KNKX receives $1M donation to boost fundraising initiative

KNKX in Tacoma, Wash., has received a $1 million donation to its Connect Northwest funding campaign, the largest gift in the station’s 10 years of operating as an independent nonprofit.

Announced June 29, the donation came from longtime KNKX supporters James and Birte Falconer, who have also supported The Seattle Times and Climate Lab. KNKX GM David Fischer said the donation will go towards hiring three producers, three reporters and three digital and audience marketing staff.

The Falconers “aligned with the idea of expanding the relevancy in the news coverage that we’re going to provide to all of Western Washington,” Fischer said. “They see this as an opportunity to bring people together, get people communicating more broadly across our region and to develop a greater sense of understanding between communities.”

The Connect Northwest initiative seeks to deepen KNKX’s connection to listeners by supporting new technologies and expanding reporting and production of local content. It will also help KNKX partner with like-minded nonprofits and media organizations to produce projects that engage the community. The campaign aims to raise $6.6 million over the next three years and is already 60% of the way towards that goal. 

Fischer first proposed the Connect Northwest initiative to KNKX’s board of directors in January 2025 in response to the Trump administration’s threats toward public media. The station received $600,000 annually from CPB, about 6% of its total revenue. It introduced the Connect Northwest campaign to major donors and its community advisory council in February 2025, five months before the rescission of federal funding for public media.

“I had anticipated that this was going to happen, and I wanted to make sure that we were in the strongest position possible,” Fischer said. 

At the end of the campaign, the station plans to roll out a weekday hourlong drive-time program that will include regional news and coverage of the arts, culture and heritage of the Central Puget Sound. The station will also invest $1.6 million from the initiative into new digital production equipment.

Funds from the initiative will also help to expand the station’s news coverage by paying stringers across Washington and supporting content and cross-promotional partnerships with other local media organizations, such as The Seattle Times and The Bellingham Herald.

Since becoming independent from Pacific Lutheran University in 2016, KNKX has focused on developing close ties within the Washington community. These relationships are the backbone of the Connect Northwest initiative, Fischer said. 

“I think we are right here and right now in a very strong position. The community has responded just wonderfully to us, and this campaign … is going incredibly well right now,” Fischer said. “And the James and Birte Falconer gift … is creating more energy and more momentum for us.”