MembershipMember Benefits

Join our growing network of funders strengthening media in the public interest.

Membership is the most powerful way to plug into the full breadth of the media philanthropy field. MIF helps members save time, avoid duplication, find partners and make stronger media investments—whether media is your primary focus or simply a lever in your broader strategy.

Members receive:

  • Strategic clarity: Curated guidance, briefings and resources to help you understand what’s happening across journalism, documentary, technology and narrative change—and how those trends intersect with your priorities.
  • Access to a trusted community: Peer learning with funders who are navigating similar questions, challenges and opportunities.
  • Member-only insights & tools: A new resource library, funder guides and playbooks, research, and member-only events designed to help funders invest more effectively.
  • High-touch support: Access to our staff and network to help you identify collaborators, surface best practices and make informed decisions.
  • Visibility & influence: Opportunities to shape the field through working groups, peer sessions, content and convenings.

Apply to Become a Member

Member Benefits

Tailored support when you need it

  • A new member welcome call and then an individualized annual check-in call with MIF staff with each renewal
  • Office hours and consulting time give you direct access to MIF staff for questions, advice and custom connections.

The opportunity to become the internal media expert in your organization

  • Members receive discounted tickets to our flagship convenings—such as the Media Impact Forum—which connect you with hundreds of peers, surface new ideas and equip you with insights you can immediately share with your board and colleagues.
  • Through monthly MIF Network Calls, virtual briefings and small-group learning circles, you’ll always have timely updates on emerging opportunities so you’re the one keeping your team informed.
  • Our online resources and landscape playbooks give you practical frameworks and clear, actionable advice you can use immediately.
  • With curated reports, tailored analysis and our custom media grants data map, you can quickly understand the funding landscape and benchmark your strategy.
  • Access to our members-only newsletter.

 The ability to find collaborators you didn’t know you had

  • Access to a members-only directory, a protected list of members’ interests and contact details.
  • Our regional convenings and invitation-only gatherings connect you with funders across journalism, documentary and issue-driven media—including dedicated programming at Knight Media Forum, the Sundance Film Festival and the International Journalism Festival in Perugia. These spaces help you find shared interests and spark collaborations.
  • MIF also supports working groups and ongoing learning communities on specific topics—including public media, science and rural and international media—giving funders a place to explore complex issues together, compare strategies and build alignment over time.

Visibility & leadership in the field

  • Ability to initiate and deliver a Member Briefing, a virtual meeting in which 2–3 members present their work, share lessons learned and engage peers in candid conversation.
  • Opportunity to be featured in a Member Spotlight, which showcases your media funding approach, strategy and priorities to the broader MIF network.
  • Advisory committees give you a voice in shaping the agendas of flagship events and guiding field-wide conversations

Our Members

Our members include some of the largest foundations in media funding, local and regional foundations, and individual donors and high-net worth individuals.

Our Members

Member Spotlights

Learn more about the work your peers are doing to support media in the public interest.

Member Spotlights

Become a Member

Join us today to continue supporting the ever-growing field of media that matters.

Become a Member