News Match is the largest grassroots fundraising campaign for nonprofit journalism ever. More than 100 newsrooms across the United States, including The Connecticut Mirror, are working together to raise $6 million dollars —or more— by the end of 2017.
NewsMatch.org, the home of the campaign, is an innovative new hub where people can search for trustworthy journalism outlets by geography or topic and then give to multiple newsrooms with one donation. The effort is designed to mobilize thousands of new people to donate to local news and investigative reporting.
But News Match is more than a fundraising campaign. It’s a call to action for all who are concerned about the news and information needs of our communities and the role of a strong fourth estate in our democracy —and it’s growing.
For those in philanthropy, News Match offers an opportunity to not just provide financial support to outstanding newsrooms, but to invest in the long-term sustainability of these organizations by equipping them with the in-depth training, technology, and capacity building they need to reach new readers and foster a community of donors.
News Match began with a small team at the Knight Foundation who had a big idea to ramp up donations to nonprofit newsrooms at the end of 2016. That year Knight matched $1.2 million in donations to 57 newsrooms, including The Mirror. This year News Match has doubled the number of eligible newsrooms and nearly tripled the total dollars in the News Match fund, to $3 million.
This matching support was made possible by donations from the Democracy Fund, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, who together launched News Match at the beginning of October.
News Match has become a unique platform for local and national funders to collaborate in the interest of fostering more sustainable and vibrant public interest media.
In the face of profound challenges facing journalists today there is enormous momentum gathering to support nonprofit news. Newsrooms won’t be able to unlock those dollars, however, unless people donate.
Quality journalism makes a difference every day. Without you, stories don’t just go unread — they go untold. As we head into the giving season, it is critical that we support the news we rely on.