In the world of public radio, underwriting is a partnership between the radio program and a funder, to provide all or part of the financial support needed to produce and market the program in order to make it available for the public.  This is considered a long-term commitment, be it six months or several years.

The benefits to the program are obvious. The foremost is freedom from fundraising, which allows our small staff to do what they do best – produce an outstanding, entertaining, weekly one-hour science radio show and podcast. It also, crucially, allows for new projects and services that are impossible today due to limited personnel and funds.

The benefits for the individual or organization are both concrete and nuanced.  The underwriter would be mentioned in each episode of the broadcast and podcast, to reach our large and growing worldwide audience.  Currently, this includes regularly scheduled broadcasts on over 150 public and community radio stations, airing on American Forces Network (available to US servicemen and women worldwide), and over 100,000 podcast downloads per month.  The underwriter’s participation would also be featured on this website. 

This level of support would illustrate the underwriter’s commitment to informal science education and science literacy in the U.S. and across the world. It would also introduce the underwriter to the well-known nonprofit SETI Institute, parent organization for Big Picture Science.

Other benefits may be possible, such as a live program at a corporate headquarters. More ideas can be discussed and developed during the partnership.

And, of course, in the U.S., the donation is tax-deductible.

For more information on Big Picture Science, check out our About page and listen to an episode or several from our archives.

We invite you to make a huge difference in continuing and expanding our efforts for science explanation, inspiration, inclusion, and understanding. 

If this intrigues you, let’s start talking!  Please email bigpicturescience@seti.org.