The nonprofit journalism sector ended 2019 with its finances in reasonably good shape, a growing number of outlets, and an evolving relationship with audiences that may strengthen public engagement, even in times of crisis, a report from the Institute for Nonprofit News finds. 

Based on a survey of eighty-five INN members conducted in March, the report, INN Index 2020: The State of Nonprofit News (10 pages, PDF), found that nonprofit news organizations continued to broaden their financial base and reduce their dependence on foundation grants. Indeed, for the first time since the INN Index was launched three years ago, a slight majority (52 percent) of respondents reported that foundation funding made up less than half their total annual revenue (48 percent), while donations from individuals (35 percent) and earned revenue (11 percent) accounted for most of the rest. Local outlets and those covering general news were less likely to rely on foundation funding (33 percent and 39 percent), compared with statewide newsrooms (61 percent), those covering related topics (58 percent), single-topic outlets (57 percent), and regional/national/global newsrooms (48 percent).

Funded by the Democracy Fund and the Peter and Carmen Lucia Buck, Ford, Knight, Jonathan Logan Family, MacArthur, and Open Society foundations, the survey found that while 41 percent of nonprofit newsrooms have diversified their revenue streams with at least four sources, the share of revenue from readers has remained small, with 70 percent of individual giving concentrated among a handful of newsrooms. And while thirty-one nonprofit news organizations were launched in 2019, median revenue for all outlets fell to roughly $500,000, from about $600,000 in 2018. 

When asked about the impact of COVID-19, about half the respondents said they did not expect the public health crisis to affect their revenues in 2020, while 8 percent were anticipating revenues to increase and 40 percent were expecting a decline. At the same time, respondents said they were facing a number of challenges, including canceled events and loss of advertising, the lack of reserve funds, and a shift from large, specialized reporting and investigative organizations to small, local outlets  — and a concomitant ratcheting up of competition for funding.

"Since the field of nonprofit news took off after the Great Recession, it has proven resilient and resourceful in tapping a range of revenue sources to produce impactful journalism and engagement," the report's authors conclude. "In the face of myriad uncertainties, those strengths will serve nonprofit news well as the COVID-19 crisis and its impacts unfold."

(Photo credit: Fibonacci Blue)