Community engagement journalism offers nonprofit media outlets a chance to strengthen their work AND their sustainability. As you work to deepen your reporting practice, don’t forget to invite donors, grantmakers, sponsors and other key stakeholders to learn about how they can be a part of your sustainability.  

1. Tell funders why community engagement journalism is essential to your community.  

   Let funders know how being deeply involved with your community benefits the communities they serve as well, especially those that may most need access to accurate information. Alongside information about your outreach, provide data points about the loss of local reporting, as well as useful insights into key media trends, from shuttered local newsrooms to distrust in media.
   Implementation Tip: Create a timeline and email template to make it easier to share information on a regular basis.  

2. Use impact stories in donor appeal letters.

   Make sure your existing and potential donors understand how community engagement journalism has a direct impact on others. Focus on one impact story, ideally with a great quote from a community member, in your next appeal letter. Where possible, connect the impact story to an issue that matters to your donor community. Or send a special story of impact to a major donor with a strong connection to a community challenge. 
   Implementation Tip: Create a process for regularly collecting these stories from Community Engagement and News teams. 

3. Build engagement into your brand story.

   The more your readers, donors and funders understand that community engagement is a core part of what makes your reporting special, the more likely they are to support it. Tell them, in plain language, how your connection to the community offers something that other newsrooms don’t.
   Implementation Tip: Run spots on your station that highlight and promote the community engagement work you are doing in the community. Create a page on your website that outlines your ongoing engagement work, and then use the space to highlight community partners and impact.

4. Invite donors to community engagement events.

   Let your donors experience your in-person or virtual community engagement efforts first-hand. Then, after they attend, take time for a phone call or follow-up email to share how the event directly informs reporting or your strategies. Be sure to include time for them to share questions with you. 
   Implementation Tip: Create a list of donors with an interest in community engagement to send a special invitation around each event. Be sure to let them know in invitations that their support makes the events possible. 

5. Host a special learning session with key funders.

   From major donors to grant officers, decision-makers may need a bit of help understanding what is distinctive about community engagement journalism. Host a special conversation with them, sharing stories of engagement and offering them the chance to hear from reporters and editors about your efforts. WFYI has hosted “What’s Brewing” virtual events to allow donors to connect directly with our content leaders – which has resulted in deeper investment.
   Implementation Tip: Set aside time for development and news leaders to brainstorm ideas for special event themes, as well as targeted dates for the meetings. Use the same content for multiple audiences. If you create a presentation for major donors, minimal edits to the content will allow for the same presentation to be used for sponsors and funders. 

Funders can’t support what they don’t understand or know about. Invite them to invest in this work by considering how you can help them expand their understanding of your community engagement work. Take the time to create processes and templates that you can replicate and adapt for many different audiences to make the biggest impact with your limited time and staff resources.