Giving Compass' Take:

• Ruth McCambridge explains that despite the substantial contribution of philanthropic capital for nonprofit news, there is still a need for more support in generating revenue for these news outlets. 

• What ways can philanthropy expand the capacity of nonprofit journalism? What are alternative funding streams?

• Read more about charitable giving for nonprofit journalism.

NPQ looked forward to this year’s INN Index report on the state of nonprofit news with three sets of interests in mind:

  • First, we are interested in this excellent effort to document the business models in an emerging field.
  • Second, as a nonprofit news site ourselves, we are interested to see how we stack up. This second perspective came in handy this year as we read the report, because some of the conclusions one might draw from the findings may be dangerous to depend upon, and we’d like to provide a friendly critique.
  • Finally, we are interested in the ways in which the business models embedded in different “enterprise models” have developed over time.

On that last point, before we go any further, we should note, as does the report, that this is a field in very rapid development, and within that expansion, one finds great diversity. Some sites concentrate on local news; others do big national investigative stories.

Based on information provided by the 108 sites surveyed for this report, nonprofit news sites have become less dependent on foundations and more dependent on individual donors in the past seven years. The numbers flow in opposite directions proportionately, with giving from foundations declining from 63 percent of revenues in 2011 to 43 percent in 2018, while giving from individuals increased from 23 percent to 39 percent.

Philanthropy’s strategic interventions into this expanding field have born much fruit to date in helping to encourage a greater emphasis on business models even as the entire news economy changed, and in helping to establish infrastructure, but there remains much to be done in diversifying not only the staffs but also the revenue streams of those increasingly central to our democracy news operations.

Read the full article about philanthropy supports nonprofit news by Ruth McCambridge at Nonprofit Quarterly.