Gearing up to mark its golden anniversary in September, New York public television station WNET is launching an ambitious drive to bring in 50,000 new contributors, The New York Times writes.

Meeting the goal would represent an increase of more than 25 percent in the station’s donor base at a time when contributions to WNET, and public television in general, are declining.

“It’s a pretty ambitious goal, we know that,” WNET spokeswoman Lisa Mantone said. “But we feel that it’s within the realm of something we can achieve,” given the station’s weekly viewership of 3.3 million.

The New York station has about 180,000 members who pay at least $60 in dues a year, down from 350,000 in 2003. Lapsed members will be one target of the anniversary campaign.