KPR’s fall membership drive raises $300K but falls short of goal

LAWRENCE — Almost 1,500 people helped Kansas Public Radio raise just over $300,000 during its fall membership drive. However, KPR fell short of its $330,000 goal.

After eight days of on-air fundraising, KPR ended its fall membership drive with $300,511 in pledges. As of Sept. 29, Fall Fanfare 2023 concluded with pledges from 1,488 listener-members.

The membership drive began Sept. 22 with more than $228,000 raised through a direct-mail campaign and from monthly donors. By the campaign’s end, almost $73,000 was raised on air by pledges from new and renewing members.

“We faced a few obstacles in this drive,” said Feloniz Lovato-Winston, KPR director. “There was beautiful weather as well as a couple of high-profile football games while we were fundraising. There was a lot more competition for listeners’ attention. We’ll look for alternative ways rather than on-air pledging to make up the shortfall. If listeners who haven't pledged yet give at a level that works for them right now, we can easily meet our goal.”

The majority of KPR’s funding comes from individuals who contribute to the station in order to ensure it is properly resourced to serve the listening community. Of the total raised, more than half can be attributed to KPR Sustainers, or those who give monthly on an ongoing basis.

All donations during membership drives directly support KPR’s local and national programming, including news and talk shows from NPR, locally hosted music shows like classical music, “Trail Mix” and the “Retro Cocktail Hour,” and all of the equipment and technology that make programs on KPR possible.

The overall total does not include challenge grants, in which a company, foundation or individual will donate money if KPR can raise a certain level of funding during a specific time period. Almost $55,000 was raised through challenge grants.

Even though the on-air portion of the drive is over, listeners can donate anytime at the KPR website.