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Newsletter: How fundraisers are powering the local news renaissance

June 2, 2026

Fundraisers are powering the renaissance of local journalism across the United States by connecting communities to the mission of local publishers and providing opportunities for donors to invest in local news that improves the places where they live.

The resurgence of local news was top of mind for more than 500 news fundraisers, publishers, and funders attending the 2026 Lenfest News Philanthropy Summit in Philadelphia, hosted by The Lenfest Institute for Journalism and Press Forward.

Over the course of the three-day event, attendees connected with peers to share strategies and sharpen their fundraising skills. While the field of news philanthropy has grown over the past several years, much work remains to be done to help educate others on why local news is a public good worth investing in.

In today’s Institute newsletter, Lenfest Institute Executive Vice President Annie McCain reflects on the Summit and how fundraisers are transforming local news. Keep scrolling for more, along with a new podcast episode that goes behind the scenes of the Lenfest AI Collaborative and Fellowship, upcoming virtual workshops from the Lenfest Communities of Practice, and a fundraising toolkit for investigative newsrooms.

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

By Annie McCain

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.

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.

To learn more about how news fundraisers are thinking about their work to drive more sustainable businesses that can serve audiences for years to come, check out our full recap of what we learned at the Lenfest News Philanthropy Summit.

Lessons from the 2026 Summit

News and notes

🎧 Lenfest Institute Executive Director and CEO Jim Friedlich and San Francisco Standard Editor-in-Chief Kevin Delaney were featured in the latest episode of Newsroom Robots. The two discussed how the Standard is using AI to reinvent reader-facing products as part of its participation in the Lenfest AI Collaborative and Fellowship Program in partnership with OpenAI and Microsoft.

🏃‍♀️ What if journalism didn’t just live on a screen, but on the streets? Join the Lenfest Communities of Practice on June 11 at 2 p.m. EDT / 11 a.m. PDT for a candid conversation with Cara Kuhlman, founder of the independent news organization Future Tides. Cara will introduce a “tours-as-journalism” model, showing how walking tours can function as storytelling platforms, engagement tools, and revenue streams. We’ll also explore practical guidance for designing and piloting a tour in your community.

📊 The Lenfest Audience Community is meeting on June 17 at 1 p.m. EDT / 10 a.m. PDT for a conversation with Ross Maghielse, deputy managing editor at The Philadelphia Inquirer. We’ll discuss how the publication is fueling triple-digit subscription growth, increasing reader revenue, and strengthening subscriber retention in a highly competitive media landscape.

💬 Marketing your newsroom’s work is essential to securing support, building audiences, and advancing your mission. Back by popular demand from the Lenfest News Philanthropy Summit, Ken Schneck joins us on June 25 at 3 p.m. EDT / 12 p.m. PDT for a virtual encore session. This workshop will help participants strengthen their elevator pitch, identify barriers to self-promotion, and find the words that clearly communicate the uniqueness and fundability of their work.

💡 When working to fund investigative reporting, show donors how your newsroom operates, not just why the work matters. MuckRock Foundation’s Sunlight Research Desk built a free toolkit to help local newsrooms communicate their investigative work more effectively and drive donations. MuckRock shared results from newsrooms that used the toolkit, which included improvements in dollars raised, number of donors, and overall campaign performance — with one newsroom hitting 180% of its fundraising goal.

This issue of The Lenfest Institute newsletter was written by Hayley Slusser.

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