Why support local news?
Because it’s an essential public good.
Since 2018, Colorado Media Project has supported the #newsCOneeds matching challenge as a statewide campaign to help Colorado newsrooms spotlight the positive impacts they are making in their communities, and to build trust in and support for local public-service journalism.
The annual statewide campaign launches on Giving Tuesday (a.k.a. #GivingNewsDay), and newsrooms have until Dec. 31 to raise $5,000 from individual contributors, in order to claim the match.
In addition to receiving grant support, participating Colorado newsrooms participate in a Philanthropy Lab led by the Colorado News Collaborative, which includes best-in-class training and hands-on coaching support to achieve their year-end fundraising, membership, or subscription goals. Lab participants also co-create messaging, graphics, and collateral for the public awareness campaign.
Are you a funder interested in supporting the 2023 #newsCOneeds campaign? Contact us today!
HISTORY AND RESULTS
In 2018 CMP experimented with its first year-end giving challenge. We worked with seven Colorado newsrooms to develop a joint appeal to readers, spotlighting the value of local news and mission-driven collaboration – a message that helped participating outlets collectively raise nearly $50,000 from about 300 people in a single day.
Our 2019 #newsCOneeds matching challenge increased significantly in size. CMP provided $5,000 grants to 18 locally owned outlets, both nonprofit and for-profit, and also partnered with the national NewsMatch campaign to develop Colorado-specific collateral and provide coaching support. Collectively, the 18 newsrooms raised $177,842 from 1,145 individual donors in just a month.
In 2020, the 24 participating outlets raised more than $578,000 for local news in just a month. Tips/Case Studies: https://bit.ly/newsconeeds2020-results
In 2021, our biggest cohort of 26 Colorado news organizations collectively raised more than $700,000 from about 5,000 individuals; almost two-thirds came from small-dollar contributors. Tips/Case Studies: https://bit.ly/newsconeeds-2021casestudy
