Scalable solutions for sustainable local news

The Lenfest Institute aims to support a sustainable local journalism ecosystem that can catalyze a more transparent, connected, and equitable Philadelphia by linking residents to their neighbors, to news organizations, and to other information resources that allow them to flourish. In addition to serving as the non-controlling, nonprofit owner of The Philadelphia Inquirer, the Institute supports dozens of news organizations across the city through grantmaking and training.

In 2019, the Institute launched Spotlight PA to provide high-quality investigative and accountability reporting for the benefit of all Pennsylvanians.

• The Philadelphia Inquirer The Philadelphia Inquirer
• Philadelphia News Ecosystem Philadelphia News Ecosystem
• SpotlightPA SpotlightPA

The Lenfest Institute supports organizations across the United States to help them build sustainable business models and serve their communities with reliable journalism. The Institute is also home to four Communities of Practice, which bring together journalism professionals to develop expertise, share best practices, and solve community challenges.

• Communities of Practice Communities of Practice
• Local News Solutions and Resources Local News Solutions and Resources
• Fiscal Sponsorships Fiscal Sponsorships
• Strategic Advisory Services Strategic Advisory Services

The Lenfest Institute for Journalism is a non-profit LLC formed for charitable and educational purposes. It is the sole shareholder of The Philadelphia Inquirer, PBC

The Institute is an affiliate of The Lenfest Institute for Journalism Special Asset Fund of Philadelphia Foundation (Formerly The Philadelphia Foundation Special Assets Fund), a tax-exempt organization under the Internal Revenue Code Section 501(c)(3) and a public charity. Neither The Institute nor TPF control The Inquirer. Instead, The Inquirer’s Board of Directors is responsible for operational and key decision-making. The Inquirer remains a for-profit business, a “B-Corp” or Public Benefit Corporation.

Although the Institute technically owns The Inquirer, under the legal structure– and to protect its editorial independence – The Inquirer operates independently under its current management team and its Board of Directors.

The Institute owns 9,999 non-voting shares in The Inquirer. The charitable Inquirer Trust holds the one voting share of stock of The Inquirer. The trustees of the charitable trust are the same as the members of the Board of Directors of The Inquirer. The purpose of the charitable trust was to vest control of The Inquirer in the hands of its Board of Directors so as to ensure it would be operated independently from the Institute and maintain editorial independence.

The Institute’s Board of Managers governs the tax-exempt mission of the Institute. Although inherently connected to The Inquirer, these are independent bodies with independent missions and independent responsibilities.

• Institute legal structure Institute legal structure

• 2022 IRS exemption determination letter 2022 IRS exemption determination letter
• 2003 IRS exemption determination letter 2003 IRS exemption determination letter
• Federal tax treatment of contributions to The Lenfest Institute Federal tax treatment of contributions to The Lenfest Institute

• 2023 Form 990 2023 Form 990
• 2022 Form 990 2022 Form 990
• 2021 Form 990 2021 Form 990
• 2020 Form 990 2020 Form 990
• 2019 Form 990 2019 Form 990
• 2018 Form 990 2018 Form 990

• 2023 2023
• 2022 2022
• 2021 2021
• 2020 2020
• 2019 2019

• 2024 2024
• 2023 2023
• 2022 2022
• 2021 2021
• 2020 2020
• 2018-2019 2018-2019

• Gift Acceptance Policy Gift Acceptance Policy
• Grantmaking Policy Grantmaking Policy