Tips for seeking local news funding from community foundations

January 12, 2010

Tips for seeking local news funding from community foundations

Launching a civic-minded community news enterprise costs real money. Increasingly, community foundations are helping these projects get up and running by making grants and making connections. So if you’d like to start a community news project, it can pay (literally) to get to know local community foundations.

(This is part of a series of guest posts by Amy Gahran. Amy is looking how news organizations and other institutions can implement the findings of the Knight Commission on the Information Needs of Communities in a Democracy, This joint project of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Aspen Institute Communications and Society program produced the report, “Informing Communities: Sustaining Democracy in the Digital Age.” Read more articles in this series.)

Even more help is available for projects that would serve any of the 26 US cities where Knight-Ridder formerly operated newspapers. On Jan 7, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation unveiled a seven-year Community Foundation Initiative that will funnel $70 million through selected community foundations in the target cities.

Knight Foundation VP of Communication Marc Fest explained, “The program’s goal is to support projects that promote informed engaged communities—and we’re pretty wide open about that. We try to have as few rules as possible for these programs to encourage innovation.”

Here are some tips for individuals (including journalists) and organizations (including news organizations) seeking community foundation support for local projects.

Recommendation 2 of the Knight Commission report was: “Increase support for public service media aimed at meeting community information needs.” The Knight Foundation sees community foundations as a key source of this support.

What are they? Community foundations are charities that focus on improving life in a geographic area. Typically, large donors make tax-exempt donations to fund their activities and grantmaking.

The Council on Foundations notes: “Community foundations go beyond simply making grants that advance charitable activities. They also identify current and emerging issues, channel resources to address their communities’ needs, and help their regions prepare for the future.”

Where are they? One starting point for finding local community foundations is the Council on Foundations’ community foundation locator. (Note: There may be additional community foundations beyond what’s listed there.)

ACTION STEP: Do any community foundations serve your community? Search at the local, county, and regional level. If you’re in one of the Knight Foundation’s target cities, check the Community Foundation Initiative page for links to specific foundations working with Knight to channel these grants. Fest said that information will be available in coming weeks.

Unique priorities. Each community foundation sets its own priorities and programs. For instance, the Community Foundation Serving Boulder County, Colo., currently has funding programs focused on the arts, the environment, social justice, emergency housing for people with disabilities, and much more. Meanwhile, in Indiana, the Community Foundation of the Fox River Valley focuses on grants for education, healthcare, social services, and arts and humanities.

Although community foundations have existed for more a long time, their involvement in the local news landscape is a new trend—significantly spurred by the Knight Foundation’s efforts to enlist their support, such as the Community Information Challenge, launched in 2008.

It’s important to study the funding priorities and history of local community foundations before asking them to fund your project. Think creatively about what might make a good match. Roberta King, VP for public relations and marketing of the Grand Rapids (Mich.) Community Foundation, notes, “Community foundations are innovative in their funding. They tend to be good risk-takers.”

King added, “Not all community foundations are looking to fund journalism projects. But news and public engagement may fit in with their priorities. For instance, a community foundation focused heavily on the environment might be willing to fund a news-related project on that topic.”

ACTION STEP: Community foundations publish grant program guidelines or application procedures. These are generally available on their web sites, or by request. Once you have this information, read it over and pay close attention to deadlines. Usually there is an annual deadline for applications.

Plan for results. According to King, community foundations tend to focus strongly on community benefits. So it’s important to consider how, specifically, a project for community news, information, or engagement might benefit the community—and devise how you might measure those results.

ACTION STEP Check out previous grant winners—which of their efforts survived beyond the grant funding? How? This might give you an idea of locally viable revenue streams. Be willing to think unconventionally. The goal here is not to recreate the traditional news business model, but to offer a community service.

Previously:

Community info building blocks: What do you already have?

Teamwork: Collaborating to build a community dashboard

Civic topic pages: Boost local traffic, democracy

Government 2.0: What’s in it for local news?

Make key government documents easier to find, understand