That’s clever accounting for a couple reasons. 1) the affiliate stations that broadcast in each market are very often government funded up to 100%. They pay NP

That’s clever accounting for a couple reasons. 1) the affiliate stations that broadcast in each market are very often government funded up to 100%. They pay NPR fees to broadcast their content and be the local “NPR station”. It’s essentially laundering government funds if they want to say they only receive 1%. 2) They are a non-profit. Most of their funding comes from donations. These are tax deductible donations meaning tax payers are indirectly funding them. They make money otherwise too. But without the donations (which would not happen if they were not a non-profit) and without the government subsidized local stations, they’d not exist.