KDHX Gave Kelly Wells a Raise Even as Revenue Plummeted

What happens when the nonprofit radio station you run begins hemorrhaging donors and listeners and, through a series of your own actions, loses the faith of the community it purports to serve? If that station is KDHX, it would appear that you get a raise.

According to the station's tax return signed by Executive Director Kelly Wells and dated March 14, Wells was paid more than $100,000 in reportable compensation last year, even as the station's revenue  sharply declined. That's a raise from prior years, an analysis of KDHX tax returns shows.

The form 990 tax filing shows that the Double Helix Corporation, KDHX's parent company, brought in a total of $808,378 in gifts, grants, contributions and membership fees in 2023, down from $977,175 in the prior year. And that's part of a worrisome downward trend for the station, which reported $1,314,351 in gifts and grants in 2018, the year before allegations of mismanagement and racial insensitivity were made against Wells by a group of then-current and former employees and volunteers. The station's receipt of those types of revenue has declined each year since then, with 2023 showing the sharpest decline to date. From 2018 to 2023, the station has seen a staggering 38 percent drop.

Yet despite that financial turmoil, Wells' compensation apparently increased in 2023. The IRS requires nonprofits to list any employees who receive more than $100,000 in compensation. In prior filings, including that of 2022, the total number of KDHX employees at that level is listed as zero. In 2023, there is now one: Wells, at $106,082.

It's a somewhat surprising development given all that's gone on in the last year or so at the community radio station. After the firing of prominent volunteer DJ Tom "Papa" Ray in February 2023, a slew of additional firings and resignations followed, hollowing out the station's programming schedule and ousting many of its most experienced DJs, causing a furious backlash amongst listenership.

In the time since, the programming schedule has largely been filled out again, with new volunteer DJs stepping into the slots vacated by those who are no longer at the station. But listenership has not rebounded, and Nielsen ratings show the station captured just 0.9 percent of the St. Louis market in March.

At the same time, donors have also fled the station in droves, with Wells writing in February that KDHX had lost a third of its donors. Pledge drives have since increased in intensity, with Wells acknowledging that the station is in a tough spot financially (even if, apparently, she is not).

We reached out to a representative for KDHX earlier this afternoon and asked how station leaders justified giving Wells a raise in the last year against the backdrop of sharply declining revenue. We will update this story if we hear back.

In the mean time, the organization's tax return suggests the station's finances are indeed a cause for concern. Total net assets or fund balances stood at $391,257 at the beginning of the 2023. By the end, the number was at $63,604. The station started the year with $101,429 in cash and ended it with just $2,317, the return reports. Program service revenue dropped; "other" revenue dropped. Overall, the station reported that it lost $327,653 in 2023 — more than double its reported 2022 loss of $136,601.

In fact, one of the only places to see an increase for KDHX in 2023 was in the line item reporting salaries. Its seven employees collectively saw a 7.89 percent increase.


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