By Jesse Holcomb
Nonprofit business model experts have urged all sectors of the field to diversify their revenue streams. Nonprofit newsrooms are heeding that call. As a group, INN members1 are maintaining a broad suite of revenue streams and showing growth across the board. Not all outlets improved their bottom lines, but the bird’s-eye view shows a field that is steadily stabilizing and maturing over the last three years.
A roundup of important statistics in this chapter:
Revenue across the nonprofit news field continues to increase
By one key measure, the nonprofit news field experienced solid financial growth in 2024. The median outlet generated $532,000 in annual revenue, a marked jump from $477,000 the year before.
The growth came at a time when a number of philanthropic organizations ramped up their efforts to support local newsrooms, including Press Forward’s $20 million infusion to more than 200 local newsrooms, of which 40% are nonprofit news outlets and about 33% are INN members.
Overall, INN estimates that the nearly 400 digital-first nonprofit newsrooms in its ranks took in a combined $650 million to $700 million in revenue last year, making 2024 the most successful year on record for the nonprofit news field. This figure does not include startups that launched in 2024 and did not have a full year of financial accounting on record nor the several dozen public broadcasters within INN’s membership.
Revenue growth is shared across the field, not just driven by a few strong performers
Most nonprofit news outlets have increased their intake over the last few years. A deeper look at multi-year trends using the 2021-2024 trend set2 helps explain what drove this overall revenue growth.
The growth was so widespread that most types of outlets — big and small, local and national — enjoyed the upward trend, with certain revenue sizes and geoscopes faring better than others.
Both big-budget outlets (annual revenue of $2 million or more) and small-budget outlets ($250,000 to $500,000 in annual revenue) were slightly more likely than those in the middle to experience revenue growth over the three-year period.
Local outlets were more likely to have achieved revenue growth than outlets focused on state, national or global affairs.
Additionally, younger outlets were more likely than mature ones to have stronger growth during this time period. This may reflect the recent surge in local startups or how younger outlets often quickly accrue capital during their first few years of operation.
A closer look at high-growth outlets shows the big got bigger
Outlets focused on national, global and local affairs, as well as younger outlets, are heavily represented in this category
What do we know about the characteristics of INN’s high-growth news organizations? A closer look at data from 2021-2024 reveals that the 25 outlets that grew the most in total dollars over the three years in the trend set tend to already be fairly robust operations, are often national or global in reach, and are relatively young organizations although not startups (organizations that launched within the prior three years).
All outlets in this group generated at least $2 million in total revenue in calendar year 2024. Their revenue growth over the three-year trend period ranged from $1.6 million to $13 million. Nearly half (12 out of 25) are national or global in scope, proportionally greater than the overall composition of all INN member organizations.( Seven outlets are state or regionally focused and six are local.) A plurality of outlets (10 out of 25) launched between 2017 and 2021.
Analyzing high-growth outlets’ gains by percentage instead of total dollars tells a different story. The 25 outlets with the fastest percentage growth, excluding those that launched in 2021 with zero revenue, tended to be either big-budget or small-budget operations. Most are local in scope. And the vast majority (19 out of 25) launched between 2017 and 2021.
The group that declined in revenue by more than 10% includes a large number of small-budget outlets (10 out of 26).
Among revenue streams, foundation grants continue to account for the biggest single slice of field-wide funding
The average value of major donor gifts has increased, and earned revenue sources such as sponsorships now account for a bigger slice of the overall earned revenue pie, reflecting the changing composition of the field.
One of the most consistent findings over the last eight years of surveying INN members is that foundation funding accounts for about half of all field-wide intake. That was no different in 2024, with grants accounting for 49% of field-wide revenue. The remaining revenue included individual giving (32%), earned revenue such as sponsorships and events (18%), and other ancillary charitable sources of revenue (1%).
Most nonprofit news outlets lean on a variety of revenue streams to support their mission. The 2025 survey shows that 43% of outlets report utilizing at least four different revenue streams3, relatively unchanged from past years. Many more lean on two or three different revenue streams, and just 11% rely on a single stream.
Foundation grants have been a lifeline for many nonprofit news organizations, especially in their early startup years, but those funds can be earmarked for a specific coverage topic and not general operations. Most outlets (70%) report that at least 50% of their foundation funding is available for general operating expenses. One exception is national and globally focused outlets, which are disproportionately limited to restricted funding. National or global news outlets make up just over 20% of the field, but they are 40% of the outlets that said up to a quarter of their grants are earmarked to support general operations.
