{"id":215520,"date":"2021-11-16T18:45:45","date_gmt":"2021-11-16T22:45:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lionpublishers.com\/?p=215520"},"modified":"2021-11-18T12:12:42","modified_gmt":"2021-11-18T16:12:42","slug":"pitching-your-journalism-to-local-funders-heres-advice-from-three-experts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lionpublishers.com\/pitching-your-journalism-to-local-funders-heres-advice-from-three-experts\/","title":{"rendered":"Pitching your journalism to local funders? Here\u2019s advice from three experts"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Journalism. The Fourth Estate. The lifeblood of democracy<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a nonprofit news organization serving communities of color in Madison, Wisconsin, Madison365<\/a> could use any of these buzzwords to describe its work. But when executive editor Robert Chappell talks to funders, he tries to avoid them altogether. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cJournalism is kind of an abstract thing. [My advice is to] find something they\u2019re passionate about that they want to fund,\u201d Robert says. \u201cJournalism is your tool to [make a difference], but what you\u2019re really appealing to is the other funding interests that they have.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In our latest episode of News Guest<\/a>, Chappell and fellow LION members Kimberly Spencer (Chalkbeat<\/a>) and Kimberly Griffin (Mississippi Free Press<\/a>) share their advice for building relationships with funders, especially those without a long history of supporting journalism. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A common theme: Don\u2019t assume that prospective funders will automatically recognize journalism as a public good. Instead, make the case for the impact<\/em> of your journalism, and focus on the issues that a prospective funder cares about most. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor us, it\u2019s really about accountability,\u201d says Kimberly Spencer, Chalkbeat\u2019s senior director of development and donor relations. \u201cIf you\u2019re an education funder, you want to know what\u2019s happening with [education] dollars, and we are the people who are going to hold policy makers accountable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Listen to the full News Guest interview<\/a> to learn more about how these three news business leaders pitch their journalism \u2014 and how they build lasting relationships with the people and organizations that they\u2019re asking to fund it. <\/p>\n\n\n