Guest Essay

From crisis to renaissance: Reflections on the 2026 Lenfest News Philanthropy Summit

We are collectively building a culture of philanthropy that supports local journalism and makes our communities stronger.

By Annie McCain

May 26, 2026

Fundraising is hard. It takes perseverance, commitment, and a willingness to take risks. We are stretched too thin, and sometimes our colleagues don’t understand what we do and how hard it is. How often have we heard: “They have money. Just go ask them!”? We face rejection all the time, and no matter how much we raise, it’s never enough. 

Last week, at the Lenfest News Philanthropy Summit in Philadelphia, I was reminded again that news fundraisers are powering the renaissance of local journalism in the United States. We are collectively building a culture of philanthropy that centers the special, profound privilege of partnering with donors and funders who are willing to give up their resources and who believe strongly in our work, and in our mission, to make their community—and our democracy—stronger.

The Summit, hosted by Press Forward and The Lenfest Institute for Journalism, brought together news fundraisers to advance a bold new vision of community support and donor engagement, introducing financial innovation to an industry that has been searching for new revenue sources for a long, long time.

Newsrooms that attended the Summit collectively raise more than $780 million annually. That’s a rough estimate using a combination of 990s and self-reported results, but it’s illustrative. About half of that total is from public media, which have been doing this for decades. NPR, GBH, New York Public Radio, and WHYY were the top four at the Summit. We have a lot to learn from these leaders!  The median annual fundraising total for organizations attending the summit was about $720,000. There’s a lot of room for growth for most of us, but our work as fundraisers stands as a symbol of financial stability and reassurance by the community and for the community.

We don’t just transact business, we build relationships. Here are a few examples:

Pittsburgh’s PublicSource created print zines celebrating three neighborhoods throughout the city. They were distributed for free at local libraries, shops, churches, and community centers. The nonprofit saw growth in individual donations in the ZIP codes covered by the zines. 

WyoFile encouraged its staff and board members to help with solicitations, record videos, and send emails to its audiences and donors to make the donation experience feel more human and help supporters understand their impact. Sixty-three percent of WyoFile’s total revenue came from individual supporters in 2025 — the fourth consecutive year that individual donors made up the majority of its revenue.

Ethiopique, a site serving the Ethiopian and Eritrean communities in the Washington, D.C., area, adopted a road and organized community outings to pick up litter and keep the area clean. The year-long program led to a growth in sponsorships and support.

“This is just one street that we have adopted. It has nothing to do with news,” said founder Henok Mengistu. “But for readers, we pitch this adopted street as a way for them to connect and build community.”

We’ll look back on this time in a few years and realize that we’ve created something incredible together. Our work is changing the business model for local news at a time of profound need. 

In fact, we are sustaining the renaissance of local journalism. We’re at the vanguard of the industry’s rebirth. So, let’s stop saying local journalism is in crisis and start believing in its renaissance.