The INN Index is the most comprehensive nonprofit news study since 2013 Pew report.

1. INN Index:
Mapping the growth of nonprofit news

2. Institute for Nonprofit News
INN Index
• Most comprehensive nonprofit news study since
2013 Pew report
• 91 U.S. nonprofit news organizations provided their
2017 data
• Representative sample of overall INN membership
• Study generously supported by the Democracy Fund
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3. Institute for Nonprofit News
Scope of the sector
GEOGRAPHY
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PUBLISHING CYCLE
Local
23%
State
33%
Regional
10%
National
25%
Global
9%
Daily
55%
Weekly
27%
Less than weekly
18%

4. Institute for Nonprofit News
What nonprofit newsrooms cover
• 40% focus on in-depth investigative coverage
• Rest divide fairly equally between editorial focus on:
— News and events coverage
— Explanatory and analytical reporting
— A mix of the above
• 1/3 cover a single topic
• 2/3 cover many topics for one geographic area
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5. Institute for Nonprofit News
Audiences
• 30% identify defined target audiences
— Policy-makers
— Specific age groups
— Communities of color
— Activists with strong networks
— Parents with school children
• 70% say they report for general audiences
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6. Institute for Nonprofit News
Distribution
• 65% say direct publication to web, mobile is the
primary way they reach their audience
• 75% distribute their journalism via third parties
… but only 40% of them get data on that reach
• 15% distribute primarily through social media
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7. Institute for Nonprofit News
Revenue
● $189 million total for these 91 publications
● Top five organizations account for nearly half
● Average revenue: $2.1 million; excluding top five : $1.1 million
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16%
22%
16%
24%
22%
>$3 million
$1-3 million
$500k-$1 million
$200,000-500,000
<$200k
By number of
organizations

8. Institute for Nonprofit News
Foundations 53%
Major gift 20%
Earned revenue 13%
Small donations 8%
Other charity 4% Membership 2%
Revenue mix
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OVERALLFUNDING MIX

9. Institute for Nonprofit News
Revenue trends
● 55% of nonprofit newsrooms get the majority of their funding
from foundations
● Single topic sites: 62% foundation-funded. Multi-topic: 48%
● As share of total revenue, national and global newsrooms have
more foundation funding than local, state and regional publications
● Local, state, regional have higher shares of earned revenue and
major gifts than the nationals
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10. Institute for Nonprofit News
The workforce
● Average 16 paid FTEs per organization. Range is wide (0-237)
● 70% of staff and 85% of contractors are editorial
● Contractors make up nearly 28% of the workforce
● Diversity: better than traditional media, but still a challenge
— 55% female, 45% male, 27% non-white
(ASNE 2017: 23% minority for online sites, 17% for newspapers)
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11. Institute for Nonprofit News
Expenses
● Average annual expense budget: $1.6 million
● Excluding top 5, average is about $1 million
● Wide variance: $30,000 to $18 million
● Expenditure is heavily weighted to editorial: 65%. Significantly
less is devoted to revenue, tech and administration
● And expense is almost all people: 69% on average
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12. Institute for Nonprofit News
Takeaways
● Opportunities: Improved audience targeting could boost growth.
Consistent expense tracking should help with priority-setting.
● Investment: Sites appear under-invested in their revenue-generating
workforce. Adding capacity in revenue roles is where grants could be
leveraged to build sustainability
● Encouraging signs: Revenue growth, and at local sites, earned revenue &
major donor share.
● Catalysts: Foundations continue to play critical role in funding
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13. Institute for Nonprofit News
What’s next
● September 2018: Full report on findings
● Q4 2018: Individual account setup, permissions system for data sharing
● Q1 2019:
— Benchmarking tool: Develop interface that enables participants to
compare performance data with similar publications
— Next survey for INN members
● Added possibilities: Salary/compensation survey. Cross-referencing to
demographic data, M+R nonprofit benchmarks, ASNE Diversity Survey
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14. Institute for Nonprofit News
Participants (Thank you!)
Adirondack Explorer
Alhambra Source
Anthropocene Magazine
Arizona CIR
Aspen Journalism
Austin Bulldog
BenitoLink
Better Government Association
Birmingham Watch
Borderzine
Bridge Magazine
CALmatters
Carolina Public Press
Center for Public Integrity
Center for Responsive Politics
Center for Sustainable Journalism
Chalkbeat
Charlottesville Tomorrow
City Bureau
City Limits
CivicStory - NJ Arts News
Coda Media
Connecticut Health I-Team
Current
East Lansing Info (ELi)
ecoRI News
EdSource
Energy News Network
Ensia
FairWarning
FERN
Georgia News Lab
Grist
High Country News
Highlands Current Inc.
Honolulu Civil Beat
inewsource
Injustice Watch
ICIJ
InvestigateWest
Investigative Reporting Workshop
Iowa Watch
KYCIR
Maryland Matters
MarylandReporter.com
Migratory Notes
Milwaukee Neighborhood News
MinnPost
Mississippi Today
Mongabay Corporation
MuckRock
National Institute on Money in State
Politics
New England CIR
New Haven Independent
NextCity
NJ Spotlight
Eye On Ohio
Oklahom`a Watch
PBS NewsHour
Phil. Public School Notebook
ProPublica
PublicSource
Pulitzer Ctr on Crisis Reporting
Reveal/CIR
Rocky Mountain PBS
Rivard Report
Scalawag
Searchlight New Mexico
Solitary Watch
Solutions Journalism Network
The Chronicle of Social Change
The Colorado Independent
The Connecticut Mirror
The Hechinger Report
The Hummel Report
The Lens
The Midwest CIR
The Mountain Independent
The Nevada Independent
The Seattle Globalist
The Texas Tribune
The Trace
The War Horse
VTDigger
Voice of OC
Voice of San Diego
Voices of Monterey Bay
Wausau Pilot and Review
Wisconsin Watch
WyoFile
Youth Radio
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15. Institute for Nonprofit News
Sponsors & Advisors
The INN Index survey design was led by Michele McLellan with generous input and review
from many, including Jesse Holcomb of Calvin College, the Pew Research Center, Jon Sotsky
and Jennifer Preston of Knight Foundation and four heroic beta test points: CivicStory,
inewsource, MinnPost and Public Source.
Thank you!
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16. Institute for Nonprofit News
Last chance: Do it!!
INN Index
If you have not participated and want to, you must email Mara@INN.org by
Thursday, June 21 and input all data by June 30.
ASNE Diversity Survey
ASNE is the diversity index for our industry. If you have not already participated, or
aren’t sure, email Dr. Meredith Clark directly at mdc6j@virginia.edu. It is incredibly
important for our field that nonprofits participate!
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17. Q & A