One of the unfortunate consequences of the election is that on-air reminders of upcoming KPFA benefit events are being crowded out by candidates’ statements and other election notices.
Remember that the annual KPFA Crafts Fair (the station’s single biggest off-air fundraiser) is scheduled for December 8-9, and that there are several KPFA benefit events on the horizon. These are important ways to raise money for our radio station.
In an encouraging sign that KPFA’s management is serious about trying to rein in the length of fund drives, KPFA’s Fall Fund Drive ended last Friday, after 19 days of fundraising — five days shorter than the previous year’s. It also ended short of its goal by roughly $140,000.
KPFA is trying to make up some of the difference through online pledges — so we encourage you to contribute at kpfa.org.
Some context: KPFA was forced to lengthen its fund drives dramatically over the past two years to compensate for the drop in pledging after now-ousted Pacifica executive director Arlene Engelhardt axed KPFA’s Morning Show.
One of the greatest challenges facing KPFA is to find a way to shorten its fund drives before it’s trapped in a downward spiral of diminishing returns and dropping listenership from too much airtime devoted to asking for support.
KPFA’s interim manager took a step in the right direction when he returned former Morning Show co-host Brian Edwards-Tiekert to morning drive time, with the introduction of UpFront weekdays at 7 AM. On its first day, the program delivered KPFA’s top fundraising totals — and has ever since. The money raised during UpFront in KPFA’s Summer Fund Drive helped make that drive the first in years to both end on schedule and beat its goal.
New approach to fund drives?
In the current drive, UpFront‘s fundraising has continued to grow, but the station overall was flagging. Fall fundraisers have historically been hard for KPFA in Presidential election years, as the elections tend to siphon off donations, time and attention. Facing daily totals that would have required the station to extend the drive to four weeks or more to make goal, management decided to end it and make a strong appeal to listeners to support that effort.
It paid off: in the three days after KPFA announced it would end its fund drive early, the station raised more money than in the previous eight days. And while KPFA may need to add a few days of fundraising in December to make up the difference, it will be far fewer days than KPFA would have had to extend its Fall fund drive to actually make its goal.
Now, KPFA is back to producing strong, uninterrupted programming — the kind of work that is especially important in the run-up to a major election. We think it’s a step in the right direction, and SaveKPFA is strongly encouraging KPFA listeners to show their support by pledging online at kpfa.org/support.
There is a second reason it’s important to support KPFA right now: the station’s new fiscal year has begun, Pacifica treasurer Tracy Rosenberg has extended her grip on office by tying up the recall vote count in court, and we fully expect her to use the fund drive shortfall as an pretext to push for retaliatory cuts at KPFA in the weeks to come.
KPFA’s Summer Mini-Fund Drive was the first in recent memory to finish on time, and on goal. Ahead of goal, actually: by the time the pledge room closed at 7 PM last Thursday, KPFA had exceeded its $285,000 goal by a whopping $45,000 — bringing in a total of $330,000. More donations continue to trickle in online. A hearty congratulations to all, and a big THANK YOU to everyone who pledged!
What accounts for the turnaround? For one thing, good news. On day two of the fund drive, word got out via this SaveKPFA newsletter and elsewhere that the Pacifica National Board had declined to renew the contract of Pacifica Executive Director Arlene Engelhardt, the executive who killed KPFA’s Morning Show.
This was also the first full fund drive with UpFront — the new 7 AM news collaboration that returned former Morning Show co-host Brian Edwards-Tiekert to a morning timeslot. Just 10 weeks old, the program, co-hosted by Edwards-Tiekert and KPFK’s Sonali Kolhatkar, delivered KPFA’s top pledge totals, bringing in nearly $50,000 over the course of the mini fund drive.
Donate to KPFA now, so you can vote this fall. If you didn’t give during the drive, you can still show support for KPFA’s new direction by donating online at www.kpfa.org. In order to vote in this fall’s general election for representatives to KPFA’s Local Station Board, you must have given at least $25 in the year ending August 30, 2012.