Press Forward Colorado:
Join our Funder Table

 

What is Press Forward Colorado?

Press Forward is a nationwide campaign launched in 2023 with a goal of raising at least $1 billion in new dollars over the next five years to strengthen our communities and our democracy by revitalizing local news and information.

In February 2024, Colorado became one of 17 local chapters in this movement, with The Colorado Health Foundation, Gates Family Foundation, Rose Community Foundation, The Colorado Trust and Gill Foundation stepping forward as co-chairs of Press Forward Colorado. Our place-based campaign aims to increase philanthropic giving from national, statewide, regional and community-based funders — private foundations, community foundations, philanthropic individuals, impact investors, public agencies — to support ground-up solutions for a stronger, healthier, local news ecosystem in Colorado.

Colorado funders and newsrooms benefit from this connection to the national campaign through opportunities for thought partnership, research and learning, grant and co-funding opportunities, capacity building, and engagement.

How is the Colorado Media Project related to Press Forward Colorado?

Since 2018, Colorado Media Project has served as a cross-sector catalyst, funder and advocate for a stronger, healthier local news ecosystem. CMP hosts a pooled fund at Rose Community Foundation, where statewide and national foundations have contributed or pledged more than $6.8 million since 2020 to catalyze and support initiatives such as The Voices Initiative and responsive Advancing Equity in Local News grants; the #newsCOneeds year-end matching challenge; innovations in local news business models; and incubation of the Colorado News Collaborative.

Acting independently, CMP funders have invested millions of dollars more — directly into Colorado newsrooms and community-based news efforts — according to their own priorities. This dual approach (pooling funds via CMP, alongside independent giving directly to local news innovators and community-based resources) continues to be strong priority for all CMP funders, in addition to learning from one another and finding opportunities to leverage impact.

  • Join the Colorado Media Project email list to receive updates on Colorado opportunities

We don’t fund journalism. How does this connect to my foundation’s core priorities?

That’s OK! For most of us, funding local journalism is just one strategy for ensuring that Colorado residents have timely, relevant, trustworthy local news and information about important and timely issues facing our state — from public education to public health, from affordable housing to the arts, from wildfires to water management, and much more. Regardless of your first priorities for philanthropic investment, we believe that good information about those issues should be second.

However over the past 20 years, there has been a slow but steady decline in the amount of original, independently and professionally reported local news being produced throughout Colorado. While new digital-first sources, public media, and community-based organizations are stepping up to fill important gaps in local information, many local newsrooms that continue to provide the lion’s share of local news are experiencing an "existential crisis.”

What happens to communities that loose their sources of original, local news?

Myriad studies show that when high-quality, reliable local news disappears, more people feel disengaged and disempowered, fewer people vote and run for office, public bodies and conversations become more polarized, and local governments may even face lower bond ratings. While in some places individuals and community-based groups are stepping in to fill gaps (through newsletters, social media groups, and in-person engagement), we see an urgent opportunity to both understand this rapidly evolving ecosystem of professional and informal information providers, and support the news sources that have built trust and reach within their communities.

What are the benefits of joining CMP’s Funder Table?

You don’t have to be a journalism funder or know anything about this field to join Colorado Media Project’s Funder Table. It’s just a great place to learn about Colorado’s complex and vibrant local news ecosystem, ask questions, share strategies, and get new ideas.

Throughout 2024, CMP will support a series of Press Forward learning opportunities to introduce more funders, civic leaders, and community members to the people, projects and organizations that are supporting a healthier, more equitable, solutions-focused local news and information ecosystem for all Coloradans.

There is no minimum contribution required to join CMP’s Funder Table, and we welcome drop-in participation through our learning events — based on your interests! To learn more:

What are CMP’s Press Forward Colorado campaign goals for 2025-2027?

In September 2023, Colorado Media Project began the process of priority-setting for our next three-year cycle, which starts in 2025. Our Executive Committee began by reflecting on CMP’s theory of change, an in-depth report on Colorado’s local news ecosystem, and an independent evaluation of CMP’s impact to date and challenges that remain.

Throughout 2024, we are continuing to reflect on our learning to date, and to work with our grantees, funding partners and community supporters to set priorities for our next phase of work. Our north star is a five-year vision for a healthy local news and information ecosystem, set by 130+ stakeholders — journalists, nonprofit leaders, community members, policy staffers, philanthropy and business leaders — from across the state and beyond at the 2023 CMP Summit.

Because we have already seen the benefits of providing multi-year support to promising ideas, projects, and organizations we will be prioritizing multi-year commitments from our funding partners. Interested in learning more?

 

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