Donation page optimization tips for year-end fundraising

An optimal donation page is key in acquiring new donors and retaining them. The Institute for Nonprofit News (INN) conducted an audit of member donation pages in summer 2018 to help members optimize donation pages ahead of year-end fundraising and has also aggregated additional resources that are currently available. DONATION PAGE OPTIMIZATION RESOURCES
With the start of NewsMatch, this is the time to create optimal donation pages to increase donations by year-end. Take advantage of more help from INN and friends in the following ways:

1. If you need web development help on your donation page, the INN Labs team can assist.

Eleven named to the INN Emerging Leaders Council 2019

LOS ANGELES, April 23, 2019 — Eleven mid-career professionals from nonprofit newsrooms have been selected for the second INN Emerging Leaders Council, a peer group nominated by their organizations for their potential to lead the growing nonprofit news sector. Council members meet for a year to work on news industry challenges using design thinking, expand their support and mentorship networks, and develop professional skills in product development, business and leadership. This is the second council formed since the program began in 2017. “There are growing opportunities and needs for a new generation of news leaders, and the Emerging Leaders Council creates a network supporting top talent for the field,” said Sue Cross, INN’s executive director and CEO. “This year's applicant pool and cohort are the most diverse we’ve seen — racially, ethnically, and also by the type of news outlet, reflecting the growth and variety in public service journalism.”

The Emerging Leaders Council is funded by the Jonathan Logan Family Foundation as part of a broader INN initiative to build business, strategy and leadership skills in nonprofit news organizations.

INN Emma Bowen Foundation fellows return to nonprofit news organizations

Twenty nonprofit news media outlets, including INN, welcomed back Emma Bowen Foundation Fellows into their organizations for a second summer. The program is part of INN’s strategic initiative to cultivate a diverse talent pipeline essential in propelling the nonprofit sector’s innovation and growth, with generous support from Democracy Fund.  

All but one fellow returned to the same nonprofit news organization. Fellows, who are college students, are placed inside nonprofit news organizations for eight-week internships focused on news media business, technology and editorial. The list of participating INN members and fellows are:

BenitoLink
Francisco Romero
San Jose State University, Software Engineering

CALmatters
Adria Watson
Sacramento State University, Journalism

The Center for Public Integrity
Laura Zornosa
Northwestern University, Journalism and International Studies

Chalkbeat
Zipporah Osei
Northeastern University, Journalism

Chalkbeat - Detroit
Imani Harris
Northwestern University, Journalism

Chalkbeat - New York
Camille Respess
University of Florida, Journalism

Charlottesville Tomorrow
Norah Mulinda
University of Virginia, Media Studies and Psychology

The Chicago Reporter
Elly Rivera
Northwestern University, Journalism

The Connecticut Mirror
Maya Moore
University of Connecticut, Journalism

The GroundTruth Project
Milan Polk
Northwestern University, Journalism

Institute for Nonprofit News
Nikita Advani
University of Southern California, Business Administration

International Consortium of Investigative Journalists
Zshekinah Collier
American University, Justice and Law

Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting (Louisville Public Media)
Jewél Jackson
Syracuse University, Newspaper & Online Journalism with a minor in Communication & Rhetorical Studies

MinnPost
Tiffany Bui
University of Minnesota Twin Cities, Professional Journalism

The New Food Economy
Kamari Stewart
Pace University, Digital Journalism

Next City
Natalia Rommen
University of Pennsylvania, Communications and Political Science

Politifact
Sophie Austin
American University, Journalism

Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting
Domonique Green
Howard University, Graphic Design

Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting
Simmone Shah
Barnard College of Columbia University, English with a Writing Concentration

The Texas Tribune
Troy Closson
Northwestern University, Journalism

The fellows are already making an impact inside INN member organizations. For Jewél Jackson, a junior majoring in newspaper and online journalism with a minor in communication and rhetorical studies at Syracuse University and an editorial intern with the Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting, this is her first experience inside a nonprofit newsroom.

INN launches new diversity and talent development initiative; creates four graduate internships with Missouri School of Journalism

The Institute for Nonprofit News is partnering with the Missouri School of Journalism to create four graduate internships with support from the Jonathan Logan Family Foundation and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation as part of a new diversity initiative this summer called the Knight Nonprofit News Internship Program. The internships are part of an INN initiative to develop a diverse workforce and advance the fast growth of nonprofit newsrooms.

Four graduate students will work in small newsrooms, which will position students to learn more about the business side of news and the emerging business models in journalism. The four INN member newsrooms who will be hosting the interns include VTDigger in Vermont, The Conversation in Boston, radio station KCUR in Kansas City, and inewsource in San Diego. Meet the students who will be interning inside INN member news organizations this summer:

Peng Chen, who is studying data journalism, will help with a variety of tasks, including data collection, reporting and studying analytics at VTDigger. Samuel Manas, who is studying investigative journalism, will help grow newsletter subscriptions and audience engagement at The Conversation.

