fund drives – SaveKPFA

KPFA elections coming: make sure you get a ballot!

January 29, 2024August 8, 2015 by Save KPFA

The Pacifica network is poised to hold its first board elections in three years. SaveKPFA has put together a full slate of wonderful candidates, who will bring fresh perspectives onto KPFA’s board.

But to get them elected, we’ll need your vote, and that means you’ll need a ballot.

To be eligible to vote, you have to have given at least $25 to KPFA in the year ending this Tuesday, July 14.

Not sure whether your last donation was recent enough? The best way to make sure you get a ballot is to donate right now at https://secure.kpfa.org/support/

We’ve made great progress, but we need your help to keep it up

SaveKPFA came together as an organization devoted to supporting KPFA’s paid and unpaid staff, securing local control of our radio station, winning accountability and transparency from Pacifica (the nonprofit corporation that owns KPFA), and getting terrific programming onto the air.

We won control of KPFA’s Local Board the same year that Pacifica’s then-leadership sidelined KPFA’s listeners and local management by canceling KPFA’s much-loved Morning Show, and attempting to purge its staff.

Since then, we’ve changed the leadership at Pacifica, helped repair KPFA’s morning lineup, recruited permanent, stable management for KPFA, and started to stabilize Pacifica’s financial problems. Check out our history at saveKPFA.org.

That work has finally resulted in real progress at KPFA: our station launched a spiffy new website this spring that’s optimized for use on mobile devices (where larger and larger numbers of people are getting their media). Management freed up space for new voices by piloting 20 hours of new programming on its second signal, KPFB. And, finally, KPFA has started to shrink the length of its fund drives. (Just last week, KPFA General Manager Quincy McCoy announced we’re able to cancel KPFA’s Summer Fund Drive–for the first time in 15 years!)

Everything we’ve achieved over the past several years has been made possible by thousands of mobilized listeners like you: who turned out at demonstrations to win back control of KPFA, who dug deep during fund drives when KPFA was on the brink, and who delivered landslide victories to SaveKPFA in successive listener elections.
If you support that progress — and you’d like to see more — show your support and secure your ballot by donating NOW at https://secure.kpfa.org/support.

Ralph Nader and Amy Goodman urge support for Pacifica network

January 29, 2024December 21, 2014 by Save KPFA

Thanks to all who donated so generously to the station’s winter fund drive, which ended today with $335,000 pledged. That’s only $25,000 short of the goal.

Please consider making an end-of-the-year, tax deductible gift to help put KPFA over the top. You can pledge securely online at KPFA.org, and while you are there, have a look at the colorful new graphics that are enlivening the station’s webspace.

Meanwhile, supporters of all five Pacifica stations are receiving this letter from Ralph Nader urging them to help the network “remain a vibrant and sustainable source of information that serves the public interest and our diverse communities.” Among other things, Nader cites Pacifica’s “eclectic mix of programming that educates and empowers for change.”

Also endorsing the call for support is Amy Goodman of Democracy Now!, who is quoted on the letter’s envelope: “The Pacifica Network is a vital cornerstone of our independent media landscape that depends on your financial support. Please donate today to safeguard the future of listener-powered community radio.”

KPFA’s new program director: Laura Prives

January 29, 2024October 9, 2014 by Save KPFA

After a year-long search for a program director initiated by KPFA’s elected Local Station Board, KPFA general manager Quincy McCoy has announced he’s promoting long-time KPFA producer Laura Prives to the position

Prives began volunteering in KPFA’s News Department in 2003, on the day the US began bombing Iraq. Later, she moved to the Morning Show, where she worked her way up to executive producer. She helped launch two of KPFA’s most successful new programs: Letters and Politics with Mitch Jeserich, and UpFront with Brian Edwards-Tiekert. Currently, she’s working as a producer on both of those programs and Hard Knock Radio. Previously, she had worked as a DJ at KALX, and a researcher at the Federal Reserve.

“Laura has been one of KPFA’s unsung heroes for years,” said local board treasurer, Barbara Whipperman, a member of SaveKPFA. “Everyone she has worked with knows her incredible work ethic, sharp ear for good radio, and cool head under pressure — which is exactly what KPFA needs right now.”

According to an all-staff memo, Prives will assume her new duties on November 2. KPFA has been without a permanent program director for nearly 15 years.

“When we won elections for KPFA’s Local Station Board, we hoped to help bring competent, stable leadership to the station,” said Whipperman. KPFA completed the long-delayed hire of a general manager in June, when it hired Quincy McCoy.

Meanwhile, KPFA’s FALL FUND DRIVE is underway, raising desperately needed funds. This drive has an additional goal of “refreshing” KPFA by raising money to overhaul KPFA’s website and make it a better tool for distributing programs and raising money off-air. Please show your support now by pledging at www.kpfa.org.