larger, state-of-the-art facilities at Seattle Center. The station began broadcasting from the new home in December 2015 and opened to the public with a cafe, record store and public gathering space for live performances in April 2016.

Suzanne toured the facility while it was under construction and signed her name on an interior wall that was later covered. “As staff we know her name is literally on the walls of KEXP,” Mr. Mara said.

On Monday, the afternoon D.J. Kevin Cole, one of several staff members who knew the donor’s tastes in soul, new wave, punk and ska, played a 45-minute tribute with songs by the English Beat, Sharon Jones and the Cure. “We are humbled and honored to receive this incredible generosity from Suzanne,” he said after starting the set with Leonard Cohen’s “Suzanne.”

As streaming services and algorithms increasingly dominate music consumption, KEXP’s cheeky slogans like “Robot-Free Radio” resonate with listeners.

“Because our D.J.s have been given the exclusive responsibility to select the music that you hear, you get to know our D.J.s by listening to the songs they think need to be heard,” Mr. Mara said. “That creates a powerful connection and I think that was a major reason why Suzanne connected so strongly with us.”

Suzanne, who lived out of state but has Seattle-area family, was a listener since the 1990s. She described KEXP’s role in her life in a testimonial that she recorded before her death and that was broadcast during the tribute.

“When I told my uncle that my favorite radio station had just gone off the air, he turned me on to KEXP,” she said. “Music is one of the best ways to unite people globally, and I love an organization which spreads that goodness.”

She concluded with donors’ customary signoff during testimonials, whatever their gift: “I’m Suzanne, and I power KEXP.”

A version of this article appears in print on  , Section C, Page 3 of the New York edition with the headline: A $10 Million Gift For Seattle Station. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

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