Call for 2024 Projects that Respond to Community-Based Calls for Action
Applications are now open for the third round of grants from Colorado Media Project’s Advancing Equity in Local News fund. The goal of this initiative is to build newsroom and community capacity to address inequities, and to harness a wider array of partners and community assets to create a healthier, more inclusive public square in Colorado.
The application deadline to receive funding for 2024 projects is November 27, 2023. This year’s open-call grant opportunity is made possible through pooled support from The Colorado Trust, The Colorado Health Foundation, Rose Community Foundation, RootED Denver, Gates Family Foundation, Democracy Fund and The Bohemian Foundation.
Funding Priorities
CMP’s Advancing Equity in Local News grants support projects that are informed by and responsive to recommendations put forth by Voices Initiative working groups representing Colorado’s Black, Latinx, AANHPI and Indigenous communities, convened by the Colorado News Collaborative between 2021 and 2023. Applicants are encouraged to reference specific recommendations that your project seeks to addresses.
The third round of Advancing Equity in Local News grants will again support projects that address one or more of these three priorities:
Support internal diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) capacity-building efforts in Colorado newsrooms. When Colorado newsrooms have inclusive workplace cultures they can successfully recruit, retain and promote reporters who represent the communities they serve, and are better equipped to cover communities with the respect, nuance, and completeness they deserve.
PROJECT EXAMPLES: DEI training for newsroom leaders and reporters; content audit initiatives or projects to examine trends in sourcing, framing and/or language; leadership development for journalists of color or representing diverse perspectives or abilities, and more.
Funding from The Colorado Trust will support DEI capacity-building in Colorado newsrooms aimed at creating inclusive workplace cultures.
Strengthen connections and build trust between Colorado newsrooms and the diverse communities they serve. Local newsrooms can be hubs for trusted civic news, but building and sustaining that trust requires strong, ongoing, two-way connections between newsrooms and the local community members they serve, especially with communities of color, and others whose perspectives and stories have historically been left out of or distorted by coverage. Funding will support newsrooms and community members in developing new projects and durable connections that help meet community needs and amplify diverse perspectives.
PROJECT EXAMPLES: Engaged elections projects that center community priorities; community engagement or reporting projects co-designed by newsrooms and community groups; public accountability boards that provide ongoing and actionable community feedback to newsrooms; systemic approaches to connect newsrooms with expert sources, storytellers and collaborators from diverse communities; and more.
Funding from RootEd Denver will support projects that seek to expand the role of diverse youth and family voices and perspectives in local coverage.
Gates Family Foundation will support newsrooms seeking to strengthen their 2024 elections coverage via engagement with underrepresented Colorado communities.
Support more diverse and inclusive civic news leadership, entrepreneurship, ownership and narratives. Colorado’s current local journalism workforce is overwhelmingly white and concentrated in the Front Range, which narrows the range of issues and voices amplified in our state. When Coloradans read, see and hear about concerns, struggles, triumphs and perspectives from neighbors and families not like their own, it can build common understanding and point to solutions. Funding will support projects that advance equity and shift narratives through projects developed by and for communities of color, rural communities, and other historically marginalized groups.
PROJECT EXAMPLES: Capacity-building that develops media leadership, entrepreneurship, storytelling or reporting skills among journalists, content creators and residents of color, low-income residents, or those from rural or other underserved communities; support for media ownership transitions, innovations or growth that significantly impact communities of color, rural or other underserved communities; editorial projects led by and for those whose stories are not being told; and more.
With these priorities, Colorado Media Project aims to support newsroom efforts that build trust and expand the tent for local news in tangible ways, and also yield lessons and best-practices for the field. These grants are not aimed at solving overall capacity or sustainability issues at Colorado’s media organizations, but authentic and intentional expansion of service to diverse audiences should be a core part of the project’s design. While proposals should emphasize one of the above themes or topics for exploration, we are equally interested in finding new strategies and tools to deliver content and engage diverse audiences.
These grants are intended to catalyze long-term changes in the ways that newsrooms interact with, reflect, and serve communities. Proposals that articulate a long-term vision for what applicants hope to achieve with their projects beyond the year of funding are highly encouraged.
