Journalism Philanthropy
The traditional, advertising-centric business model for local news is broken. Report for America is dedicated to supporting a new model—one that promotes local philanthropy as part of what fuels a healthy, thriving information ecosystem.
The traditional, advertising-centric business model for local news is broken. Report for America is dedicated to supporting a new model—one that promotes local philanthropy as part of what fuels a healthy, thriving information ecosystem.
Our Model
Report for America leverages a three-to-one funding match model:
- The ‘National Share‘: Report for America’s contribution towards the corps member’s salary. One-half of salary the first year (up to $25,000), one-third the second year, and one-fifth the third year.
- The ‘Local Share’: 25% of reporter salary — also referred to as the Minimum Fundraising Requirement.
- The ‘Newsroom Share’: The final portion of the corps member’s salary, which grows every year as the National Share declines. Newsrooms should aim to fundraise for this expense, above and beyond the Local Share.
This approach promotes new models for shared investment in local reporting, increasing the chances of sustaining public service journalism, for the community, by the community.
In our 2021-22 program year, Report for America’s local newsrooms raised $7.4 million for local news — almost $3 million more than the 2020-21 program year.
Most of this support came from individual donors—teachers, plumbers, lawyers, librarians, car dealers, nuns, and more—who understand the vital role local journalism plays in their community and who are willing to make an investment if only asked.
Collaborations between local newsrooms and community foundations have also proven to be sustainable paths forward for journalism philanthropy. Learn more about what we’ve found in our latest “Community News Funds” report.
Our Results, By The Numbers
Report for America newsroom partners raised 42% more funding per reporter in 2021 than in 2020, from an average of $23,672, to $33,586 per corps member.
The number of donations to Report for America newsrooms grew steadily from 8,887 in 2020 to 12,756 in 2021, a growth of 44%. The 2021 results reflect a continued desire of our newsrooms to expand philanthropically.
The total amount donated to Report for America newsrooms grew from $4.6M in 2020 to $7.4M in 2022, a jump of around 61%. This is a result of both increased energy around newsroom philanthropic efforts and a larger number of newsrooms in the program – from 163 newsrooms in 2019 to 200 newsrooms in 2020.
Here are other snapshots of Report For America’s philanthropic impact:
• Our non-profit newsrooms raised $5,850,685 in 2021, with an average raise per reporter of $53,188.
• For-profit newsroom success stayed relatively the same as 2020 — raising $1.6M.
• This year has expanded the 2021 work Report for America started with community news funds to support local journalism. This research can be found here.
Report for America newsroom leaders were successful when they invested time and effort into their fundraising, leveraging Report for America fundraising templates and tips.
Newsroom Testimonials
The Spokesman Review
‘Building the ‘Virtuous Circle,’ The Spokesman-Review raises $1M by bringing community together
Based in Spokane, Washington, The Spokesman-Review has experienced consistent growth as a result of the different sources of philanthropy that now make up more than 25% of its payroll budget. It has been a Report for America partner newsroom since 2019.
As he focused on fundraising efforts in late 2017, Rob Curley, executive editor at The Spokesman-Review, felt the best way to start fundraising was by establishing the newsroom’s critical role within the community.
“A big part of our strategy is what we call the “virtuous circle.” We wanted the newsroom to bring the community together in a way that other organizations couldn’t. We wanted to be at the center of the region’s dialogue,” Curley explained.
To start this type of community dialogue, the newsroom kicked off an event series, Northwest Passages, which brings together anywhere from 200 to 700-plus subscribers and community members to discuss books, movies, sports, politics, cooking, journalism, environmental issues, homelessness, school safety and more.
Valley News
As a first-time Report for America host site, Valley News was expected to raise, at minimum, a quarter of their corps member’s salaries — $16,125. They surpassed their goal, instead raising nearly $50,000. They did this through major gifts — $16,000 from four major donors, and $33,320 through crowdfunding from 191 donors.
They delayed joining [Report for America] because of the pandemic and their murky financial future. The paper had to make some difficult cuts.
“We were very open and honest with our readers and said, ‘We need your help.’ We learned that our readers cared even more than we thought… They showed that care with their dollars, not just the words.”
El Paso Matters
In early 2020, Bob Moore began looking for donor prospects who could commit to giving on an annual basis. He approached community leaders to ask how to raise the local share for El Paso Matters’ corps member; they suggested forming a host committee and getting the community involved.
A host committee of 17 members brought together more than 60 attendees via Zoom. The giving circle raised more than $23,000 from 76 supporters, 60 of whom were new supporters of El Paso Matters.
El Paso Matters is planning a similar event to keep the giving circle members active. Continuous stewardship is also important to keep a community engaged in the valuable reporting they are making possible.
More Success Stories
The Haitian Times
The Haitian Times found themselves covering two historic events in 2021. Report for America’s journalism philanthropy team worked in real time with Garry Pierre-Pierre, founder and editor of the Haitian Times, to build two email campaigns sharing the Times’ heroic journalism.
In just a couple of weeks, more than $4,000 was raised for the Times — $2,286 from 23 newsroom donors and $2,090 from 26 RFA donors.
Mountain State Spotlight
The Mountain State Spotlight was born in 2020 from the fallout of layoffs of longtime staffers at a West Virginia newspaper. Three co-workers forecasted the impending cutbacks and structured a loose idea of what they would do when the first layoff occurred. Report for America reached out to the American Journalism Project, and the Spotlight was born almost in a single weekend. The efforts of three groups resulted in a $286,250 fundraise in 2020 for the Mountain State.
Flint Beat
Flint Beat CEO Jiquanda Johnson says Report for America corps member KT Kanazawich’s photography has “played a vital role” in the success of their fundraising campaigns. In 2020, the Flint Beat raised $30,000 — a record-breaking year. They gained four donors of $1,000 or more. In Flint’s short life (started in 2017), a typical year of fundraising has been about $5,000 to $10,000. In 2021, they anticipate growing to about $75,000 on heels of 2020 success.
Fundraising a portion of Report for America corps members’ salaries can be a daunting task, especially for the news organizations that have relied on subscriptions and advertising as their main source of revenue, or those fundraising for the first time.
The Journalism Philanthropy Team
Report for America’s goal is to support partner newsrooms in their efforts to create sustainable fundraising relationships within their local communities. As such, our team of local sustainability staff work directly with host newsroom partners, granting access to tech platforms, hosting informational webinars and providing fundraising advice.
Todd Franko
Director of Local Sustainability and Development
James Martinez
Deputy Director of Local Sustainability and Development
Amy Bonn
Manager of Local Sustainability and Development
Resources
Our team is here to help connect you with fundraising tools and resources. We provide guidance on topics ranging from fundraising for the first time to kicking off an end-of-year campaign. A full list of reports and case studies exploring our fundraising successes and latest trends is below:
- “Newsroom turns to community, finds groundswell of support for local journalism,” 2022. Read more.
- “Building the ‘Virtuous Circle,’ Spokesman-Review raises $1M by bringing community together,” 2022. Read more.
- “Community News Funds: Local foundations lead the way with a pivotal new strategy for community journalism,” 2022. Read more.
- “Local News Philanthropy: Strong Signs of Positive Movement,” 2021. Read more.