Dispatch from the Lenfest Summit: Why Print Still Punches Above Its Weight in the Fundraising Ring

I just got back from the Lenfest Institute’s News Philanthropy Summit, the first of its kind with more than 300 newspaper fundraisers present. !f you’ve ever wanted to feel both deeply inspired and mildly panicked about the future of nonprofit journalism, I highly recommend it.

The event brought together a who’s-who of philanthropic funders, foundation reps, and newsroom leaders from across the country. And while a lot of the usual questions came up — sustainability, scale, equity, engagement — I came away with a few key takeaways that felt especially relevant for those of us working in rural markets, smaller towns, and community-scale newsrooms.

1. Divergence Is the Default

First, the obvious: nonprofit newsrooms are all over the place. Some have seven-figure endowments and entire teams focused on major gifts. Others (like mine) are in scrappy build mode — still figuring out where journalism ends and operations begin. There’s no single roadmap, and context matters. Geography, legacy media presence, and local philanthropic culture are major variables in the sustainability equation.

Talking with other rural publishers, I was relieved to find our budget numbers in line with peers around the country. We’re all working with lean teams, community trust, and a healthy dose of duct tape. But what really stood out was how uneven the funding ecosystem is from state to state.

2. Washington State: Not a Hotbed for Nonprofit News

Here in Washington, nonprofit news startups haven’t had the same traction as those in the Midwest or Northeast. Major philanthropic support is relatively thin, and few outlets have cracked the code on sustaining operations beyond early grants or Kickstarter-style campaigns. The nonprofit San Juans Today just closed shop last month.

Meanwhile, hybrid models are winning — especially in urban centers. The Seattle Times’ Local Journalism Fund stands out as a successful philanthropic-publication partnership within a for-profit structure. It’s given them a runway for public-service journalism projects that smaller nonprofits can only dream of. And because it operates inside a legacy newsroom, it’s backed by infrastructure and visibility that most start-from-scratch shops don’t have.

3. Print Costs More — and Pays Off

Here’s a tactical insight that came up both in sessions and sidebar conversations: print still delivers disproportionate value when it comes to donor support.

Yes, it costs more — in our case, nearly twice as much as digital-only publishing when you account for design, production, delivery, and labor. But the impact per dollar is significantly higher. Readers perceive more value in something they can hold, share, clip, and mail to their relatives. And that tactile experience translates directly into stronger donor relationships.

We’ve seen it play out clearly at La Conner Community News. Donors who receive the physical paper are more likely to give. The newspaper feels real in a way a Substack or email just doesn’t — especially in rural communities where the digital divide still exists.

So while digital may scale more cheaply, print still punches above its weight when it comes to brand authority, civic engagement, and philanthropic ROI.

The Path Ahead: Hybrid Thinking

If there’s a larger lesson here, it’s that rigid models may not serve us. Nonprofit, for-profit, hybrid — the binary matters less than whether your structure supports journalism, engagement, and fundraising in your specific community. That’s why I’m actively exploring how we can add a for-profit publishing arm to complement our nonprofit newsroom — not as a pivot, but as an expansion of mission-aligned capacity.

As Press Forward begins rolling out its funding strategy nationwide, rural and community publishers need to speak up and show up — not just to seek grants, but to shape the narrative about where journalism still matters most.