WATCH: How funders can use data maps to inform funding decisions

In partnership with Candid (formerly Foundation Center and GuideStar)—which provides data-driven tools, educational resources and trainings, analyses, and more to the philanthropic sector—MIF offered a workshop to help funders learn how to use data maps to inform funding priorities and strategic decision-making. These maps are free, interactive tools that show the full scope of philanthropically-funded projects. Read More

Last week, we convened our peers for our annual journalism funders gathering to discuss some of the most pressing issues facing journalism—and our nation—today. We hope that our two days of programming and breakout sessions introduced you to new people, new ideas, and a new way forward. We are so grateful to the Jonathan Logan Family Foundation and Independence Public Media Foundation for sponsoring our first online journalism funders conference. (And special thanks to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Henry L. Hillman Foundation, and the Rita Allen Foundation for their support.) Zoom fatigue is real, and we are that much more grateful for the network’s participation our virtual format. We also know that many of you are juggling work and other family responsibilities, whether it’s your kids’ remote learning or caring for a loved one. Because of that, we’ve recorded all of our plenary discussions so that you can watch them at a time that’s more convenient for you. As we grapple with seemingly growing efforts to spread lies online, persistent issues preventing the advancement of newsroom culture, and what we need to do now to ensure a more equitable media ecosystem in the future, we hope you’ll… Read More

In late September, the LA Times editorial board wrote, “For at least its first 80 years, the Los Angeles Times was an institution deeply rooted in white supremacy.” This editorial was the start of an eight-part series interrogating the Times’ history of racist coverage and its failure to represent the communities it purported to serve in staffing, stories and sources. This deep reflection is a good first step for the paper, and a necessary one for the entire industry. But the next step must be action — from the LA Times, from other newsrooms, and from the journalism funders who support them. Read More

This post was updated on Nov. 18, 2019. We’ve come a long way since 2001, when a handful of journalism funders got together to compare notes. (We’re looking at you, Jon Funabiki, Vivian Vahlberg and Eric Newton!) Last week, we convened more than 100 funders for our annual gathering to discuss some of the most pressing issues facing journalism today. Read More

As market forces fail local news, our media ecosystem are failing the communities that they have been entrusted to serve. Philanthropy, for its part, has come to the table, providing critical support for nonprofit news in innovative and unprecedented ways. Today, a new initiative announces it plan to reinvigorate local news on a large scale. Read More

Washington, D.C. (Feb. 12, 2019): NewsMatch raised $7.6 million from individual donors and a coalition of major funders for nonprofit news organizations in two months at the end of 2018. During the largest-ever grassroots fundraising campaign to support local news, over 240,000 people gave to 154 newsrooms between Nov. 1 and Dec. 31. More than 50,000 new donors supported a nonprofit newsroom for the first time. Read More

America’s public square—the institutions, networks, and spaces where Americans engage in the critical issues facing our democracy—is facing a paradigm shift. A combination of economic impacts, advances in technology, and social change are re-shaping how we access and engage with the information that connects us to civic life. Read More

Early reports suggest that NewsMatch, a funder collaboration to promote individual giving to journalism and capacity-building at nonprofit news organizations, is on track to break last year’s record of nearly $5 million raised. As of this Tuesday, organizers say the number of individual small-dollar donations on NewsMatch.org has tripled compared to last year’s campaign. Through Dec. 31, the campaign will match individual donations of $1,000 or less, up to $25,000 per newsroom, to 155 participating nonprofit news organizations. Go to NewsMatch.org to search for participating newsrooms by geographic community or topic of interest. There’s still time for funders to join the effort, especially if you have dollars left in your 2018 budget. In fact, in 2017 two key funders, the Rita Allen Foundation and the News Integrity Initiative, joined last year’s effort in mid-December. Josh Stearns, director of the Public Square Program at the Democracy Fund, said funders can contribute to the national NewsMatch fund or easily set up a targeted matching fund that relates to your foundation’s strategy and focus. The Miami Foundation handles all the due diligence and grant agreements making it administratively easy for partners, who can disburse grants in 2018 that will be paid out… Read More

Since October, MIF has been hosting a webinar series organized by Kelly Born of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation on how funders can support remedies for the deluge of false facts faced by news consumers. Read More