COMMUNITY JOURNALISM FUND  
Helping Missouri news organizations generate tax-exempt support from donors

About the Community Journalism Fund

The Missouri Press Foundation is pleased to announce the availability of the Community Journalism Fund to any Missouri local news outlet that is a member of the Missouri Press Association, providing an Internal Revenue Service-accepted mechanism to solicit tax-exempt donations to support innovative initiatives that empower and educate Missouri communities.

How it works – the Community Journalism Fund

An MPA local news outlet develops an initiative that will empower and educate the community and needs additional grant funding. To encourage support for its new initiative, the local news outlet can offer a tax-exemption on donations made to support the project by using the Community Journalism Fund and the 501(c)3 non-profit designation of the Missouri Press Foundation, which oversees the fund.

To begin, the local news outlets will discuss the general framework of their projects with the foundation to ensure the project meets the tax-exempt donation requirements of the fund and serves the mission of the Missouri Press Foundation. That mission:  “To help journalism thrive in partnership with local communities to improve civic life and keep Missourians informed.”

Missouri Press Foundation will make Community Journalism Fund applications available to any member of the Missouri Press Association. Once the grant application is reviewed and approved by the Missouri Press Foundation, the Community Journalism Fund can begin to receive and distribute donations to support the local media outlet project.  

Donations to the Community Journalism Fund may come from businesses, individuals, municipalities, trade associations, or other foundations at the local, state or national level.  All donations need to be made in support of the specific charitable initiative launched by the Missouri local news outlet need to reflect the mission of the Missouri Press Foundation to empower and educate Missouri communities.

The Missouri Press Foundation, which will serve as administrator of the grant and distributor of tax-exempt donations and retain a 5% administrative fee to be deducted from donations to cover the cost of managing the Community Journalism Fund.

Transparency and conflicts of interest

Accepting financial support from a donor does not mean the Community Journalism Fund, the Missouri Press Foundation, the Missouri Press Association or its grantees endorse the donor, their products, services or opinions. News judgments of grantees are made independently – not based on or influenced by donors or any revenue source. Donors are not given the right to assign, review or edit content in print or online.

The Community Journalism Fund will not accept donations deemed by the Missouri Press Foundation or the Missouri Press Association as posing a conflict of interest with the core mission, compromising the independence, or likely cause harm either the foundation or press association’s reputation.

To learn more about the Community Journalism Fund please contact Chris Peck, Chief Advancement Officer, Missouri Press Foundation cpeck@mopress.com or Chad Stebbins, Executive Director of the Missouri Press Association, cstebbins@mopress.com.

You can apply for the Community Journalism Fund with the application found here.