Local Fundraising Support

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 Results, By The Numbers

Since 2017, Report for America has supported nearly 400 newsrooms, helping them collectively raise more than $30M in local donations.

  • In 2023, Report for America partner newsrooms raised $7.4 million from institutions, individuals, major donors, and corporations to cover their portion of their corps members’ salaries and benefits. 

  • More than 36,000 individuals nationwide stepped up to support our partner newsrooms. Their average gift size was $44.

  • Our partner newsrooms raised an average of  $36,249 per corps member.

How We Help

Fundraising a portion of a Report for America corps members’ salary can feel daunting, especially for news organizations that have long relied on subscription and advertising revenue to support their reporting.The Local News Sustainability team acts as a partner in your new or existing philanthropic endeavors. From designing fundraising campaigns, researching potential foundations, or even reviewing marketing and messaging materials, the LNS team is here to help your newsroom achieve its sustainability goals. Click here to access our LNS Hub.

 

We also serve as the fiscal sponsor for 43 of our for-profit newsroom partners, helping them unlock philanthropic giving as a revenue stream for their outlet.

Want to connect with the LNS team? Book a meeting here!

Newsroom Success Stories

El Tecolote, a nonprofit newsroom in San Francisco, California, engaged their leadership in fundraising efforts. They set up individual campaign pages for each member of their Board to raise from their personal networks. Their original target was $20K, which they surpassed right away, and set a new target of $50K. 

The Post and Courier, a for-profit newsroom in Charleston, South Carolina, provided a list of their 1,200 past donors, and our Local Sustainability Team analyzed the list for donors with the potential to increase their giving. Fifty prospects rose to the top. The Post and Courier team reached out to the donors and has successfully set up twenty meetings to get to know these potential partners better and garner more support for their work.

Seven Days, a newsroom in Vermont, ran its first individual giving campaign to cover the local share of their corps member’s salary. They raised just over $18,000 from more than 175 local donors and secured an additional $50,000 in support from their community foundation and local major donors. 

Five partner newsrooms received LION Sustainability Awards in seven different categories, including operational resilience, financial health, community engagement, and journalism impact. Block Club Chicago was awarded Sustainability Business of the Year.

 

Community News Funds

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 2022 Community News Funds report.