Local Media Association, PNA Foundation partner to create Pennsylvania Fundraising Lab
(April 2, 2024) — Local Media Association and the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association are pleased to announce a new partnership that will bring the proven training of the LMA Lab for Journalism Funding to publishers in Pennsylvania.
All PNA member news organizations in Pennsylvania are invited to apply to join this first-ever statewide cohort of the fundraising lab to learn how to develop reporting projects that can be funded through philanthropy.
“On behalf of Pennsylvania publishers, I am beyond excited to provide this unique partnership with the Local Media Association that will share the knowledge and experience of LMA’s previous lab cohorts while teaching proven, detailed, step-by-step fundraising strategies and tactics,” said Tanya Henderson, executive director of the PNA Foundation.
“Going through the Lab for Journalism Funding has been a transformative experience for so many newsrooms, helping them better serve and sustain their civic journalism,” said Frank Mungeam, who leads the lab as LMA’s chief innovation officer. “We are thrilled to partner with PNA to offer this experience at the state level to publishers in Pennsylvania.”
Applications are now open and will be accepted through April 22. Up to 12 local Pennsylvania media companies will be invited to participate in the four-month program that will run May through September 2024.
The LMA Lab for Journalism Funding, made possible with continuing support from Google News Initiative, has helped more than 100 news organizations across the U.S. raise more than $22 million to support local journalism since 2020.
This first-of-its-kind state version of the fundraising lab is made possible with the support of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and Pennsylvania’s PNA Foundation.
Newsrooms in the new cohort will learn best practices documented in LMA’s industry report Pathways to Philanthropy, and the just-released report, Sustaining Philanthropy for Journalism.
Programmatic support, guest speakers, and case studies will also be provided by The Lenfest Institute for Journalism which has worked closely with the LMA and PNA in the past. The Lenfest Institute will provide support through the Lenfest News Philanthropy Network, which assists news enterprises on fundraising, and the Lenfest Beyond Print program which focuses on digital transformation for historically print news organizations.
The Pennsylvania cohort will be led by Liz White, former publisher of the Record-Journal (Meriden, Connecticut) and a graduate of the LMA Lab for Journalism Funding and LMA Advanced Fundraising Lab. LMA staff and a team of coaches will also provide one-on-one support to newsrooms.
Each publisher in the cohort will set a fundraising goal, in consultation with the coaches, that is in line with that publisher’s market size. Participating publishers will also get to attend LMA Fest in September and meet with funders and other fundraising lab participants. Case studies and an industry playbook will be published, sharing best practices and lessons learned.
Preference will be given to media organizations that:
- Have strong local leadership with deep ties to the community.
- Are focused on high-quality local journalism.
- Have leadership-level buy-in to participate in this lab and make the time/resource commitment.
- Value staff and leadership diversity.
The PNA Foundation will award $20,000 grants to three participating news organizations to support their fundraising projects at PNA’s 100th Anniversary Gala on Nov. 14.
View an informational webinar here.
Applications will be reviewed and accepted on a rolling basis until April 22.
For more information, please contact John Derr at johnd@mansimedia.com.
