Meet the inaugural Philadelphia Local News Sustainability Initiative grantees Learn more
The Lenfest Institute offers grant funding to help local news publishers and journalism professionals develop sustainable solutions for local journalism in service of our communities and democracy.
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The Lenfest Institute funds projects that align with our mission in the Philadelphia News Ecosystem, in Pennsylvania, and across the United States.
In Philadelphia, our grants support three interdependent tiers: Individual media makers, organizations, and ecosystem-wide efforts. We employ an evidence-based approach to our grantmaking and programming utilizing key metrics to determine the efficacy of our efforts
Nationally, we fund programs that support media ecosystem-building, research and community listening projects, and projects that directly implement lessons from The Lenfest Institute’s Communities of Practice, with a specific emphasis on experimentation.
The Institute’s work is entirely supported by private philanthropy, and these donors help fund the Institute’s investments. A list of current Institute donors is available here.
The Constellation News Leadership Initiative is a comprehensive management development program, providing career coaching and executive leadership resources to Philadelphia-area media professionals of color pursuing senior roles in local news media enterprises.
Total grants: $107,000
A coalition of Philadelphia community and media organizations committed to informing voters and ensuring their voices are central to the 2023 elections for mayor and city council. Grants supported issues-based election coverage and voter engagement events. This program was supported by both The Lenfest Institute and the Knight-Lenfest Fund.
Total grants: $1,491,100
The Knight-Lenfest Local News Transformation Fund provides grants and programs to support the digital transformation, audience development, diversity, and sustainability of hundreds of news organizations, from startups to legacy newspapers and public media. The Fund is a joint venture of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and The Lenfest Institute for Journalism.
Good Conflict LLC: $10,000 News Catalyst at Klein College of Media and Communication at Temple University: $1,251,000 Professor Andrea Wenzel research at Temple University: $152,000 Scalawag: $50,000 Table Stakes program at The American Press Institute: $1,650,000 The Plug: $195,000 WHYY News and Information Community Exchange 2.0: $614,000
Total grants: $3,922,000
The Lenfest Next Generation Fund supports professional development opportunities for Philadelphia-area emerging journalists, media makers, and journalism students of color.
Total grants: $21,250
The Lenfest Institute funds projects across the United States that align with our priorities and mission to support sustainable business models for important local news.
Aspen Institute Local News Summit: $25,000 LION Publishers – Independent News Sustainability Summit: $25,000 Indigenous Media Freedom Alliance: $6,000 Local Journalism Initiative of Delaware: $43,600 Rebuild Local News: $150,000 Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press: $75,000 The 19th*: $25,000
Total grants: $349,600
As the non-controlling, nonprofit owner of The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Lenfest Institute provides targeted grants that support journalism and civic information, digital marketing and product development, sustainable business models, and diversity, equity, and inclusion. (In addition, $2,543,887 in Spotlight PA grants listed below were given to The Inquirer to support Spotlight PA.)
Digital Subscription Acceleration: $3,000,000 A More Perfect Union: $750,000 Investigations Team: $600,000 Health journalism: $250,000 High-Impact Journalism Fund: $186,183 Opinion desk: $50,000 Travel for foreign news coverage: $20,000
Total grants: $4,856,183
We support news organizations and entrepreneurs in the Greater Philadelphia area whose coverage is focused on citywide civic engagement, public accountability journalism, or important public opinion research.
CivicStory: $2,500 Code Black Media: $47,300 Technically Media: $40,000 WHYY / Billy Penn: $1,800
Total grants: $93,800
A community-grounded business accelerator program supporting BIPOC media entrepreneurs through training, one-on-one coaching, and grantmaking.
Total grants: $195,000
The Lenfest Institute is the co-founder of Spotlight PA, a nonprofit investigative newsroom covering Pennsylvania state government. We support Spotlight PA’s mission of holding powerful private and public forces across Pennsylvania — especially governments, businesses and special interests — to account through urgent and compelling investigative journalism. Spotlight provides its news for free to more than 90 other news organizations across the commonwealth. Most of Spotlight PA’s 2022 grants were disbursed through The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Total grants: $2,543,887
The Constellation News Leadership Initiative is a comprehensive management development program providing career coaching and executive leadership resources to Philadelphia-area media professionals of color pursuing senior roles in local news media enterprises.
Total grants: $82,000
AI for the People $75,000 American Press Institute Beyond Print: $300,000 Independence Public Media Foundation Community Voices Fund: $250,000 The Philadelphia Inquirer: $2,000,000 URL Media: $100,000
Total grants: $2,725,000
Total grants: $21,149
Agenda Watch at Stanford University: $43,200 Auricle Communications: $3,000 FilmScene: $25,000 Local Media Association Lab for Journalism Funding: $60,000 Membership Guide at the Media Development Investment Fund: $58,823 Solutions Journalism Network: $500 The National Trust for Local News: $150,000
Total grants: $290,523
As the non-controlling, nonprofit owner of The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Lenfest Institute provides targeted grants that support journalism and civic information, digital marketing and product development, sustainable business models, and diversity, equity, and inclusion. (An additional $1,131,910 in Spotlight PA grants listed below were given to The Inquirer to support Spotlight PA. An additional $2 million was given to The Inquirer through the Knight-Lenfest Fund as listed above.)
Community News Desk: $600,000 Investigations Team: $600,000 Health journalism: $300,000 High-Impact Journalism Fund: $231,914 A More Perfect Union planning: $125,000 Lenfest Lab Grants: $679,167
Total grants: $2,536,081
Al Día: $150,000 National Association of Hispanic Journalists: $10,000 Philadelphia Association of Black Journalists: $10,000 Research by the Center for Media Engagement at University of Texas – Austin: $336,700 Technically Media: $40,000 The Bryan K. Monroe Scholarship Fund at Temple University: $35,000 WHYY / Billy Penn: $750
Total grants: $582,450
The Lenfest Institute is the co-founder of Spotlight PA, a nonprofit investigative newsroom covering Pennsylvania state government. We support Spotlight PA’s mission of holding powerful private and public forces across Pennsylvania — especially governments, businesses and special interests — to account through urgent and compelling investigative journalism. Spotlight provides its news for free to more than 90 other news organizations across the commonwealth. Spotlight PA’s 2021 grants were disbursed through The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Total grants: $1,391,910
The Lenfest Institute offers a temporary fiscal sponsorship to select for-profit and startup publishers that align with its mission and priorities. Fiscal sponsorships allow them to receive charitable donations as they transition to nonprofit status.
AZ Luminaria: $21,500 Civic Capital: $9,500 FunTimes Magazine: $100,000 Lookout Local Santa Cruz: $285,960 National Trust for Local News: $1,765,400 Santa Cruz Local: $160,556
Total: $2,342,916
AZ Luminaria: $147,000 Capital B: $1,313,200 Chronogram: $49,000 Lookout Local Santa Cruz: $102,500 National Trust for Local News: $435,500 Santa Cruz Local: $76,600
Total: $2,123,800
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