Considering dropping my WPR contribution......

[a kennedy]

I have always given to my local NPR station which is Wisconsin Public Radio.....well, this past week I get the call for the yearly donation and when I received the reminder of contribution notice, this was sent along with the request:

"To assist Wisconsin Public Radio Association, Inc. ("WPR&quot in reaching its members by phone to ask for their support, the paid professional fundraiser, Aria Communications Corporation, 717 West St. Germain St., St. Cloud, MN 56301, 320-259-5206 was contracted for this campaign. Illinois: Contracts and reports regarding the charity are on file with the Illinois Attorney General. This solicitation is being made by a paid professional fundraiser.

Professional fundraiser company doing the begging now??? I'm d*mn near tempted to NOT JOIN AGAIN.

Very upset with this.

D*mn.

Whatdaya think??

[Old Codger]

1. Also

It isn't even a Wisconsin Co. it is from Minn.

[a kennedy]

2. I know.....they could have at least got a Wisconsin company to do it.

Yah, very upset about this.....

[CatholicEdHead]

7. Bachmann's District

St Cloud is the heart of the Bachmann district, MN-6. I would expect it would be a lot of St Cloud State and St Johns/St Bens college students working this.

[Scuba]

3. I dropped my support when they let "Social Security is broke" to go unchallenged.

It's not that they used to be leftist. It's that they used to be honest.

[Jackpine Radical]

5. Leftist--honest--

What's the difference?

[sybylla]

9. Excellent point! nt

[mahina]

4. I think it's analogous to partifipating in elections.

The system is broken.

We can walk away or work with it. If we walk away we have nothing left, not even the hope of future recovery.

I hope you write them a letter expressing your concerns.

I have some of the same concerns here- not the professional fundraising problem but the lean right in some programming.

[dembotoz]

6. perhaps a professional fundraiser is sometimes a good idea

perhaps they were making rookie mistakes
perhaps they were getting the paperwork wrong and were told to clean up their act

do not throw the baby out with the bathwater quite yet.

the vacuum you leave could be filled by the koch suckers

[Big Tent]

8. Public Funds

This is sure disturbing and I don't give money outside of my tax dollars. If people still choose to give that is okay with me because we need to keep it going somehow even though its another government kickback to a private contractor. However from my perspective full federal and state funding should be restored to NPR, PBS, WPR, and WPT, which would mean public donations go to enhancing American shows that have a production cost that would not happen in private television like the English Masterpiece.

[sybylla]

10. WTF?

Why hire someone from outside the state? That's bullshit.

Of course I stopped my monthly donation to WPR about five years ago now. Couldn't stand all the BS that came out of the presidential election and the fact that they started letting lies stand.

I had enough.