Revenue distribution has not significantly shifted in the last eight years, but earned revenue is one exception. That stream has nearly doubled from 10% in 2018 to 18% in 2025. This change likely reflects the proliferation of local outlets in the field, including recent commercial-to-nonprofit conversions — outlets that typically rely more heavily on sponsorship and advertising than the average nonprofit news outlet.
A look at the top 25 outlets in terms of overall advertising revenues shows that many are older, well-established organizations. Only a handful were launched in the last five years.
Looking more closely at individual giving, 64% comes from major donors (gifts of $5,000 or more), 28% from small-dollar donors (less than $1,000), and 8% from mid-level donors ($1,000-$5,000). This, too, is a long-term consistent finding. At the same time, the average value of major-level gifts has increased modestly, from roughly $26,000 in calendar year 2021 to about $33,000 in 2024.
Trend data shows growth across all major types of revenue, especially foundation grants
Outlets that draw on earned revenue sources (sponsorships, ads, events) saw mixed results, with just over half reporting growth in the last three years
The three-year trend set is a window into recent shifts in individual revenue streams. On balance, most outlets saw growth across various types of revenue. Notably, though, investigative newsrooms experienced a slightly disproportionate decline in foundation funding, and national and global newsrooms struggled with earned revenue. Outlets focused on serving communities of color were disproportionately more likely to enjoy growth in individual giving.
Among outlets that reported data on foundation grants for both calendar years 2021 and 2024 (230 outlets), 80% saw this revenue stream increase, while 13% experienced a decline. The remaining 7% remained steady. The INN members that lost revenue last year reflected the composition of INN membership, except for a slightly higher percentage of investigative outlets (40%).
With individual giving, slightly fewer trend-set outlets — those that reported completed revenue data for 2021 and 2024 — experienced growth, 65% overall, with 24% seeing decline and 10% remaining steady over the three-year period. The overall composition of these trend-set outlets reflected the broader INN membership, except a smaller percentage (38%) are local, and a larger share (29%) have a primary mission to serve communities of color.
A majority of the trend-set organizations saw earned revenue growth from 2021 to 2024, though not to the same extent as with foundation grants and individual giving. Just 57% — a narrow majority — saw an increase, while 25% experienced a decline. Another 18% remained flat, including outlets that typically do not draw on these types of revenue streams. National and global organizations are disproportionately represented among those that experienced a decline: 34%.
Operating expenses: editorial remains the priority while revenue generation investment has grown
Aside from revenue, operating expenses are another important part of the financial picture for nonprofit journalism. As in previous years, the overall picture remains steady. INN member organizations dedicate a majority of all operating expenses to editorial costs (61%) such as reporting and editing. The rest goes to administrative, revenue generation, and technology.
Between 2019 and 2024, revenue generation–the expenses category that encompasses fundraising, donor development and related activities–has grown as a proportion of all expenses, from 10% to 15% of the whole, a 50% increase.
Last year alone, 48 outlets reported investing at least 25% of their budgets in revenue generation. They are disproportionately local (58%) compared to the field. Many of them, 44%, launched in 2009 or earlier, while 21% of them launched after 2021.
How well did this additional investment pay off? The data is not entirely clear. The trend set indicates there was no difference in the results for the outlets that spent at least 25% of their budget on revenue generation and the overall cohort. Among outlets that heavily invested in revenue generation, 82% grew foundation support and 55% increased individual giving in 2021-2024, compared with 80% and 65% for the trend set overall.
It’s important to consider the counterfactual implications of this finding. For instance, did these organizations invest so heavily in revenue generation because they were operating at a disadvantage or from a place of financial weakness? In other words, the heavy investors may have had the greatest needs. Without that spending, they might have underperformed further.
1 This report draws on data from 376 of the 407 news organizations that completed the Index survey. We excluded data from 27 public media members because of systematic differences in how they report revenue and expenses, as well as four outlets that are not primarily publishers. See more in Methodology.
2 The 2021-2024 trend set includes data from all outlets that reported complete revenue data for calendar years 2021 and 2024.
3 For this analysis, a revenue source is categorized as a stream only if it accounted for at least 5% of the organization’s total revenue.
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