Useful tools and resources to generate revenue for your journalism collaboration

Toolkit: Budget and finance for journalism collaborations by Shady Grove Oliver for the Center for Cooperative Media. 

Themes: General budget guidance for all kinds of journalism collaboratives, including short-term and long-term. Focus on philanthropy. 

Toolkit: Project manager playbook by Caroline Porter for the Center for Cooperative Media. 

Themes: New roles necessary to maintain successful ongoing journalism collaborations.

Toolkit: Revenue Playbook by Alec Saelens for Solutions Journalism Network

Themes: How solutions-oriented journalism can help journalism organizations become more sustainable. Focus on aligning editorial, product, engagement, development and communication strategies.

Toolkit: Membership guide by Membership Puzzle Project and The Lenfest Institute

Themes: How-to guide for launching an audience revenue program. 

Toolkit: Better News by American Press Institute

Themes: Live events, subscriptions and membership, advertising, foundation and major donor support

Toolkit: Google News Initiative Startups Playbook by Google News Initiative

Themes: Identifying target audiences, defining the problem you’re trying to solve, testing a product idea, building budgets and business plans, defining success

Toolkit: Strategies for Tracking Impact: A toolkit for collaborative journalism by Amy Maestas and Leah Todd Lin for Solutions Journalism Network

Themes: Defining success, tracking impact, selecting relevant metrics

Toolkit: Newsletterguide.org: A 201 guide for taking your newsletters to the next level — growing the lists, making money, and more by Harvard Kennedy School’s Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy and The Lenfest Institute

Themes: Newsletter templates, monetizing newsletters, evaluating success

Toolkit: The menu of collaboration: What we’ve learned from launching and managing nine industry collaboratives by Local Media Association

Themes: Technology partnerships, sponsorships, branded content, philanthropy

Database: A look at how 40 U.S. news collaboratives are currently funded by Stefanie Murray for the Center for Cooperative Media

Themes: Major philanthropy

Research: Funder perspectives: Assessing media investments by Media Impact Funders

Themes: Major philanthropy, defining success, 

Research: Community News Funds: Local foundations lead the way with a pivotal new strategy for community journalism by Amy Bonn and Todd Franko for Report for America

Themes: Major philanthropy, cultivating new funders, collaborative fundraising

Research: Forging a path from solutions journalism to reader revenue by Ned Burke and Alec Saelens for Solutions Journalism Network

Themes: Audience revenue, monetizing newsletters

Blog post: Strategies for collaborative fundraising that can strengthen local media by Kyra Miller for The Lenfest Institute

Themes: Collaborative fundraising

Newsletter: 3 Tips for Monetizing your Email Newsletter by Local Independent Online News (LION) Publishers

Themes: Monetizing newsletters, sponsorships, audience revenue

Toolkit: Introduction to Grant writing for News Organizations by The Lenfest News Philanthropy Network 

Themes: Grant writing