In an attempt to openly share some of the experience I’ve accrued, I’m going to recount how I fundraised from the Craig Newmark Foundation for a few years for OpenNews. I start here because of attention on Newmark’s funding as he turns away from journalism due to the issues of lack of return on investment and impact. Important beginning caveat: the old fundraising advice of “if you’ve met one funder, you’ve met one funder” applies here—the specifics of communicating with the Newmark Foundation are unique to that relationship, but some of the network pieces that made that relationship possible are more broadly transferrable.
What set Newark Foundation funding apart
Craig Newmark walks the talk better than most other funders I’ve encountered. There were not onerous application nor reporting requirements for grants from his foundation. If he gave you the green light to apply, in my experience, it meant you were getting funding. And not only that, the turnaround was incredibly fast. He replied to emails nearly instantly, made decisions quickly, and, basically unknown when it comes to transferring money of any type—the money would arrive within days. It was an incredibly clear, incredibly quick process. Many thanks to Craig for minimizing the uncertainty and unknowns in what can be a stressful process.
Getting to the application: Perugia
After becoming Executive Director of OpenNews, I needed to expand our fundraising. I pitched sessions to the International Journalism Festival a few times, but they never got picked. I knew it was the kind of place that a lot of funders went to and that I should try to go. I asked around about how to get there and was told that they pay for the housing + food for speakers (you pay your own travel there) so it’s good to try to be a speaker. After asking several people for help with that Emily Goligoski suggested me for a panel and I was accepted! So with half the costs paid for, I booked a basic economy flight with “sometimes you have to spend money to make money” on my mind and determination to make the most of this opportunity.
When I got on the bus from the airport to Perugia who was I sitting next to none other than Jenny 8. Lee. In her reporterly way, she asked me about our programs and fundraising and immediately identified that we should be talking to Craig. She told me what events he had funded for her, the rough amount, and how she approached him. Her coaching is why and how I was able to approach Craig. (And while Perugia is an incredible networking opportunity, it was really that single chat on the bus that made the whole trip worth it for me and our organization.)
Approaching Craig and securing funding
Based on Jenny’s advice, I emailed Craig. I followed her advice, bolstered by additional insights and advice from Aron Pilhofer, a member of OpenNews’ board and another person with connections in Craig’s network. I emailed Craig a bit about SRCCON, he asked a few questions, and invited us to submit a full application. The application was pretty simple 1-2 pages, and he was also interested in our communications plan and timeline. I requested support specifically for our conference SRCCON, and focused on how the relationships built at the event supported trustworthy journalism (one of his core funding areas at that time). Looking back, I requested $60k, received $40k. The next year, requested $50k, got $50k. The year after that, based on advice from Paul Cheung, we tried for a multi-year commitment and requested $125k. That did not work, but he let us down easy with $20k. Thereafter, our requests were not successful.
One of the things Craig always wanted to know more about was our “earned media” coverage of our work. This fits with what he raised in the Nieman Lab piece about concern about reach and engagement with audiences. It was a little tricky for us cause SRCCON is a journalist-serving space, and people found out about it mostly through word of mouth, not media coverage. This is just a guess but, I think the relationships we had with people Craig already knew and trusted is what got us in the door for the initial grants, but ultimately, our project was a pretty awkward fit for us focus areas longer term.
Even so, his willingness to fund SRCCON helped secure our budget as I was getting my footing in the role, and crucially, during all the early pandemic uncertainty.
Relationships power all of our work
We would not have received $110,000 of funding without the advice and advocacy of our people in our network who were willing to share information and relationships. Similarly, one of the features of receiving funding from Craig is he liked to connect all of his grantees, which continued to empower these network effects! I learned a lot from what other grantees shared and we even found opportunities to collaborate via the network he set up. Thank you especially goes to to Emily and Jenny. Without their direct, concrete interventions none of this would have happened.
This is a super quick overview, but I hope contributes to a discussion about how money changes hands, where it goes, and what we can learn from it. (If you have a story to share, let me know, I’d love to link up more, or share any further detail that would be useful. I feel like crowdsourcing experiences like this could help us build a picture of any lessons we can learn, from each other!)
Last modified on March 11, 2026
