Finding funding for your journalism organization can be a daunting responsibility — especially if your organization does not have someone experienced in fundraising.
One possibility is to hire a fundraising consultant, who can provide suggestions on where to seek funding — or for an additional fee, write the proposals for your organization — but many media organizations do not have the extra resources to hire a fundraising professional. (How much can you expect to invest? One estimate is that you can expect to spend $25,000 in fundraising costs for every $100,000 you need to raise.) Often, the task falls to editorial staff who are already stretched thin with their reporting projects.
The process is similar to investigative journalism: first, you must research funding sources, then prepare your story, and write a compelling narrative that makes the reader understand the importance of your work — and the need to fund it.
