The 2024 #newsCOneeds Year-End Giving Challenge invites locally owned and nonprofit newsrooms in Colorado to apply for matching grant funding from the Colorado Media Project. This initiative aims to enhance public awareness and grassroots support for local journalism, which is considered a vital public service. Over the past six years, the Colorado Media Project has collaborated with more than 50 local newsrooms, raising over $2.8 million. The program has evolved based on feedback from these newsrooms, reflecting a growing need for a cohesive statewide campaign that advocates for local news and supports fundraising initiatives.

The primary purpose of the #newsCOneeds campaign is to build philanthropic fundraising capacity among Colorado's public-service media outlets. The campaign will utilize the Colorado Gives Foundation’s fundraising platform, ColoradogGives.org, to facilitate this effort. By participating, newsrooms will gain access to expert support and training from the Colorado Gives Foundation, as well as a suite of digital fundraising tools. Each participating newsroom will receive a customizable fundraising page that can be used for future fundraising activities, along with standardized campaign materials and templates for outreach.

Funding for the program consists of matching grants ranging from $1,000 to $10,000 per newsroom. These grants are intended to support new individual memberships, donations, subscriptions, or contributions during the year-end giving campaign. The goal is to inspire dollar-for-dollar matches from individual donors, thereby amplifying the impact of local fundraising efforts.

Eligible applicants include nonprofit or locally owned for-profit newsrooms in Colorado that are planning to execute a year-end philanthropic giving, membership, or subscription campaign. To qualify, these outlets must be actively publishing high-quality, non-advocacy, nonpartisan journalism that serves the public interest. Nonprofit applicants may also participate in the national Newsmatch program offered by the Institute for Nonprofit News.

The submission requirements for the grant are not explicitly detailed in the provided information. However, interested newsrooms should prepare to demonstrate their commitment to public service journalism and their plans for a year-end fundraising campaign. Specific application questions may be outlined in the application process, which is not detailed in the source material.

Evaluation criteria for the grant will likely focus on the quality of journalism produced by the applicants, the feasibility of their fundraising plans, and their ability to engage with the community. The timeline for the application process includes a deadline of October 14, 2024, by which all applications must be submitted.

For further information, potential applicants can reach out to Alison Cooper at the Colorado Media Project via email at alison@colabnews.com. The program is designed to support local newsrooms in their fundraising efforts and to strengthen the role of journalism in Colorado communities.