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iMEdD Forum on Fundaising and Grantees
iMEdD Forum on Fundaising and Grantees

From left to right: Moderator Bridget Gallagher, Ford Foundation's Lolly Bowean, The New York Times' Marcia Parker, Pulitzer Center's Marina Walker Guevara, and Investigate Europe's Peter Matjašič. Image: Screenshot, YouTube / iMEdD

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6 Things Journalism Funders Want Grant Applicants to Know 

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As news organizations shut down or struggle to operate thanks to conventional revenue models reaching crisis levels, philanthropy now plays an ever more important role in journalism.

But even in the few countries with organizations dedicated to supporting the media, philanthropy will never be able to support every newsroom. The situation is even more challenging in other parts of the world. According to a Media Impact Funders survey, 25 of the top media funders gave over $1 billion in journalism funds from 2018-2022 — and the bulk of that went to US-based recipients, with European journalism groups receiving only 5% of that funding, and African sites just 3%.

Another challenge: journalists often lack the skill set or experience in fundraising, and the divide between the business and journalism side of the news business is challenging for both groups  to overcome.

To make the fundraising process less daunting and opaque, a panel at the 2024 iMEdD International Journalism Forum in Athens brought together grant makers and grant seekers for a frank conversation. There, the panelists shared insights on what they’re looking for in donor-grantee relationships; how the philanthropy-journalism dynamic works on a day-to-day basis; and how news organizations should show they are working towards sustainability.

The panel was moderated by Bridget Gallagher — a fundraising consultant who founded the Gallagher Group LLC in 2010 to help nonprofit media organizations “navigate the donor universe.”  Panelists included Lolly Bowean, a program officer handling the journalism portfolio for the Ford Foundation; Marcia Parker, vice president of philanthropic partnerships at The New York Times and board chair of the Institute for Nonprofit News; Marina Walker Guevara, executive editor of the Pulitzer Center, and Peter Matjašič, executive director of the cross-border nonprofit and GIJN member Investigate Europe — who as a former grant-maker at the Open Society Initiative for Europe has seen both sides of the process.

Here are six takeaways from the discussion.

1. There is empathy on the other side of the desk

To start the session, moderator Bridget Gallagher asked the panelists to share one thing they wish more people knew about their job — what they wanted journalists and grant seekers to know.

“I wish [people] knew that there is a deep care and concern for journalism,” said Bowean, of the Ford Foundation. “Even when we have to say no — and I think many of us on this stage say no more than we would like — there is a passion to push for a yes.”

Marina Walker GuevaraGallagher added that philanthropy for media organizations is a small world: “You can find yourself on both sides of the desk, so there is a good chance there is a lot of empathy on the part of the grant-maker, as someone who has been in your shoes before.”

Walker Guevara, of the Pulitzer Center, urged funding seekers not to give up if they aren’t initially successful. “If you send a proposal to the Pulitzer Center and we reject it, I would say first of all it’s not personal, and secondly, please apply again,” she said. “We try to make the application process fairly simple so you’re encouraged to try again. Sometimes it’s that we’ve recently supported a similar study, or that we simply don’t have the funds. We also have to raise the money that we then give you, so never take it personally.”

2. Focus on building a long-term relationship with grant-makers and funders

Panelists agreed on the importance of cultivating sincere, intentional relationships with potential funders, even if you don’t get funding the first time around.

“Funders are also fundraisers, and they’re not just sitting behind the desk making the decisions,” said Bowean. She explained that funders also advocate and lobby other funders or other program officers to support the organizations with whom they have a relationship — whether that’s a direct funding relationship or simply an ongoing conversation.

Bridget Gallagher“Even if they can’t support you, funders may know other funders that may fit your organization or strategy better,” Bowean explained. “So there’s never really a closed and locked door, and that’s the reason it’s important to cultivate a relationship, not just a transaction of ‘I submitted an application’ or ‘I submitted a letter of inquiry and I was rejected.’ Talk to that organization again — build a relationship, because it’s about sharing resources.”

“What I often tell my clients is that, as journalists, you already have all the skills you need to be great fundraisers,” added Gallagher. “You have that tenacity, you have that ability to cultivate relationships, you’re used to asking people for things. That’s kind of how you cultivate sources.”

Approach your philanthropic endeavors with the same transparency you would with an investigation, she added. “You want people to see how you came to a conclusion. It’s all about accountability, and you have to walk the walk.”

3. Sustainability is not just about raising money

“Sustainability is a question on a grant application nine times out of 10, and it’s a really oversimplified way of a donor saying, ‘How are you going to get us off the hook?’ But it’s an important question,” said Gallagher.

Panelists noted there are many different ways of thinking about sustainability, but stressed that they want to know about an organization’s long-term strategy, including impact.

“We want to know it’s on the mind of our grantee partners,” Bowean explained. “We also think about sustainability in terms of audience connection… It’s not enough to just publish your story, it’s not enough to just put the podcast out.

