Last year, record levels of community support saw Hawaiʻi Public Radio through the complete loss of federal funding for public media. Ever since HPRʻs founding in 1981, we had received federal funding via the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. That was our longest and most stable source of support. That support — like CPB itself — is gone.
This is the hard part now, making the case for continued support after the rush of the crisis-giving period. But hope and optimism are in our organizational DNA.
We are aiming to reach a $550,000 goal by the end of the day this Thursday.
As of Tuesday morning, we have more than $250,000 to go.
The staff and I are so grateful for the strong support we are seeing. Hundreds of current members have been generously renewing and increasing their gifts. The messages people are leaving for us, many of which we read live on air, speak to the importance of protecting democracy, elevating voices and deep musical talent, companionship and the feeling that HPR is family.
We are making special appeals to bring in more first-time members.
Out of the hundreds of thousands of people who regularly enjoy this freely available service across all our platforms, less than 10% give. That's about 16,000 people. The team and I believe it's both ambitious and reasonable to aim for 20% of our audience to support us, at any level they choose.
That may take some time. But tenacity also runs in our DNA.
In these days of dramatic shrinkages to local news, fresh and harmful limits to press access and freedom, backlash against arts and cultural organizations and apocalyptic predictions for humanity in the face of unpredictable AI actions, Hawaiʻi Public Radio is a service that is more distinctive and vital than ever before.
If you are already a member, mahalo, and please pass this message on to a colleague, neighbor, friend or family member, or anyone in your circle who is likely to join you in supporting trusted information, the inspiring power of music and human connection.
On a personal note, I'm deeply honored to be a part of the HPR team and community for two years now. I'm grateful for the commitment of colleagues and community that I've seen firsthand, and also to those who have come before my time, evolving and expanding HPR since 1981. Our future is increasingly bright because of those folks and the people we exist to serve.
There's simply nothing like Hawaiʻi Public Radio. Trusted, community-focused, freely available and 100% independent.
