What does it mean — and what does it take — to switch to nonprofit status?

INN’s Quick Guide to Converting a For-profit to Nonprofit News Outlet aims to help publishers figure out the challenges and opportunities presented by restarting their news business as a tax-exempt 501(c)3 corporation. This practical guide provides expert insights into the conversion process — with tools and resources for further exploration — and raises many questions for publishers, such as:

• Is the type of reporting you’re doing sufficiently educational in nature that your news outlet would qualify as having a tax- exempt purpose? 
• Can you define a clear public benefit mission in order to make the case for donor support? 
• Does your community have the size, history of giving, local foundations and critical mass of individuals and small business donors to support a new nonprofit? 
• Can you recruit diverse individuals to form the board of directors and steer the new institution? 
• How will you ensure that your news coverage, editorial opinions and public statements do not advance partisan politics? 
• Who will conduct the business planning required to not only redefine your organization as a nonprofit but put the revenue streams in place to sustain it?

Becoming a nonprofit news outlet is one proven and successful strategy for preserving news in the face of changing economics that have seen nearly two thousand newspapers shut down in recent years — but it is not the right structure for everyone. Other legal structures to consider include a Public Benefit Corporation, a subsidiary entity owned by an existing charity, ownership through a nonprofit association, trusts, hybrid for-profit/nonprofit partnerships, or a cooperative with employee ownership.

INN’s Quick Guide to Converting a For-profit to Nonprofit News Outlet is not meant to be comprehensive, nor should it be considered legal advice; it is meant as a kind of extended FAQ to help publishers rethink their business model and find resources for making a change.

This guide was written for the Institute for Nonprofit News by Kate Butler and Fraser Nelson.

Access INN’s Conversion Quick Guide for free