Dan Skinner, director of Kansas Public Radio, center, is flanked by volunteer Tana Ahlen, Eudora, left, and KPR music director Michael Keelan, as the three ask listeners for contributions during the station's Campaign for Excellence on Friday, March 31, 2017 at the KANU studio.

Kansas Public Radio’s spring membership drive brought in a record-setting $422,891 in pledges, the University of Kansas-based and -licensed station announced this week.

The drive ended April 7.

The direct-mail portion of the drive brought in more than $108,000, and another $312,000 was raised during the nine-day on-air portion of the drive, according to KPR. Pledges came in from 2,601 people.

“The fund drive set a record in both number of donations and dollar amount pledged,” KPR director of development Feloniz Lovato-Winston said. “This fund drive beat our previous high by about $100,000, and we had about 700 more donations than our fall drive.”

The drive also brought in 669 new members, Lovato-Winston said, while a typical drive brings on 200 to 350 members. That’s important, she said, because significant budget cuts mean the station needs sustained support going forward.

Just prior to launching the spring drive, KPR announced that KU was permanently cutting its funding by $200,000 — over a two-year period — due to state budget cuts to higher education.

“We are incredibly grateful to the unprecedented number of listeners that rallied around the station,” KPR director Dan Skinner said in a news release. “The spring fund drive was a great start in helping Kansas Public Radio recover from the budget cuts. However, we still have challenges and work ahead of us.”

Reduced funding will still affect staff and programming, according to the release. For the current fiscal year, KPR left four positions unfilled. During the next fiscal year, which begins July 1, those positions will remain unfilled and there will be a reduction in staff hours for others.

KPR can be heard on the radio at 91.5 FM and 96.1 FM in Lawrence, and online at kansaspublicradio.org.

KU also is cutting its funding to the Kansas Audio-Reader Network, a KPR sister organization providing free news and other broadcasts for the visually impaired, by $200,000 in a two-year span.