NewsMatch is a collaborative fundraising initiative to attract and diversify support for member newsrooms of the Institute for Nonprofit News (INN). Through NewsMatch, individual donations to nonprofit news organizations around the country are matched by national and local funders and participating newsrooms receive the training and tools they need to execute a fundraising campaign successfully.

The Institute for Nonprofit News (INN) administers the NewsMatch program and provides training resources and support to participating organizations. This includes training on campaign-specific topics such as how to secure local matches and improve the donor user flow, as well as learning on other fundraising topics throughout the year. NewsMatch is a collaborative fund held at The Miami Foundation. The foundation oversees the fiscal administration of NewsMatch funds and oversees the application and reporting process for NewsMatch. News Revenue Hub provides resources on digital fundraising best practices. This includes topics around audience development, newsletter engagement, and membership conversion. Most notably, News Revenue Hub produces the NewsMatch Campaign Toolkit which includes a library of templated emails, banner ads, and social media assets that participating newsrooms use for their year-end campaign.

The NewsMatch matching gift campaign begins on November 1 and ends on December 31. NewsMatch training and learning experiences are made accessible to U.S.-based INN members throughout the year. The deadline to apply for INN membership to participate in the 2026 campaign was December 31, 2025. (learn more about membership). NewsMatch 2026 applications open in April 2026.

NewsMatch is open to U.S.-based active members of the Institute for Nonprofit News (INN). Standards for INN membership can be found here. The deadline to apply for INN membership in time to participate in NewsMatch 2026 was December 31, 2025. For questions about your member status, please contact membership@inn.org.

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Each year, NewsMatch determines the campaign match cap.

The campaign match cap is the maximum amount that a news organization will receive from NewsMatch. The match cap is calculated based on the size of the NewsMatch fund and the number of participating organizations. NewsMatch actively fundraises until the end of the year, and match cap updates will be announced if applicable. The campaign match cap for eligible newsrooms with operating budgets under $1 million was $15,000 in 2025.

NewsMatch matches up to $1,000 per individual donor in order to encourage newsrooms to secure donations from small to mid-dollar donors.

Besides receiving unrestricted funding through main fund matches, partner fund matches and goal-based bonuses, NewsMatch enhances newsroom sustainability by giving them the tools they need to establish a replicable fundraising strategy. Newsrooms receive a variety of training opportunities year-round that help them learn about best practices for digital fundraising, cultivating major donors and enlisting local match funders, audience development, and much more. They can also take advantage of individual coaching tailored to their specific needs. Through the Campaign Toolkit, participants are equipped with templates, language and messaging that can be tweaked and utilized for campaigns outside of NewsMatch.

Newsrooms receive fundraising support training through on-demand training, turnkey templates, and individualized coaching that can help them learn and implement best practices for executing a digital fundraising campaign. Newsrooms are plugged into the network of services offered by INN to help them beyond individual fundraising. News Revenue Hub produces a comprehensive Campaign Toolkit that provides newsrooms with the tactical resources they need to execute their campaigns, including email and graphic templates, key messaging points, social copy, and more.

Yes, organizations with operating budgets above $ 1 million can and do participate in NewsMatch. All active INN members (regardless of size) are eligible to receive partner funds and goal-based bonus awards. 

Newsrooms with operating expenses over $1 million still receive full access to NewsMatch’s learning offerings like webinars and peer-to-peer info exchanges. The organizations also continue to receive access to time-saving resources like the Campaign Toolkit  — a library of emails, banner ads, and social media assets that can be customized to run a year-end campaign.

After each annual campaign ends, NewsMatch asks all participating newsrooms to complete the INN Index Survey, the most comprehensive study of the state of nonprofit news. As part of the reporting process, newsrooms are asked a series of questions about their year-end campaign performance, including total amount raised from individual donors during this period, total donations received, total unique donors, total new recurring donors, total first-time donors, number of local match funders in designated categories and the corresponding amount raised in those local match funding categories. This data has been tracked year-over-year since 2017 and is used to identify overall trends and trends among certain newsroom cohorts (i.e. newsroom with a certain operating budget range or by launch years, etc.). This data is crucial for INN to be responsive and iterate the program to meet the field’s changing needs.

If you are a program participant, you should have received information about how to access the NewsMatch support site. If you’re looking for support resources, email newsmatch@inn.org.