PLATINUM2022

American Journalism Project Inc

We are a venture philanthropy investing in and building digital nonprofit newsrooms that are governed by, are sustained by, and look like the public they serve.

Washington, DC   |  http://www.theajp.org

Mission

The American Journalism Project envisions a public service media that is governed by, sustained by, and looks like the public it serves. We are reigniting the spark behind local news - a public good and fundamental democratic institution.

Ruling year info

2018

CEO

Sarabeth Berman

Main address

6218 Georgia Ave NW STE 1 - #599

Washington, DC 20011 USA

Show more contact info

EIN

83-1772542

NTEE code info

Media, Communications Organizations (A30)

IRS filing requirement

This organization is required to file an IRS Form 990 or 990-EZ.

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Communication

Blog

Programs and results

What we aim to solve

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

As the crisis facing local news accelerates, efforts to build innovative newsroom models and to sustain journalism are more critical than ever. It’s also increasingly apparent that these efforts need to scale, and quickly—and investment alone isn’t enough to ensure the future of local news. Local news needs to serve all communities, particularly those communities that have been historically underserved.

Our programs

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?

Financial Investment

We are raising philanthropic support to invest in new and existing mission-driven, digital-forward news organizations that meet the critical information needs of their communities and drive civic engagement.

Population(s) Served
Adults

Our approach is designed to give civic news organizations the capital and capacity building they need to achieve sustainable growth. We provide sustained coaching, operational support and strategic guidance.

Population(s) Served
Adults

We partner with place-based philanthropy to develop a strong understanding of community information needs. We conduct program and business planning for the organizational infrastructure necessary to meet those needs and also incubate startup organizations.

Population(s) Served
Adults

We are raising awareness in our country around the local news crisis so that philanthropists and the general public see their role in sustaining this as a public good.

Population(s) Served
Adults

Where we work

Our results

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.

Total number of grants awarded

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Related Program

Financial Investment

Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Increasing

Total dollar amount of grants awarded

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Related Program

Financial Investment

Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Increasing

Goals & Strategy

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.

Charting impact

Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.

The American Journalism Project's mission is to accelerate the scale, growth, and impact of local nonprofit news through targeted and impact-driven philanthropic investments that grow nonprofit business-side capacity and explore new models of sustainability.

The core purpose of the American Journalism Project is to establish and sustain local journalism as a public good, and we are laying the foundation to scale nonprofit local news. Our grantmaking strategy is oriented toward investing in innovative models that can leverage economies of scale and lead the sector in building a new ecosystem of local news. This strategy positions us to combat the dearth of original reporting by responding to and leveraging existing opportunities with immediacy, though we anticipate a long path to effecting the level of systemic shift the ecosystem requires. We see a path to building a $1-2B industry that provides the necessary reporting resources across the country, supported by diverse revenue streams and built to efficiently provide all communities with the core journalistic capacity necessary to produce critical original reporting.

Key metrics demonstrating success since our launch in 2018 include:

- Portfolio growth: More than $32 million committed to 32 grantees across the country.
- Sustainability and growth of existing organizations: Grantees experienced 67% average revenue growth in their first year in the American Journalism Project portfolio.
- Investing in diverse leaders: 50% of grantees have BIPOC leadership and 55% have female leadership in the newsroom, the business team or both.
- Positioning grantees for success: 82 new revenue-generating roles supported with American Journalism Project funding across the portfolio, with 44 hires made to date and 85% retention at 12 months.
- Grantee satisfaction: 100% of grantees report they feel better positioned to grow vs. before they received American Journalism Project funding and support.
- Number of new news organizations launched: Three startup news organizations supported through launch, with another two in incubation stages.

Financials

American Journalism Project Inc
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Operations

The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.

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lock

Connect with nonprofit leaders

Subscribe

Build relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.

  • Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
  • Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
  • Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations

Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.

American Journalism Project Inc

Board of directors
as of 10/14/2022
SOURCE: Self-reported by organization
Board chair

Joe Natoli

Board Chair | Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer, Baptist Health South Florida

Rosental Alves

Professor, Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas, University of Texas at Austin

Jeff Cohen

Executive Vice President of Communications, Arnold Ventures

Teresa Gorman

Senior Program Associate, Public Square, Democracy Fund

Peter Lattman

Managing Director, Media, Emerson Collective

Maria Thomas

Startup Advisor/Investor, Former Etsy CEO, and former SVP Digital at NPR

Irving Washington

Vice Chair | Executive Director and CEO, Online News Association

John Thornton

Co-Founder | Co-Founder and Partner, Elsewhere Partners

Board leadership practices

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.

  • Board orientation and education
    Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes
  • CEO oversight
    Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes
  • Ethics and transparency
    Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes
  • Board composition
    Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes
  • Board performance
    Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? No

Organizational demographics

SOURCE: Self-reported; last updated 8/24/2022
info Candid has made improvements to the race and ethnicity options.

Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.

Leadership

The organization's leader identifies as:

Race & ethnicity
White/Caucasian/European
Gender identity
Female, Not transgender (cisgender)

Race & ethnicity

Gender identity

 

Sexual orientation

Disability

No data

Equity strategies

Last updated: 04/13/2022

GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more

Data
  • We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
  • We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
  • We analyze disaggregated data and root causes of race disparities that impact the organization's programs, portfolios, and the populations served.
  • We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
  • We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
  • We disaggregate data by demographics, including race, in every policy and program measured.
  • We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
Policies and processes
  • We use a vetting process to identify vendors and partners that share our commitment to race equity.
  • We have a promotion process that anticipates and mitigates implicit and explicit biases about people of color serving in leadership positions.
  • We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
  • We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
  • We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
  • We measure and then disaggregate job satisfaction and retention data by race, function, level, and/or team.
  • We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.