urgent

May 25, 2021

donate now

Dear KFCF friend,

 

I’d like to thank you for your past support of KFCF. We’ve made it through 46 incredible years of volunteer and staff infused programs of arts, music, news and views, but this year is looking pretty bleak for KFCF. We understand a lot of people are suffering the economic effects of the pandemic and if you can’t afford something now, we understand. But if you can afford to make a donation now, we need to hear from you.

 KPFA/KFCF’s Spring 2021 Pledge drive is underway, but things don’t look good.

KPFA in the past has set their daily fundraising goal at $30,000 a day. This fund drive they lowered the daily goal to $25,000 and they are having a tough time meeting that goal.   As of today, 5/24 they are at 55% of their goal with 75% of the pledge drive completed. They need to raise $200,000 in just over 4 days.

 

Typically KFCF pledges contribute to about 6% of their total, around $30,000 – from which they then subtract costs of premiums, credit card fees, administrative fees and a few other costs of doing business and send the rest to use- usually about $20K or so.  As of today KFCF’s share is about $6,400 in paid pledges and about $8,500 if you count unpaid pledges and sustaining monthly pledges.  That’s about 3% of what KPFA has raised so far, half of what we do normally.  And that’s before they subtract fees, premiums, and such from the total.  We also raise some money pitching our locals shows, but that is down too… only about $4,000. It costs us $10,000 to $13,000 a month to operate KFCF. We’ve gone through a lot of our reserves and the cupboard is pretty bare.

 

KPFA has had major problems reconciling how much they owe us (or we owe them) for the past two years, switching their fundraising software multiple times, and they were over 18 months behind in getting data to us until early this year. It has made it difficult, if not impossible,  to see any trends or negative changes and to do any planning.

 

KFCF needs your support. We need to raise about $30,000 in the next few weeks. Without it, we could be gone in a few months.  Right now we are looking at additional  expenses for applying for our FCC broadcast license renewal for the next 8 years. We need to pay the  lawyers to review our application and probably hire a specialist to conduct the new FCC radio frequency exposure limits study to measure the energy at the transmitter site and tower.

 

We are starting to move to post-pandemic operations with show hosts in the studios, and guests still on phone or Zoom. As things open up we hope to be doing some live music and arts broadcasts, and to continue covering issues dealing with BLM, police injustice, the Tower Theatre sale, and more. Your support is needed now.

 

You can contribute by going to www.kfcf.org and clicking on the Donate Now button or send a check to us at KFCF, PO Box 4364, Fresno, CA 93744-4364. Or subscribe during the current pledge drive by calling when you hear a pledge break.

You can also make a donation by donating that old truck, car, boat, tractor or waterski to our Car Donation program at www.careasy.org or call 1-855-500-RIDE (7433). Another option is to remember KFCF/The Fresno Free College Foundation in your will/estate. Include language such as the following in your estate planning: “I give and bequeath unto the Fresno Free College Foundation/KFCF, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation, with its principal office in Fresno, California, the sum of $_______________ to be used to further the work of the foundation.”  (If you do not wish to specify an amount, you may use a residuary bequest that is stated as a percentage of your estate.)

Another option is making KFCF/FFCF the beneficiary of your 401(k)or 403(b), IRA, Roth or Keogh retirement plan. The designee should be the “Fresno Free College Foundation”, Taxpayer-ID 23-7071044. KFCF/FFCF can get your pre-tax contributions TAX FREE.

For more information, contact your estate lawyer/planner or contact the station at 559-233-2221.
Sincerely,
Rych Withers
KFCF General Manager