Local philanthropists and news leaders have pioneered a concept known as the Community News Fund (CNF), raising tens of millions of dollars for local news and inspiring a wave of others to jump in.

The concept is simple yet effective, often starting as a partnership between a community foundation and a local newsroom to establish a permanent fund, then growing to include more financial supporters and more newsrooms.

A group of just seven of these communities raised more than $20 million between 2018 and 2022. And as word gets out about these successes, dozens more communities across the country have begun to test the model.

In early 2023, Report for America hosted a six-month workshop series featuring 14 communities with support from the Google News Initiative. Participants ranged from robust, established funds with annual budgets over $1 million to prospective funds that have yet to raise dollars.

Successful CNF communities tended to have clear revenue goals and deep understanding of the local and national philanthropic landscape as well as strong pitches to attract new partners. Many start small and scrappy, then begin to add personnel once they’ve raised a runway of funding.

This approach is especially important in the era of Press Forward, with hundreds of millions of philanthropic dollars on the line and community foundations and local news leaders alike seeking respect for their local knowledge and connections.

Indeed, MacArthur Foundation president John Palfrey embraced the concept in announcing Press Forward Chicago, currently one of six local chapters.

“Around the country, community news funds are being established to reverse the dramatic decline in local news that has coincided with an increasingly divided America and weakening trust in institutions,” Palfrey said.

We don’t yet know how much more local philanthropists will link up with Press Forward, building on the $500 million already committed by 22 donors. But the local infrastructure for supporting and sustaining local news is years in the making.

Just ask early innovators like the Gates Family Foundation and Colorado Media Project, New Mexico Local News Fund and North Carolina Local News Lab Fund.

Or rising stars like California’s Inland Empire Community Foundation, Northeast Wisconsin Journalism Fund, Spotlight Delaware/Local Journalism Initiative, Western Iowa Journalism Foundation, Lancaster County Local Journalism Fund and Local News Initiative of Southern Arizona.

And as the Democracy Fund — which in many ways wrote the book on seeding local news funds across the country — pointed out in an October report, investing in local news ecosystems helps increase voter turnout, reduces bias, connects communities, counters divisive national narratives, creates huge public financial benefits by reducing corruption and waste, and keeps the public in the know during times of crisis.

As we look ahead to an incredibly consequential election in November, we need all the help we can get.