“One way that you demonstrate that you have an audience that values your work is by showing that they’re willing to pay into it, or to show that there is a local foundation or a large donor that’s willing to invest and place a stake on making sure that this work is produced, that it’s produced consistently, and that it’s produced for the long term,” she said.

Panelists agreed that, if possible, organizations should hire dedicated staff for finance and fundraising.

“We tell organizations to invest in finance, invest in operations,” said Walker Guevara.

In short, make sure you have someone who — while journalists on staff wake up and think about the next story — wakes up and thinks about revenue, to complement what the journalists bring to the table, she explained.

“For a long time, we have played this game out of necessity, where the journalist is doing everything,” she noted. “We sometimes don’t have the proper training, we burn out… to the point when the culture becomes toxic, because everybody’s so tired, everybody’s so overworked. When I think about sustainability I think about all these different layers,” said Walker Guevara. “How are we taking care of the culture? How is the separation of powers between business-oriented people and journalism-oriented people?”

4. Always use your journalist lens

Peter Matjašič, Investigate Europe“For every journalism organization, you should have on your journalist lens even when you need funding because not all money is good money,” Bowean pointed out. “Money from individuals or from organizations that are a little controversial could impact who else is willing to come to your funders table.”

Matjašič, who co-leads Investigate Europe, said the cooperative newsroom doesn’t fundraise for anything related to what they investigate, and they don’t take advertising. “Investigate Europe doesn’t take EU money directly, because we hold EU institutions to account. But if it’s a project like The Journalism Value Project [which promotes debate about the importance of independent media in Europe], that is non-editorial and supports the needs of the ecosystem… I’m happy to be part of a project like that. So it’s very nuanced, and I think everybody needs to decide for themselves with an honest and transparent conversation,” he added.

Matjašiče suggested newsrooms create their own rubric to help make these decisions collectively: assign a number value from one to five for statements such as ‘Is this funder aligned with our values?’ with five being very aligned and one being completely misaligned, as well as ‘Is partnering with this funder going to imperil the reputation of our organization… Have you looked into the board of directors?’

Marcia Parker, of The New York Times, added that organizations need to be transparent with fundraising, but also with whom they choose to partner and why.

Marcia Parker, New York TimesParker was formerly chief operating officer and publisher at CalMatters, a nonprofit newsroom focusing on policy and politics in California, from 2017-2022. “[At CalMatters] we started with three people, and I felt like every funder I had in California, all of whom I still work with now, were absolutely partners at our side.” These partners provided support over the years, even if they weren’t directly funding them every year.

You also have to build understanding in your newsroom for funding, Parker added. It’s important to be open and honest with your newsroom about who you fundraised with and why you partner with certain bodies. “Make sure you have those conversations,” she said. “Journalists have to get comfortable with it. Everyone in your newsroom has to get comfortable with it, and that’s hard for journalists. It took a long time for CalMatters to get there.”

5. Know when an opportunity isn’t the right one

“You have to know when it’s not the right opportunity,” said Gallagher. “I talk a lot with clients about really needing to put yourself out there and build a lot of relationships and make a lot of asks… [There is a saying that] if you’re not hearing ‘No’ all the time, you’re not doing your job, you’re not making enough asks. But it is also about making strategic use of your time, especially if you’re from a small shop, or you don’t have a dedicated development team.”

She also listed some questions organizations should consider when vetting possible funders.

  • Is this funder a good fit?
  • Do you share the same values?
  • Are they going to be able to give you enough money to resource core operations so you’re not tying yourself in knots, or committing to deliverables you don’t have the capacity to fulfill?

6. Communicate clearly with program officers about how your organization measures impact

Funders know that ways of measuring impact will be different for each organization.

“When showing impact, be clear with organizations that fund you how you show impact,” said Bowean. “This will be different for every funder, but at the Ford Foundation… we understand that different organizations are going to have impact in different ways.”

Newsrooms such as The New York Times have specific metrics, such as clicks or time spent on stories. Smaller newsrooms, however, might measure impact more effectively through community mobilization — for instance, if after publishing a story, 500 people come out to a community event to discuss the issues it raises.

Lolly Bowean, Ford FoundationBowean cited a publication funded by the Ford Foundation that put out a voter’s guide focused on judges in jurisdictions where judges are elected, but where there is low turnout in part because there are so many judges are on the ballot that voters get overwhelmed.

“After this guide was put out, the number of people who voted in that particular election increased,” said Bowean. “This organization can’t take credit for that increase, but we can see that there’s a relationship between educating the public on an election that’s coming up, and the civic engagement of the public in those elections. This organization may not get the clicks online, but we see some impact being driven by the work, so it’s measured differently for each organization.”

“Know how to communicate that with your program officer so you re not being held to the standards of The New York Times metrics,” Bowean added. Having a relationship with the funder also helps clarify how your organization can measure impact.

For more tips on effective fundraising for journalists, watch the short video below.


Alexa van Sickle is a journalist and editor with experience across digital and print journalism, publishing, and think tanks and nonprofits. Before joining GIJN, she was senior editor and podcast producer for the foreign correspondence and travel magazine, Roads & Kingdoms.

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