INN LEAP: Spring 2018 class update

Six more leaders selected for LEAP Initiative to advance strategy and scale for nonprofit newsrooms

LOS ANGELES — The Institute for Nonprofit News announces the spring class of the LEAP initiative, an executive program designed to help senior leaders of established nonprofit news organizations navigate strategic challenges to advance their growth and impact. The six experienced executives selected for the spring class will work together to address their strategic challenges with support and guidance from INN as well as subject-matter experts and business coaches. The participants for the Spring 2018 session are:

The cohort met June 12 for their first meeting in Orlando, Fla. in advance of INN's annual conference, INN Days 2018, where they participated in business leadership workshops alongside INN's Emerging Leaders Council and major gifts training programs. Members also attended the conference. Led by INN Director of Programs and Services Fran Scarlett, the LEAP Initiative is a leadership program designed to help senior managers of well-established nonprofit news organizations seeking to update or change strategy or move to the next level of growth.

INN Member Civil Eats gives food for thought

Launched in 2009, Civil Eats is the leading daily media source for providing original content and commentary to inform critical thought about the American food system. By focusing on fair, balanced, high-quality journalism, Civil Eats breaks important news, educates leaders and policymakers, influences the national conversation about food, and serves as an invaluable resource for broader mainstream media. For its first four years, Civil Eats operated with no funding and as a labor of love. Now in its ninth year, Civil Eats has achieved significant impact and reach: It raised an unprecedented $100,000 via Kickstarter in 2013 and was named Publication of the Year in 2014 by the James Beard Foundation, all with very limited resources. Civil Eats’ innovative media model reaches millions more through content partnerships with high-profile print and online publications, including TIME, The Atlantic, Slate, Salon, Yahoo!, Food & Wine, Public Radio International, PBS/ITVS, New York Magazine, Eater, Quartz, and Maplight.

INN Members hosting Emma Bowen Foundation fellows for the summer

Twenty fellows participating in the Emma L. Bowen Foundation for Minority Interests in Media program for students of color are helping Institute for Nonprofit News (INN) members, along with INN, this summer, as part of a new partnership.

This is the first time the foundation placed fellows who are college students and recent college graduates from its summer fellowship program inside nonprofit news organizations for eight-week internships focused on new media business, technology and editorial.

INN welcomes nonprofit development leader Larry Horne

Larry Horne joins the Institute for Nonprofit News on June 10 in a new role as development director, based in New York. Horne will lead INN’s revenue strategy with a focus on establishing a major gifts program and diversifying the grant funding portfolio that supports services, programs and growth for a network of more than 210 member newsrooms.

Horne brings more than 30 years of experience in fundraising and nonprofit management to INN, including senior roles at the National Coalition Against Censorship, The Public Theater, the Trust for Public Land, AIDS Service Center NYC and the Hedrick-Martin Institute. In addition to his work with the National Coalition Against Censorship, Horne's media involvement has included programming consulting work for KCET, a Los Angeles PBS station, the Independent Television Service, and documentary film production. Horne began his nonprofit and fundraising career as the founder and executive director of Outfest, an Los Angeles LGBTQ film festival, which he grew into a leading film festival during his 15-year tenure. Most recently, he was the senior capital campaign director at the Green-Wood Historic Fund, and prior to that, executive director of the American Friends of Blérancourt supporting the Franco-American Museum, Château de Blérancourt in Picardy, France.

INN’s LEAD group talks nonprofit news leadership challenges ahead of INN Days 2019

A new leadership development cohort, serving senior leaders from INN members across the country, held its first meeting before INN Days 2019 in Houston, where group members participated in design thinking training and discussed common leadership challenges. Six people were chosen for the LEAD cohort after INN received feedback that people who were outside the group targeted by its Emerging Leadership Council could also be served by mentorship and training. Five of them were able to come together at the conference. “The group was formed because there were additional leaders further along in their careers that needed leadership and product development training when we announced the nomination for INN’s Emerging Leaders Council,” said INN’s Chief Knowledge Officer Fran Scarlett. All of the participants were nominated by their INN member organizations for their strength in nonprofit news leadership.

Introducing INN Index 2018: The state of nonprofit news

INN announced the release of the most comprehensive study of nonprofit news today, INN Index, thanks to generous support from Democracy Fund and the Ethics & Excellence in Journalism Foundation. The study was based on a survey of INN members conducted in the spring of 2018. Key findings from the study are: single-subject news is one of the fastest-growing sectors of nonprofit media, more than half of nonprofit newsrooms are generating more than $500,000 in revenue a year and are starting to diversify revenue sources, and two-thirds of resources typically go to editorial operations. The study also found opportunities for the industry: diversifying revenue sources, investing in business development and growing targeted audiences. To view the executive summary and read the full key findings, visit http://inn.org/innindex or download the PDF here.

Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service seeks to change perspective on neighborhoods

 
For the past seven years, Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service (NNS) has been reporting on under-represented, low-income, minority neighborhoods in Milwaukee's central city. The organization's mission is to change negative perceptions of these neighborhoods—which are often perpetuated by traditional media coverage related to crime and drugs—by providing a more balanced picture. NNS tells stories of people and organizations working hard to improve the quality of life for themselves and their neighbors, in some of the most challenged communities in the country. 
NNS doesn’t shy away from covering these challenges. Its in-depth reporting includes pieces on topics such as sex trafficking, opioid use, prostitution, mass incarceration and reckless driving. The organization also recently won some awards, including the RTNDA Edward R. Murrow Regional Award and gold Milwaukee Press Club award for “Last Call: Neighborhood taverns fading out on Milwaukee’s South Side,” by Edgar Mendez.

Missouri’s Mark Horvit named INN director; three board member representatives re-elected

LOS ANGELES, July 17 — Investigative journalist Mark Horvit is joining the board of directors of the Institute for Nonprofit News, along with three member representatives elected to the board. Horvit is an associate professor at the University of Missouri School of Journalism with deep experience in investigative and nonprofit journalism. He directs Missouri’s State Government Reporting Program, where he is focused on creating a new model for statehouse coverage. He previously served as executive director of Investigative Reporters and Editors and guided IRE through significant expansion. Three member representatives were re-elected at INN’s annual meeting in Houston on Thursday: Laura Frank, vice president of journalism at Rocky Mountain PBS; Anne Galloway, executive director of VTDigger; and Sheila Krumholz, executive director of the Center for Responsive Politics.

New Hampshire Center for Public Interest Journalism’s West joins INN’s board

ORLANDO — June 14, 2018 —Nancy West, executive director of New Hampshire Center for Public Interest Journalism, is joining the Institute for Nonprofit News board of directors as one of three directors elected at INN’s annual meeting. Along with West, INN member news organizations re-elect Marcia Parker, publisher and chief operating officer of CALmatters, and Norberto Santana, publisher of Voice of OC. West replaces Lee Keogh, editor-in-chief of NJ Spotlight, who did not seek re-election. The three will each serve two-year terms starting June 2018 and running through June 2020. Sixty INN members were able to vote for a total of five candidates with three votes each. Other candidates who ran were Tom Gallagher of Religion News Service and Daniel Heimpel of The Chronicle for Social Change.

New year, new newsletter resources

A new year calls for new and improved newsletters for many nonprofit newsrooms, as newsletters are becoming core editorial products and important distribution channels to find new audiences. We have some resolutions for you. Ninety percent of INN members could benefit from adopting at least one of five common best practices for their newsletters, from customized subject lines and longer article descriptions (but not too long). We outline them below. These five recommendations emerged from an audit of member email newsletters conducted by INN’s Emma Bowen Foundation intern Nikita Advani last year.  We covered easy fixes in an earlier posting; if you missed it, you can revisit it here. 

INN members who are building or improving their newsletters can tap into a newsletter training series led by digital marketer Tim Windsor starting Feb.

San Francisco Public Press wins awards, looks to add radio channel to reach broader audience for 10th anniversary

As the San Francisco Public Press nears its 10-year anniversary next year, leaders have bold plans to expand the newsroom's reach and further its mission. In an effort to connect with broader local audiences and better inform and engage with them in civic issues, the organization's leadership is exploring the creation of a terrestrial low-power FM radio station called KSFP-LP. Audio news and feature programming are in development in anticipation of the radio launch scheduled for summer 2019. This is just one aspect of many that makes INN member, the San Francisco Public Press, unique. This spring, the newsroom's leadership took a leading role in a collaboration with more than a dozen other news organizations in partnership with the Bay Area Media Collaborative, a group convened by Renaissance Journalism.

Six newsletter tweaks now can pay off at year’s end

News nonprofits focusing on end-of-year fundraising should check their email newsletter setups now. An audit of INN member newsletters this summer found that four out of five member news organizations have newsletters that could benefit from one or more quick-hit areas for improvement that we identified. Addressing them can increase your email list, open rates and donations. While we recommend addressing these now, they can be done any time during the year. INN audited member newsletters to understand what email newsletter tools and training could help newsrooms year-round.

Watch a recording of INN’s town hall meeting on the possibilities of nonprofit news

More than 60 registrants tuned in live to INN's first Town Hall meeting last month to address the possibilities and what it takes to start your own nonprofit news organization. The hour-long presentation and discussion was led by INN CEO and Executive Director Sue Cross and INN's Chief Knowledge Officer Fran Scarlett. If you registered and missed the event or want to listen in on demand, view the video here or watch the recording embedded below. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMiGjrl39Ls&feature=youtu.be

If you're interested in more information about starting your own nonprofit news organization, sign up for an INN Info Session for Start-ups, which are every other Wednesday. You can also learn more about the growing nonprofit news industry by reading INN Index, the most comprehensive study to date about nonprofit news here.

Texas Observer

Welcome Back, Texas Observer

INN would like to welcome back member Texas Observer, an Austin-based nonprofit news organization known for its investigative reporting, narrative storytelling and sophisticated cultural criticism about all things Texan.