Funding strategies

Each group’s funding context is so different, but we can offer ideas about five strategies: philanthropy, crowdfunding, sponsorships, earned revenue and public funding.

• Philanthropy: Grants have played a huge role in supporting City Bureau and the Documenters Network. We’ve noticed that place-based community foundations are excellent potential partners for Documenters programs. A small, proof-of-concept project is useful to have in hand before you approach foundations for larger grants. 

• Crowdfunding: We have seen some success with crowdfunding efforts to support local media initiatives. Check out The Local News Lab’s Crowdfunding Guide, below, for best practices. 

• Sponsorships: Some partners have considered a sponsorship for their Documenters program or an editorial product such as a newsletter — think “this story was brought to you by” kind of support. 

• Fiscal Sponsorships: Until you start your own nonprofit, you can work with an existing 501c3 under a formal agreement that allows for grants and tax-deductible donations under your sponsor's nonprofit status. Sponsors keep a fixed amount, usually 5-10 percent for administrative services. To get started finding a fiscal sponsor, look for nonprofits whose missions are similar to yours.

• Earned revenue: Is there an organization in your area that would pay for consistent oversight of a particular government agency (ex: coverage of every school board meeting) or a company that might pay for access to refined data on local government? This strategy is still in its early days here at Documenters Network HQ but we haven't ruled it out.

• Public funding: This is an emerging area of discussion at the national and local levels. We're keeping an eye on policies and great ideas like the Community Info Coop's Info Districts (below) which envisions a resurgence in local, independent media led by communities publicly financing and democratically designing their own local news and information projects.

Messaging

Creating buzz about your program will help you meet potential funders, participants and allies — but what messages will resonate with them? We recommend pulling concepts and language from the outcomes you envisioned in your theory of change document, and matching those ideas with your desired audience. You might consider: 

• Holding government accountable: Research demonstrates that local newspaper reporting helps to curb government fraud and waste. Individuals and community groups around the country show every day what happens when people engage at public meetings: a single listener can change how officials behave. 

• Keep journalism local: Rhetoric around saving local news aside, the people best equipped to get and share out vital information are usually not journalists. Documenters programs nurture the skills and talent of people already living in your community, rather than trying to pump money into a struggling newsroom to hire reporters from elsewhere. 

• Increase equity in news: There can be no success for the Documenters Network without centering equity and inclusion. The lived experience that Documenters bring to meetings and the networks of relationships with which they share their learning are essential to their roles. To be effective in their work, Documenters collectively must represent the communities they cover, especially those members most impacted by civic issues.

We encourage you to share your processes—including wins and challenges—regularly! We've sprinkled blogs and articles from our years developing the Documenters Network alongside resources that have inspired us along the way. Sharing our process is aligned with our values but, in a practical sense, it's a great way to explain your work on your terms, attract funders/donors and bring new participants in. 

Our language has evolved since we launched Documenters.org in January 2019 but it’s built on a foundation made of the points above.