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Lenfest News Philanthropy Network: How the Summit built community, confidence, & clarity

Reflections from our 2026 Lenfest News Philanthropy Summit attendees

July 21, 2026

At the Lenfest News Philanthropy Network, we believe a rising tide lifts all boats: what works for one news organization can spark ideas at another, helping us all move closer to our shared mission of sustaining local news and informing our communities.

We saw this in action at the 2026 Lenfest News Philanthropy Summit, where 500+ news fundraisers, publishers, and funders came together to strengthen the field. In the weeks since, attendees have been applying those lessons to their own work — and in today’s newsletter, we’re sharing a few of their reflections on building community among fellow fundraisers, gaining confidence in your work, and finding clarity around your organization’s mission.

We’re also including a recording of our recent session on “shameless self-promotion” featuring Ken Schneck, editor of The Buckeye Flame. The session — an encore from the Summit — helps participants strengthen their elevator pitch, identify barriers to self-promotion, and find the words that clearly communicate the uniqueness and fundability of their work.

Keep scrolling to read more, along with a few job opportunities. We’ll be sharing additional reflections from the Summit over the coming weeks, so if a friend forwarded you this email, you can join the Lenfest News Philanthropy Network here. 

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The marketplace model for local news

By Ruby Jones, Empower Media Exchange

I arrived at the Lenfest News Philanthropy Summit searching for clarity about a question at the center of local journalism’s future: How do we build durable local news models in a moment when funding is tighter, advertising has shifted, and the old rules no longer apply?

That question stayed with me as I wandered through Philadelphia, a city shaped by reinvention, endurance, and the weight of American history. In the crowded aisles of Reading Terminal Market, the answer began to take shape.

The market was loud, kinetic and generous. I was struck by the variety of vendors, but even more by the structure itself. Many businesses, distinct in flavor, history, and clientele, were thriving under one roof. None had to become identical in order to belong.

Their strength came from density, abundance, and the tendency for people to gather where many forms of value coexist. Journalism should aspire to the same.

Over three days, speakers returned to the same conclusion: sustainable local news depends on trust, collaboration, diversification, and shared infrastructure, not isolation and panic.

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You don’t need to become someone else to raise money

By Jake Hylton, Lookout Publications

We’ve built a fundraising culture that tells people they need to perform. To show up as a polished, carefully calibrated version of themselves that doesn’t actually exist the other 364 days of the year. And then we wonder why it feels so hard, so unnatural, so draining to be in this job, so much like something we have to survive rather than something we actually want to do.

Nobody told you that you, the journalism professional reading this, already know how to fundraise. The skills that make you good at your job as a journalist are the same skills that make someone great at fundraising. You were just led to believe that the training didn’t count here too.

Source-building, pre-interview research, earning people’s trust, reading a room before you open your mouth. None of that is exclusively a fundraising skill. That’s just… journalism. It’s being a human in a new setting. It’s the exact stuff that sits at the foundation of this industry, the things you learned early and have used every single day since. And yet somehow, all of it gets thrown out the window the moment someone hands you a business card that says “Program Officer.”

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The future of local news is sitting in a student newsroom

By Charlotte Varnum, The Red & Black

At the Summit, I spent most of my time in sessions built to equip small teams like mine. I am the primary fundraiser for our organization, and not only did these sessions give me the playbook for “how” to get the work done, they taught me the power of defining our “why” to help us connect with supporters, donors, and funders. These conversations range from the practical, such as why we need funding to support our operations and infrastructure, to more philosophical, like why our community needs a reliable, free press. Walking away with these new skills around messaging has given me renewed confidence and clarity to plot a course for major fundraising efforts for our organization. 

In most news organizations, serving today’s audience and preparing tomorrow’s journalists are separate endeavors. At The Red & Black, they are one and the same. What has been built here over 133 years may offer something larger than a local success story: a model for how independent, student-led news organizations can strengthen their communities today while ensuring there will be a free press to serve them tomorrow.

Read more from Charlotte Read more from Charlotte

Jobs

• The Lenfest Institute is seeking a Central Texas Media Ecosystem Coordinator to support a two-year initiative designed to strengthen local news organizations serving communities across Central Texas. This role serves as a locally embedded extension of the Lenfest Expert Network, helping participating organizations stay connected, engaged, and informed throughout the program. The coordinator will serve as a liaison between Lenfest team members and media outlets, provide local insight, support relationship-building across the Central Texas ecosystem, and assist with community-facing events and activities.
• The Harvey World Herald, which serves Harvey, Illinois, is hiring a part-time, remote Development Manager to generate philanthropic revenue, provide writing support for grant proposals and reports, and cultivate donor relationships.
• MinnPost is hiring a Development Director to lead fundraising and philanthropic revenue generation across the organization. Reporting to the Executive Director and serving on the leadership team, this person will work with editorial, business staff, and the board to set goals, build relationships, and grow the resources that support MinnPost’s public-service journalism
• New Jersey PBS is seeking a Revenue Director to lead fundraising, development, and earned-revenue strategy. This role oversees membership, major gifts, corporate underwriting, foundation grants, and planned giving programs, and is responsible for growing a diversified revenue base that sustains the public media organization’s journalism, programming, and community engagement missions while reducing long-term dependency on state appropriations.
• Next City is seeking a full-time Development Manager responsible for all administrative aspects of fundraising. This role will also support the organization and management of Next City’s day-to-day efforts to attract and retain individual small donors as we improve our membership program.
• The Pulitzer Center is hiring a Chief Development Officer to lead all aspects of its revenue strategy, fundraising operations, and philanthropic growth during a moment of significant organizational momentum. The CDO will serve as a strategic thought partner to the CEO and senior executives, helping position the Pulitzer Center within a rapidly evolving media, democracy, and philanthropic landscape.