June 8, 2023

Through a partnership between the Institute for Nonprofit News (INN) and the Google News Initiative (GNI), up to 372 members of the INN Network are eligible to participate in a customized version of GNI’s Fundamentals Lab focused on audience development and revenue growth and receive up to $20,000 each in implementation grants. 

“The nonprofit news field is one of the fastest-growing segments of the news industry, which makes the time ripe for this kind of targeted investment in audience development and revenue growth,” said Courtney Lewis, chief of growth programs at the Institute for Nonprofit News. “We appreciate the Google News Initiative’s commitment to supporting nonprofit newsrooms that are serving their communities with news that is accurate, accessible and inclusive.”

Today’s announcement is part of Google’s larger investment in news associations that support local, independent and diverse news publishers. 

“We’re thrilled to be continuing our investment in the sustainability of local news organizations by continuing our partnership with INN,” says Chrissy Towle, director of News Partnerships, Americas for Google. “Local news is essential for healthy communities, and we’re committed to doing our part to help nonprofit news organizations develop and implement new strategies to grow their business.” 

The partnership between GNI and INN will allow news organizations in the INN Network to sign up for the three-month GNI Fundamentals Lab and to present a plan for audience or revenue growth that will unlock $20,000 in grants to grow their operation. 

“This is an amazing benefit that INN can now offer to members,” said Jonathan Kealing, chief network officer at INN. “Newsrooms that add this audience and revenue training to the fundraising training they receive through INN’s NewsMatch program will be better positioned than ever for sustainability.”

INN will begin recruiting participants this summer for the first Lab starting Sept. 1. Five other Labs and grantmaking periods will take place in 2024.