Grant amounts will vary depending on the scope of the projects and the total number of outlets funded. The total grant amount per project for most projects will range between $5,000 and $25,000, with potential for more funding for projects that involve multiple well-coordinated partners and/or have the potential to deliver significant impact. Applicants will be asked to identify additional organizational resources (eg: staff time, material support from leadership, in-kind or financial resources from other sources or partners) that they plan to dedicate to the project, in addition to the requested grant funds. Organizations that received AELN grants in 2022 and/or 2023 are eligible to reapply for new work or continuation of their existing projects, and new applicants are also encouraged.
Colorado Media Project held a Zoom information session on Friday, Nov. 3 to answer questions about this opportunity and the application and selection process.
Previous Projects We’ve Funded
Previous rounds of AELN funding have directed more than $625,000 to journalists, newsrooms, and communities. This initiative supported 19 projects in 2022 and 27 projects in 2023. You can learn more about specific projects, and hear the lessons CMP’s grantees shared at the 2022 Advancing Equity in Local News Convening on CMP’s YouTube channel.
Who May Apply?
Colorado nonprofit news organizations and small, locally owned and operated for-profit or public benefit newsrooms are qualified to apply as lead applicants; for-profit newsrooms owned by corporations or investors may access project support by applying as part of a collaborative application with a qualified lead applicant
Nonprofit community organizations that are proposing to collaborate with one or more Colorado news or media organization/s
Projects initiated by freelance journalists, storytellers, or media entrepreneurs must apply under a fiscal sponsor, which is a nonprofit or for-profit news organization or nonprofit community organization
Applicants must be located in Colorado and/or projects must primarily serve Colorado communities
New applicants as well as current and previous CMP grantees are eligible to apply, including recipients of AELN funds in 2023 who are seeking 2024 continuation grants or funding for new projects. Such applicants will be asked to outline whether the newly proposed project relates to their other CMP-funded work.
Application Process and Timeline
Application Opens: Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023
Information Session: Friday, Nov. 3, 2023 from 12 - 1 p.m. MT
Applications Due: Monday, Nov. 27, 2023 by 5 p.m. MT
Applicant Notifications: by Friday, Jan. 5, 2024
Signed Grant Contracts Due: Monday, Jan. 15, 2024
Grantee Welcome Meeting (Virtual): Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024, 2 to 3 p.m. MT
Completed Project Planning Worksheets Due: Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2024
Disbursement of Grants: By Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2024 (pending signed contracts and completed project planning worksheets)
Mid-Term Grantee Interviews with CMP: June 2024
Grantee Convening: Sept. 2024
Final Reports Due to CMP: Dec. 1, 2024
All Funds Expended: By Dec. 31, 2024
Additional Notes
Applicants should base the amount requested on the scope of the project. While all applications need to be strong to be competitive, the larger the amount requested, the stronger the application will need to be.
Proposing to utilize grants as matching funds to leverage other resources is encouraged.
It is important for us to understand what your organization and/or partners are able to contribute to your project from your existing resources. Project budgets should reflect the total cost required to achieve your goals, including any staff time, in-kind contributions, and/or funding from other sources.
Proposals that involve multiple outlets and/or community groups are encouraged, with a goal of creating efficiencies, leveraging strengths and expanding impact.
Grantees will be invited to participate in additional learning and capacity building facilitated by CMP, CPA, and COLab, and to share their project progress and learning at a convening in Fall 2024.
About Colorado Media Project’s Advancing Equity in Local News Initiative
In early 2020, as the pandemic was at its height, Colorado Media Project offered its first round of COVID-19 news equity grants to help ensure local news and information about the pandemic was reaching Colorado communities of color, immigrants, and other non-English speakers. In 2021, we offered grants to reach these same communities (who have been disproportionately impacted by the virus), to help ensure they received accurate information about how to access the vaccine, and answers to their questions to address reluctance, from trusted community voices and local news sources. In 2022, we launched the first round of Advancing Equity in Local News grants, in addition to the three-year Community News Network grant designed to support local newsrooms that reach underserved audiences.
This initiative has been made possible by pooling funds from: The Colorado Trust, The Colorado Health Foundation, Rose Community Foundation, Gates Family Foundation, Democracy Fund, The Bohemian Foundation and RootED Denver.
Questions?
Please RSVP for our Nov. 3 information session about this opportunity here. For more information, please contact Sam Moody (sam@coloradomediaproject.com) and Melissa Davis (mdavis@gatesfamilyfoundation.org).