Thread by @NewsbySchmidt

Making the optimist case for local news #ona19philanthropy: Great communities are built on great philanthropic communities (@lenfestinst) and philanthropists are actually growing more eager to support local news (@rgibbs)

@lenfestinst @rgibbs @richardwagoner: When the Seattle Times started the education lab, they had to win over the newsroom. "Whenever we take money for our community funded projects, it's made clear to the funders that they don't have control over the content" #ONA19Philanthropy

@lenfestinst @rgibbs @richardwagoner @rgibbs: The @TexasTribune has diversified (yes, even as a non-profit!) to make sure that if one grant doesn't get renewed, it doesn't sting too badly #ONA19Philanthropy

@lenfestinst @rgibbs @richardwagoner @TexasTribune The @PhillyInquirer and @seattletimes list their funders alongside their reporting for transparency #ONA19Philanthropy

@lenfestinst @rgibbs @richardwagoner @TexasTribune @PhillyInquirer @seattletimes "Money adds complexity," @alicerhee of @JournalismProj says. Funders working with them won't get to decide which newsrooms get the money. #ONA19Philanthropy

@lenfestinst @rgibbs @richardwagoner @TexasTribune @PhillyInquirer @seattletimes @alicerhee @JournalismProj Reporting, but not that kind — how newsrooms tell the funders where their money went: @PhillyInquirer has donor breakfasts #ONA19Philanthropy

@TexasTribune gets major gift donors to commit to three years of gifts. "That enables the development team to not have to worry too much about them, less reporting every quarter. It also gives us the chance to raise them to a higher level for the next years." #ONA19Philanthropy

"Don’t tell me what you did, tell me what you accomplished. It's not about how many read it, but under the foundational stuff what changed because you wrote this story," Annie Madona of @lenfestinst says #ONA19Philanthropy

@lenfestinst @TexasTribune has the reporters round up the compliments and impact notes they get from their journalism and send them to [e-mail] so their development head can compile them for funders later #ONA19Philanthropy

@lenfestinst @TexasTribune (Want to know more about assigning the job of impact to someone in your org? Here's how @miriambcwells does it at @TBIJ! #ONA19Philanthropy niemanlab.org/2019/09/meet-t…)

@lenfestinst @TexasTribune @miriambcwells @TBIJ "You need an impact tracker if you're taking foundation money," @alisonmaego says #ONA19Philanthropy

Here's one: revealnews.org/article/cirs-i…

@lenfestinst @TexasTribune @miriambcwells @TBIJ @alisonmaego How do you get the money? Start by breaking down the walls so the revenue folks have time to raise money for an editorial project before it's ready to launch, @rgibbs says #ONA19Philanthropy. They now have a slack channel and monthly meeting to discuss

@lenfestinst @TexasTribune @miriambcwells @TBIJ @alisonmaego @rgibbs "Philanthropy is very relational, not transactional. It's a long slow dance of bringing people in," Madonia says. #ONA19Philanthropy

"'No' means 'not now'."

@lenfestinst @TexasTribune @miriambcwells @TBIJ @alisonmaego @rgibbs "Keep asking until you get a restraining order," @rgibbs says @TexasTribune's chief development officer Terry Quinn advised him.

One Texas foundation always says no when people ask at first. So ask again! #ONA19Philanthropy

@lenfestinst @TexasTribune @miriambcwells @TBIJ @alisonmaego @rgibbs Look at the mission statements of the family and local foundations, @alicerhee says. "How does funding you help them meet their goals?" Think of it like a big reporting project to find out how you fit and could help them meet their goals. #ONA19Philanthropy

@lenfestinst @TexasTribune @miriambcwells @TBIJ @alisonmaego @rgibbs @alicerhee Chalkbeat has a special pitch for education foundations: You are investing millions of dollars to change local education and you need local news to help, @alisonmaego says. #ONA19Philanthropy

Adapt your pitch!

@lenfestinst @TexasTribune @miriambcwells @TBIJ @alisonmaego @rgibbs @alicerhee One foundation told @lenfestinst that they would never fund journalism — but then became interested in getting the word out about environmental issues in the river nearby and became a major donor with @PhillyInquirer's reporting. #ONA19Philanthropy

@lenfestinst @TexasTribune @miriambcwells @TBIJ @alisonmaego @rgibbs @alicerhee @PhillyInquirer When the political donations come out every quarter,
@TexasTribune
reviews them to see who to solicit for donations.

Republican pitch: "Don't you want us to help make Texas better?"
Democratic pitch: "Don't you want us to help make journalism better?" #ONA19Philanthropy

@lenfestinst @TexasTribune @miriambcwells @TBIJ @alisonmaego @rgibbs @alicerhee @PhillyInquirer How do you work with philanthropy as a for-profit outlet? Here's what @richardwagoner is doing at the Seattle Times #ONA19Philanthropy: niemanlab.org/2019/04/how-th…

@lenfestinst @TexasTribune @miriambcwells @TBIJ @alisonmaego @rgibbs @alicerhee @PhillyInquirer @richardwagoner @alisonmaego isn't a tax lawyer but here's some details on those 501(c)(3) rules #ONA19Philanthropy: niemanlab.org/2019/06/heres-…

@lenfestinst @TexasTribune @miriambcwells @TBIJ @alisonmaego @rgibbs @alicerhee @PhillyInquirer @richardwagoner Philanthropy supports around 10 (!) positions in the @seattletimes newsroom, @richardwagoner says #ONA19Philanthropy. But they're still aiming for digital subscriptions as the larger model.

@lenfestinst @TexasTribune @miriambcwells @TBIJ @alisonmaego @rgibbs @alicerhee @PhillyInquirer @richardwagoner @seattletimes Media philanthropy has quadrupled since 2009, @alicerhee quotes @MediaFunders #ONA19Philanthropy mediaimpactfunders.org/reports/journa…

@lenfestinst @TexasTribune @miriambcwells @TBIJ @alisonmaego @rgibbs @alicerhee @PhillyInquirer @richardwagoner @seattletimes @MediaFunders Good group project here at #ONA19Philanthropy: a @gatesf
gentleman and @freepress's @madbair share their advice on local news philanthropy too

@lenfestinst @TexasTribune @miriambcwells @TBIJ @alisonmaego @rgibbs @alicerhee @PhillyInquirer @richardwagoner @seattletimes @MediaFunders @GatesF @freepress @madbair P.S. Additional reading suggested by @alicerhee: theajp.org/wp-content/upl… (@NiemanLab version: niemanlab.org/2019/08/who-wo…)