Press Forward Chicago is a grantmaking initiative administered by The Chicago Community Trust—designed in partnership with the John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and local journalism donors and practitioners.
Donor Name: The Chicago Community Trust
State: Illinois
County: Cook County (IL), DuPage County (IL), Kane County (IL), Lake County (IL), McHenry County (IL), Will County (IL)
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 03/25/2024
Size of the Grant: $100,000 to $500,000
Grant Duration: 2 Years
Details:
Recognizing the critical role journalism plays in the civic health of the city, Press Forward Chicago was created to support efforts that enrich the quality, reach, and diversity of news reporting in the Chicago region. This Request for Proposal will focus on capacity-building support and aims to advance opportunities for journalists and newsroom leaders to learn from each other, share best practices, and develop strategies for sustainable journalism. This funding opportunity will bring together some of the region’s most innovative local news organizations to identify and co-create learning activities that include individual and organizational growth components, meeting several times over the grant period as a peer learning activity.
Through its investments, Press Forward Chicago seeks to:
- Foster a more equitable news ecosystem that represents and serves the diverse tapestry of the city’s population;
- Scale proven strategies and innovations that address the challenges of today’s media environment; and
- Revitalize the local news infrastructure, ensuring robust reporting on critical issues facing Chicago’s communities.
Goals
The goals of this funding opportunity are to:
- Expand opportunities for hyperlocal or regional media organizations that reflect, serve, and amplify the voices of community members from across Chicago, with an emphasis on news and information platforms that foster a sense of collective purpose and embrace the value of co-creating with residents and media colleagues.
- Support hyperlocal or regional media organizations seeking to increase their current reach through audience expansion and the adoption of new business strategies and approaches.
- Build the capacity of media and information outlets that demonstrate proven success in strengthening collaborative relationships with community members and their capacity to seek collaborative partnerships with media colleagues that create conditions to amplify community-driven stories and concerns.
Priority Strategies & Activities
The purpose of this grant initiative is to recognize organizations’ ongoing efforts to utilize civic journalism and storytelling platforms that amplify the voices of community residents and storytellers, expose critical issues identified by the community, and ignite and inform resident-driven actions via these funding priorities and associated outcomes:
- Sustainability: Organizations developing new, scalable business models for financial sustainability in local news. Outcomes: Expand Partnership Opportunities, Improve Overall Financial Health, Increase Fundamental Business Finance Knowledge and Application
- Equity and Inclusion: Organizations and initiatives focused on closing the gap in representation and coverage of marginalized communities. Outcomes: Build Knowledge and Narrative, Increase in Organizational Effectiveness
- Audience and Community Engagement: Efforts to deepen connections between newsrooms and the communities they serve, enhancing civic participation. Outcomes: Build Knowledge and Narrative, Escalate Awareness/Salience of Issues, Increase Coalition, Constituent and Organizational Power
- Technological Advancement: Proposals that leverage technology to distribute local news more effectively and engage audiences more deeply. Outcomes: Build Knowledge and Narrative, Increase Fundamental Business Finance Knowledge and Application
Grant Type
Capacity Building Project Support Only.
Funding Information
Two-year grants ranging between $100,000 and $125,000.
Eligibility Criteria
- Applicants must be based in the Chicago region. Nonprofits, educational institutions, independent media outlets, and fiscally sponsored journalism projects with an operating budget of less than $2,000,000 are eligible to apply.
- Collaborative efforts among multiple organizations are highly encouraged.
- Proposals should demonstrate a clear plan for impact measurement and sustainability beyond the grant period.
- Newsrooms that focus on underserved communities and those most proximate to the issues that are being covered.
To be eligible for a grant award, an applicant must be:
- A nonprofit organization with evidence that it (a) has been recognized by the Internal Revenue Service as an organization described in Section 501(c)(3) of the Code; (b) is fiscally sponsored by a Section 501(c)(3) organization; or (c) is a governmental unit within the meaning of Section 170(c)(1) of the Code;
- Described in Section 170(b)(1)(A) of the Code, other than a “disqualified supporting organization” within the meaning of Section 4966(d)(4) of the Code; and
- Be located within and/or primarily serving residents of Cook County, Illinois and the five collar counties (Lake, McHenry, Will, DuPage and Kane).
For more information, visit TCCT.
