- The free News-Miner calendar listing (section 4). Submitted — nobody needs to open that form.
- All the radio submissions (section 3). KJNP, the iHeart stations and KUAC, cover note and all.
- The Facebook and Instagram ads, once Robert confirms the budget.
- Newspaper artwork, as soon as Bill has a size quoted.
- Say the radio scripts read right (section 3). That's the only approval I need.
- Share the posts yourselves (section 2) — Robert, Bill, Josh and Becky, not just Zion's page. And into the Fairbanks and North Pole Facebook groups, which only accept posts from members.
- Order the prints (section 6) and get the half-pages out around town.
- Bill only: call the News-Miner if he wants a paid ad (section 4). The free listing is already handled.
Everything here is written to be copied and sent as-is — email, social posts, radio scripts and newspaper copy, all carrying the same date, address and link. Each block has its own Copy button — click it, then paste into Outlook, into a bulletin, or into a Facebook post.
The radio scripts show their real word count and read time, measured from the text itself at a normal announcer pace of 150 words a minute. If you edit a script, the numbers update as you type, so you can see whether it still fits the slot.
1 · Email
Three lengths. Use the invitation when you're writing to people directly, the bulletin blurb when you're asking another church to run it for you, and the text message when you're inviting one person from your phone.
Subject: You're invited — a free afternoon of songs and the stories behind them, Sept 26 in Fairbanks
Hello,
You're invited to Songs & Stories of Hope — a free afternoon of great music and the encouraging stories behind the songs, at Zion Lutheran Church in Fairbanks.
Saturday, September 26 · 2:00–3:30 PM
Zion Lutheran Church, 2982 Davis Road, Fairbanks
Free to attend — no ticket, nothing to sign up for
Becky Key is a singer and songwriter who has spent more than twenty years playing in churches and community halls. She'll sing, and then tell you where each song came from. Her brother, Josh Vigran, is Zion's music director. Pastor Bobby Key brings a message — the honest kind, about where hope actually comes from when life is hard.
Come as you are, bring your family, bring a friend. If you know someone who is carrying something heavy right now, this is an easy afternoon to invite them to.
Everything — the music, the people, a map — is here: lutheranindianministries.org/zion
Hope to see you there.
Songs & Stories of Hope — Saturday, September 26, 2:00–3:30 PM at Zion Lutheran Church, 2982 Davis Road, Fairbanks. Singer-songwriter Becky Key sings, then tells the story behind each song, with Zion music director Josh Vigran and a message from Pastor Bobby Key. Free to attend, everyone welcome. Details at lutheranindianministries.org/zion.
Free afternoon at Zion Lutheran in Fairbanks — songs, and the stories behind them. Sat Sept 26, 2 to 3:30. Thought of you. Come with me? lutheranindianministries.org/zion
2 · Social media
Four graphics, already sized for where they're going, plus the words to post with them. Save the image, paste the caption, done. All four carry the date, the address and the link, so they still work when someone screenshots one and sends it on.
3 · Radio public service announcements
Written to be read out loud, not read off a page. Numbers and the web address are spelled the way an announcer says them, so nobody has to work it out live on air. Stations usually want a :30; send all three and let them pick.
- KJNP — 1170 AM / 100.3 FM, North Pole. The one that matters most for this audience: Christian
station, Fairbanks and North Pole, and the audience most likely to come.
kjnp@mosquitonet.com, 907-488-2216. Their kjnp.com domain is parked and for sale, so this is the one address I won't trust cold — I'm calling them to confirm it before sending. Nothing needed from you. - The iHeart cluster — KIAK 102.5, KFBX 970, KAKQ 101.1 and their sister stations. One address
covers all of them:
fairbanksradio@iheartmedia.com. Offices at 546 9th Avenue, weekdays 8–5. - KUAC — 89.9 FM, public radio. Takes PSAs through an online form linked from kuac.org/contact-us. No email needed, no phone call.
None of them publish a lead time, so these go out as early as possible rather than timed. The scripts carry their own run and kill dates, which is what stations actually need to schedule them.
4 · Newspaper
For the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, or any paper. There is a free listing to claim before anyone spends anything, then copy at three depths for a bought space — papers charge by the inch, so the shortest one that still carries the date, place and price is usually the right buy.
I'm submitting this one — you can skip past it. It's here so you know it's covered and can see what went in. The News-Miner runs its events calendar through a service called evvnt, and a basic listing costs nothing. Paid upgrades get offered during the flow — featured placement and syndication to other calendars — and I'm declining those. This goes in whether or not Bill buys an ad.
The form, if you ever want it for another event: News-Miner event submission →
Paste the community-calendar copy below into it, and use the wide graphic from section 2 if it asks for an image.
- Advertising department — advertising@newsminer.com · 907-459-7548. This is the number for both display and classified.
- Main switchboard — 907-456-6661 · 200 N. Cushman St., Fairbanks, AK 99701
They don't publish rates or ad sizes anywhere on their site — there's no rate card and the “Place An Ad” page has no specifications on it, so a quote has to be asked for. When Bill calls, the four things worth getting are:
- Sizes and rates, and specifically whether there's a nonprofit or community rate. Worth pushing on: the News-Miner is itself a 501(c)(3) nonprofit now, so a free event run by two nonprofits is exactly the sort of thing they may price differently. They won't offer it unasked.
- The deadline for the edition he wants — work backwards from Saturday, September 26.
- Artwork format — normally a press-ready PDF at a size given in columns by inches.
- Print vs. website. Two different buys. The display advertising on newsminer.com is sold through a platform called Thunder; the printed paper is the advertising department. Make sure the quote says which one it's for.
Send me the size they quote and I'll supply print-ready artwork at that exact spec. Guessing at column widths is how an ad comes back rejected or reflowed, so the copy below is ready now and the artwork follows the moment we know the dimensions.
5 · The note that goes with it
Paste this into the email carrying the scripts. Stations turn down announcements that arrive with no dates, no contact, and no idea who's asking — this covers all three. Gary is sending these, so nothing here needs doing — it's shown so you can see what goes out over LIM's name.
Subject: PSA request — free community concert, Fairbanks, September 26
Hello [station / name],
I'm writing to ask whether you would run a public service announcement for a free community event in Fairbanks.
Songs & Stories of Hope is an afternoon of music and the stories behind the songs, at Zion Lutheran Church on Saturday, September 26, 2:00–3:30 PM. It's free, open to everyone, and nothing is being sold or collected. It's hosted by Zion Lutheran Church together with Lutheran Indian Ministries, a nonprofit that has served Native people across Alaska and the lower forty-eight since 1985.
I've included scripts at fifteen, thirty and sixty seconds — please use whichever fits your rotation, and edit freely to match your on-air style. We'd ask that they run any time between now and September 26, and stop after that date.
Full event details, including a poster you're welcome to use: lutheranindianministries.org/zion
If you need anything else from us — letterhead, nonprofit documentation, or a recorded read — just say the word and I'll get it to you.
Thank you for considering it.
Gary Ricke
on behalf of Lutheran Indian Ministries
gary.ricke@orbisdesign.com
Ministry contact: Robert Heffle · rheffle@lutheranindianministries.org · 907-230-1369
6 · What to attach
Send the poster with anything going to a station, a church office, or social media. Send the link with everything.
