Lenfest-Google News Initiative News Catalyst Grant guidelines

March 5, 2025

With the goal of supporting community listening efforts that address news gaps and reach new audiences, we invite members of The Lenfest Institute Engaged Cities, Statewide News Collective, and Audience Communities of Practice to apply for funding to conduct structured audience outreach efforts to underserved audiences.

The Institute is interested in understanding how different levels of resource investment in digital, physical, or hybrid engagement influence overall outcomes and conversion rates. We will support up to 64 news organizations, and applicants can apply for grants between $5,000-$25,000 each. This is a one-time grant program.

The Lenfest Communities of Practice are peer-led spaces for knowledge sharing, mentorship, and coaching.

This catalyst grant is made possible through the generous support of the Google News Initiative.

Learn more about the program

Grant guidelines

This grant will fund structured audience outreach and listening efforts aimed at addressing news gaps, reinforcing trust, and reaching underserved audiences.

The goal is to support outreach initiatives that explore community needs, identify new engagement strategies, and test the effectiveness of different outreach methods, especially in areas that are underrepresented in current media coverage.

Three outreach tracks

Applicants must conduct outreach aligned with one of the following methods and use the established core metrics in their reports.

Digital Focus

Question: How can digital tools efficiently identify community news gaps and drive audience engagement in ways that are scalable, replicable, and monetizable?

Key Activities:

Conducting online discussions, digital surveys, or platform-based engagement
Analyzing digital participation and feedback to understand audience needs
Assessing what kind of digital engagement is effective for reaching underserved audiences

Physical Focus

Question: How can in-person outreach deepen community trust and understanding while creating pathways for sustainable revenue models?

Key Activities:

Hosting town halls, storytelling sessions, or face-to-face meetings with community members
Collecting qualitative insights through direct conversations
Evaluating the depth and trust-building impact of physical outreach

Hybrid Focus

Question: How do combined digital and physical outreach strategies optimize audience growth, engagement, and long-term revenue sustainability?

Key Activities:

Combining digital and in-person engagement to compare effectiveness
Tracking differences in engagement, trust-building, and revenue potential between methods
Evaluating which approach best serves underserved audiences

Example projects

Projects should focus on one of the three tracks outlined above. Below are some example projects for your reference; you should feel free to use your own expertise and creativity to come up with a project that reflects your newsroom mission or your understanding of your community’s needs.

Digital Focus

Conducting structured online conversations with specific demographic groups via social media, digital forums, or targeted email outreach.
Running an interactive digital survey on community news needs and presenting results back to focus group participants for refinement.
Hosting live Q&A sessions or virtual town halls to engage community members in discussing local news coverage gaps.

Physical Focus

Partnering with local organizations to host in-person media literacy workshops where participants share their news consumption habits and needs.
Organizing “storytelling” sessions where local residents discuss issues that are underreported in mainstream media.
Facilitating small-group discussions in community spaces where participants provide feedback on media coverage and identify key information gaps.
Establishing informal “news cafes” where people gather to discuss pressing local issues and ways to improve coverage.

Hybrid Focus

Running a coordinated digital campaign to promote in-person focus group sessions and using insights from both channels to refine engagement strategies.
Live-streaming community meetings and town halls with digital participation, allowing both online and in-person audiences to provide feedback.
Comparing findings from digital surveys and in-person discussions to evaluate the effectiveness of different engagement approaches.

Grant reporting and metrics

To ensure consistency in evaluation and reporting, all grantees must be able to answer the following questions:

Audience Insights & Engagement:
- Who participated? (Demographics, community representation)
- How did you choose the audience?
- What audience needs were identified (or reinforced)?
Effectiveness & Lessons Learned:
- What will you do with what you learned?
- Was the outreach method successful?
  - If ineffective, what alternative approach will they try?
- How did different outreach methods yield different results?
- Will the organization continue this effort?
Sustainability & Next Steps:
- Did engagement lead to stronger audience relationships?
- Are there opportunities for monetization or long-term growth?
- What adjustments would improve future outreach efforts?

Note: Applicants should establish a baseline before beginning their project to provide a before-and-after picture of their performance. Performance in the experiment will not affect funding but will be required for reporting purposes.

Application

Active members of the Engaged Cities, Statewide News Collective, and Audience Communities of Practice may apply regardless of business model or tax status. (You can learn more about the communities here!)
Projects should focus on one of the three tracks outlined above.
Funding amounts will range from $5,000 to $25,000.
The grant period can range from 3 to 4 months depending on the scope of the proposed project. We encourage applicants to determine the timeline and grant amount that best suits the proposed project.
Each application must be submitted by a lead partner, who will receive the grant funds and be responsible for grant reporting.
Applicants may only submit one application per organization.
This grant may be used entirely for staff time, provided that the organization is actively invested in executing the experiment. Funding should support meaningful participation and learning, not simply serve as general operational funding. While external contractors may be used, we encourage organizations to prioritize internal capacity-building to ensure long-term sustainability. Applicants must demonstrate how staff time will directly contribute to project implementation, impact measurement, and strategic learning.
Grantees will be required to submit a final report that summarizes the key activities, outcomes, and lessons learned from the project. The report should include key findings and outcomes, challenges and lessons learned and an assessment of the project’s impact on the community and any plans for sustaining or scaling the efforts. The institute’s editorial team will work with grantees to publish and present a case study so lessons can be applied by others in the industry.
Recipients will be required to acknowledge Google’s support in all public-facing communications, including the project website and marketing materials.

Application and review process

Lenfest Institute Engaged Cities, Statewide News Collective, and Audience Communities of Practice members may submit an application between March 5-March 27.
Applications will be reviewed in April and selected applicants will be informed by May 1 at the latest.
The Lenfest Institute team will review applications and determine approval based on the following criteria:
- Alignment with the grant program’s overall goals and fundraising priorities
- Clear project focus on understanding audience needs
- Clear explanation of project plan, description of target audience, and desired outcome(s)
- Reasonable ability to achieve the proposed project (budget, management, buy-in from key stakeholders)

How to apply

Organizations who meet the eligibility requirements above may apply through the Institute’s Fluxx grantee portal. Applications will be accepted from March 5 through March 27.

To submit an application through Fluxx, please click here and create an account. An administrator will validate your account within 48 hours via email and send you a link to create a password for your grantee account. You can then access the grantee portal, where you will see a list of open applications. Click the “Apply Now” button under the grant opportunity labeled “Community Listening Catalyst Grant.”

View a read-only copy of the application questions here. For questions or more information, please contact [email protected].