Meeting the Revenue Challenge: Philanthropy's Role in Local News Growth
Philadelphia, PA: Wyncote Foundation (2026), 32 pp.
"Starting in February 2025, we set out to identify and examine success stories among local news groups, where success was sustainability in business operations, even if that term has a range of interpretations. We reasoned that the experiences of these successful organizations might carry predictive lessons for the larger field. As we wrote this report, we kept two groups of readers uppermost in mind: first, publishers at emerging news organizations who are looking to bring their operations to some level of financial sustainability and, second, funders who are making investments in those news organizations. We hope our work will build on the existing literature that is already in place and provide these two groups of readers additional detail and fresh perspective on the financial elements surfacing for some emerging local news organizations." (The purpose of this report, page 2)
INITIAL OBSERVATIONS, 4
Four Sources of Financial Support [National Philanthropy, Local Philanthropy, Audience or Reader Revenue, Business Support] -- The Shifting Contours of Philanthropy
PRINCIPAL FINDINGS, 6
FINDING ONE: Many of the journalist-founders we interviewed needed time to see their news organizations as small businesses and to invest accordingly, 7
FINDING TWO: The leaders of local, general-audience news organizations we interviewed have invested purposefully to deepen and diversify their base of support across a mix of local, renewable revenues, 9
FINDING THREE: Some of the groups we interviewed expanded revenue-generating capacity after a series of large-scale, multiyear catalytic investments. At the same time, some news businesses achieved success through incremental and organic growth, 11
FINDING FOUR: Alongside expansion of local earned revenue, the publishers we interviewed made significant strides in attracting stable, continuing support from local philanthropy. Although many felt less reliant on national foundation support over time, all believed that local civic and philanthropic relationships would remain a significant factor in their organizations’ financial stability and growth, 13
COMMENTARY: IMPLICATIONS FOR INVESTMENT ACROSS THE FIELD | 16
Four Sources of Financial Support [National Philanthropy, Local Philanthropy, Audience or Reader Revenue, Business Support] -- The Shifting Contours of Philanthropy
PRINCIPAL FINDINGS, 6
FINDING ONE: Many of the journalist-founders we interviewed needed time to see their news organizations as small businesses and to invest accordingly, 7
FINDING TWO: The leaders of local, general-audience news organizations we interviewed have invested purposefully to deepen and diversify their base of support across a mix of local, renewable revenues, 9
FINDING THREE: Some of the groups we interviewed expanded revenue-generating capacity after a series of large-scale, multiyear catalytic investments. At the same time, some news businesses achieved success through incremental and organic growth, 11
FINDING FOUR: Alongside expansion of local earned revenue, the publishers we interviewed made significant strides in attracting stable, continuing support from local philanthropy. Although many felt less reliant on national foundation support over time, all believed that local civic and philanthropic relationships would remain a significant factor in their organizations’ financial stability and growth, 13
COMMENTARY: IMPLICATIONS FOR INVESTMENT ACROSS THE FIELD | 16
