[grc] Does KBOO survive on one fund drive a year?

Ann Garrison anniegarrison at gmail.com
Thu Feb 9 20:01:55 PST 2017


Thanks.  All good points and yes, I do think it's a discussion worth
having, not only at KPFA but throughout our community radio community.
KPFA staff and guests drop so much cash at Au Coquelet Café that they
should do something or other to support the station. I believe they've been
asked - maybe just for food for fund drive volunteers - but they've always
said no.

I've always wished that KPFA would finally turn the vacant restaurant space
that it owns as part of its building complex into a coffee house and divert
all the cash spent at Au Coquelet back into KPFA.

(For those who don't know this story, KPFA owns a small restaurant space
next to the Pacifica National Office, which is next to KPFA, the station.
The restaurant space has been sitting there empty for years since a
Japanese Restaurant left, but KPFA has never been able to muster the
political will to turn it into the coffee house that could be a cash cow
for KPFA.)

Sharing this imagining that there might be something there of relevance to
other stations.

For real,
Ann Garrison <http://www.anngarrison.com/>
Independent Journalist,
SKYPE: Ann Garrison, Oakland
415-503-7487


On Thu, Feb 9, 2017 at 5:21 PM, UnderCurrents Radio <
undercurrentsradio at gmail.com> wrote:

> Thanks Ann for opening this conversation:
>
> KPFA used to solicit and publish tons of advertising from small local
> businesses (food co-ops, fabric shops, book shops, music venues, etc.).
> These funded the Folio printed program guide.  I don’t know if there was
> anything left after printing and postage, but KPFA certainly had no qualms
> then about receiving this income month after month from the private
> sector.  There well may have been guidelines then, and I believe that with
> appropriate guidelines now, underwriting could be made to work.  Listeners
> already hear thank-you messages to local bakeries, etc. during fund drives,
> and plenty of private music venues and book publishers are mentioned on the
> air as part of the arts programming.
>
> Other opportunities for advertising:  a short pre-roll spot on the
> streaming service, ads on the website, sponsorships of live events.
>
> The main concern I’ve heard voiced is that listeners won’t feel as
> obligated to contribute if they perceive (perhaps wrongly) that the books
> are being balanced with underwriting.  There’s a certain urgency and power
> in being able to say “we depend on you, our listeners, *entirely* for the
> funds it takes to keep this station on the air."
>
> KVMR in Nevada City has an active development department with lots of
> underwriting and they seem to be thriving, while at the same time promoting
> localism.
>
> My 2-cents
>
> Gregg McVicar
> Producer (and occasional KPFA volunteer)
> www.undercurrentsradio.net
> gregg at radiocamp.com
>
>
>
>
> On Feb 9, 2017, at 3:19 PM, Ann Garrison via grc <grc at maillist.peak.org>
> wrote:
>
> I just heard something else interesting on KBOO, a thank you for
> underwriting to Gazelle Natural Fiber Clothing (sp?), which I assume to be
> a local store there.
>
> This kind of local, politically correct underwriting has often been
> discussed but never implemented at KPFA.  The fear, I believe, is that it
> would be a slippery slope.  I'm curious about KBOO's process for deciding
> what are acceptable underwriters.
>
> For real,
> Ann Garrison <http://www.anngarrison.com/>
> Independent Journalist,
> SKYPE: Ann Garrison, Oakland
> 415-503-7487 <(415)%20503-7487>
>
>
> On Thu, Feb 9, 2017 at 2:42 PM, Per Fagereng <phantom at hevanet.com> wrote:
>
> I wish it were so. KBOO has two major fund drives, plus one or two
> short ones. Our winter drive is Feb 8-15.
>
> Per Fagereng
>
> -----Original Message----- From: Ann Garrison via grc Sent: Thursday,
> February 9, 2017 2:06 PM To: _GRC list ; Ann Garrison Subject: [grc] Does
> KBOO survive on one fund drive a year?
> I'm listening to a KBOO-Portland interview with Jeffrey St. Clair, re his
> book "Bernie and the Sandernistas: Field Notes from a Failed Revolution,"
> which they're giving away during their fund drive.  I heard them say "Keep
> KBOO going for another year."
>
> Does that mean that KBOO survives on one fund drive a year?
>
> For real,
> Ann Garrison <http://www.anngarrison.com/>
> Independent Journalist,
> SKYPE: Ann Garrison, Oakland
> 415-503-7487 <(415)%20503-7487>
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