NewsMatch, the annual fundraising campaign from the Institute for Nonprofit News, enters its second decade of support on Nov. 1 with more INN member newsrooms participating than ever before.
This year, 437 newsrooms will leverage over $7 million in funding from a network of 19 local and national funders to spark community giving, building a base of donors who sustain fact-based reporting. This includes three new funders, including the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Select newsrooms will also benefit from 11 different partner funds, which support independent journalism in particular regions or serving specific audiences. This year, these opportunities include seven region-specific funds as well as a fund for rural newsrooms.
Over the past 10 years, NewsMatch has secured $45 million in matching gifts to help drive $432 million in community support to newsrooms. But NewsMatch is more than just a match. INN’s NewsMatch includes fundraising training and resources that help participating newsrooms attract donations while strengthening their long-term fundraising strategies to ensure sustainability.
INN Network member Voice of OC has participated in NewsMatch since its inception, and has historically been able to raise between a quarter and a half of its revenue from donations made in just the last two months of the year. While that success is important, Director of Marketing and Development Amanda Santana told INN that she’s taken “the lessons of NewsMatch” and has applied them through the first half of the year through fundraising days around Student Press Freedom Day, World Press Freedom Day and Sunshine Week–leading to a more balanced budget year-round.
Santana, as well as leaders from The Connecticut Mirror and the Center for Michigan, recently talked to INN about how their respective newsrooms have grown with NewsMatch over the past decade.
“NewsMatch teaches the habit of fundraising from your community or your audience, something that doesn’t come naturally to journalists,” said Karen Rundlet, INN’s executive director and CEO. “Over the years, we’ve seen news organizations grow up with NewsMatch, both in terms of their fundraising savvy and the professional staff they are able to dedicate to the business side of their operation.”
The 2026 campaign is generously supported by the following funders: Andrew Carnegie Foundation, Barr Foundation, Democracy Fund, Golden Globe Foundation, Henry Luce Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, Jonathan Logan Family Foundation, The Joyce Foundation, Kaphan Foundation, McKnight Foundation, The New York Community Trust – Westchester, Present Progressive Fund (via DAFgiving360), Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, The Tow Foundation, Wyncote Foundation.
NewsMatch is a collaborative fund held at The Miami Foundation.
More information about NewsMatch is available online in the Press Room. To find and donate to a participating newsroom covering a particular geographic area or topic of interest, visit findyournews.org/newsmatch.
