When Nonprofits Diversify their Revenue

As the world of nonprofit news matures, the good news is that more news organizations are creating ways to increase their revenue and expand their audience. The bad news: They’re still heavily reliant on grants and philanthropy — leaving outlets at the whim of a few foundations or wealthy individuals.

A new report released this morning from the Knight Foundation found that the revenue produced by the nonprofit news outlets it examined increased by 73 percent on average between 2013 and 2011. They’re also diversifying the way they make money; Knight found that of the organizations they surveyed, 23 percent of revenue came through earned income for the average site in 2013, up from 18 percent in 2011.

But those gains haven’t resulted in greater independent sustainability for most news nonprofits. While a number of sites saw sharp revenue growth, others were flat or saw declines in revenue from 2011 to 2013. According to the report, median revenue was up only 7 percent in 2013 for the nonprofits. And the reliance on wealthy donors — institutional or individual — remained.

Read the full post here.