Instructions for executing your DIY LPFM application.
(1) You need to have some type of nonprofit entity, educational entity, governmental agency, or Native organization to apply. If you need to incorporate a new nonprofit via you Secretary of State's website, make sure your organization's mission statement has an educational objective, like "To provide educational broadcast via non-commercial broadcast/streaming for matters of [city you are in] arts, music, news, and public affairs".
(2) Obtain an FCC FRN. Here are the instructions: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1yBBHZifiYmvDirkswCTVh1UrflNK5E0GPYf3G9M-7UI/edit?usp=sharing
(3) Find a copy of your organizational registration (usually with the state, at times the Federal Government). This is usually called the Articles of Incorporation if your organization is incorporated. If your organization are unincorporated, there should be some type of government recognition. This should be in PDF form.
(4) You need to compose an "Advancement of FCC Educational Broadcast Program". This is what you are going to do with the station which is educational in nature. Here are examples that can be used for templates https://docs.google.com/document/d/1BdxKtjWOCUKdfWzNb6vXH4TkdUxoqkQ6rZyw2c-0vM8/edit?usp=sharing. Make a PDF of this.
(5) You need to get the basic information from the nonprofit. This is usually the nonprofits headquarters address, mailing address, contact person, and a list of all the board members with their phone numbers and email addresses. Try to be as complete as possible. Here's a spreadsheet you can either copy in Google Sheets or export as a Microsoft Excel file to collect all the board member information https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1M8dWK0mSIfoP6EwLzybmV-KzM4CSwxiEYcJTIQsVSPY/edit?usp=sharing. Note 80% of the board is required to have US citizenship.
(6) You need information for the engineering portion of the form. The FCC wants you to propose a location for the FM antenna. This can be changed later. At times even a back yard of a house would work. You can also use someone else's property, or a nearby building roof. The third option is to look for a commercial tower to apply at; Common Frequency might be able to identify that. But if you go there route of specifying another person's tower or property, you would need to ask them "would you be open to placing an antenna on your property if we got the FCC permit?" That is called "reasonable assurance". The FCC wants the name and phone number of the person that is open to placing an antenna on their property to make sure applicants are legitimate (the FCC does not check). So either find a spot, or ask CF if they see a commercial tower in the air. Go here and copy this text and paste in an email to todd [at] commonfrequency.org. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1AxQTWhvEjLPVU5IEAwIKR8NRaQ1w1treVs8kJ8p2-JM/edit?usp=sharing. Pre-arrange with Todd assisting with the technical stuff.
(7) Here's some of the basic pointers for the non-technical part of the FCC LPFM Form 318 https://drive.google.com/file/d/1h7ib7_-i3DuRgBkjb5yAsKgScHrES6FG/view?usp=sharing. Note: Not mentioned on this form. If you click "yes" being an "established local application" (i.e. your nonprofit has been local for 2 years), you will need to provide proof. If you attached your articles of incorporation, and the articles list a principal place of business (local address) over two years ago, this will suffice. Then, just provide an attachment that says "See Attached Articles of Incorporation". If the Articles don't list a local business location, you might need to attach state Statement of Information from going back at least two years prior (date stamped) with a personal declaration attesting that this is correct. The second way you can show established local applicant is you need to show 75% of the board has been local for at least two years.
(8) You can now log into the FCC LMS system to start an application. Heres the instructions to log into LPFM https://docs.google.com/document/d/14XhW7TmwSM1AUiNlWZmYwIpGSt3LmLNHL3Ci5t0UOTI/edit?usp=sharing
Remember once you've clicked SUBMIT there is no going back. You might ask Common Frequency to check your work.