Report for America’s Accelerator Program is designed to support and strengthen newsrooms, ultimately reshaping the sustainability of our local news ecosystems.
What Is the Accelerator Program?
The Report for America Accelerator Program was designed to support newsrooms that are doing good work but might not be financially ready to host a Report for America corps member. Participating in the Accelerator Program allows outlets to access our sustainability services with the goal of creating a financially sustainable news organization.
Applications for the Accelerator Program are accepted on a rolling basis. Applications received by the last day of the month will be reviewed the following month. Please note: the Accelerator Program is a separate initiative from our host newsroom recruitment program.
For more information, reach out to [email protected] or book a 15-minute informational call with us.
Our Model
At Report for America, we know strong journalism needs strong financial support. That’s why our team is powering a movement to build resilient, community-backed newsrooms for the future.
We offer tools for revenue generation and fundraising tailored to each newsroom’s goals. But what sets our model apart is that we don’t just teach the best practices—we help make the asks, write the copy, research the donors and close the revenue gaps.
And we know our model works. Since 2017, our newsrooms have reported that we’ve helped them raise nearly $60 million dollars in community support.Accelerator Success Stories
Black Wall Street Times: The Black Wall Street Times, located in Tulsa’s historic Greenwood District, became an inaugural Report for America Accelerator newsroom in 2025. Through fiscal sponsorship—which we offer free of charge to for-profit newsrooms—they secured a $17,000 grant to expand their journalism. Their work centers on telling the untold stories in Black communities.
The Keene Sentinel: The Keene Sentinel, a historic daily paper in New Hampshire, joined Report for America as an Accelerator newsroom in 2024. They quickly surpassed their $75K fundraising goal after launching a journalism fund and hosting a community event. Their early success demonstrates the power of local engagement.
San Diego Voice and Viewpoint: This legacy, Black-owned newspaper and Accelerator newsroom worked with Report for America to prepare for a fundraising gala, integrate fundraising tools into their website, and develop a special advertising strategy. Their small but passionate team is building new revenue streams with strategic guidance.
Where We Are
What Our Partners Have to Say
- Main Street Media of Tennessee: “As a for-profit organization, we had no idea where to begin with fundraising outside of the traditional advertising and circulation revenue streams. The [Report for America] team helped us kick off an individual giving campaign geared toward current subscribers, and it's opened a new world for us as we aim to expand our local journalism efforts across Middle Tennessee.”
- Metro Nonprofit News Network: “[Report for America] services help our newsrooms understand that they need to focus on ALL aspects of running a news nonprofit business. And I appreciate the creative thinking and collaboration that the RFA Accelerator program offers to individuals in our group, from looking outside of the journalism world for support, sales/product ideas, audience development and connecting us with a vast number of people passionate about this space.”
- Creativity News Desk: “The [Report for America] team brings a wealth of knowledge and interesting perspectives to consider for earned and contributed income strategies. They are very responsive to questions and requests for support. It extends the capacity of our team to work with the [Report for America] team, whose vast network introduces us to new funding opportunities and fresh ideas to sustain our work.”
- The Keene Sentinel: “The Sentinel has already benefitted greatly from Report for America's fiscal sponsorship, which has allowed us to greatly improve our online donation form and decrease our administrative costs for fiscal sponsorship. Additionally, the [Report for America] team has helped us begin to develop strategies and tactics to continue the early momentum we've built for our new Local Journalism Fund, and design a successful crowdfunding campaign.”
- The Providence Eye: “Working with [Report for America] allows us to ask questions and source insights from other participating newsrooms and RFA staff. As an emerging newsroom, this type of information is invaluable, and helps us save our limited time in not reinventing the fundraising wheel.”