The US Local Media Association has held a ‘Pitch Day’ to celebrate the successes of its members in gaining philanthropic support. Here some of the lessons they shared.

One takeaway from the LMA Lab for Journalism Funding – which has helped raise US$38 million (A$53 million) since 2020 – was to be a community convener and connector.

Top pitches all were grounded in deep community listening, a strategic approach to informing and convening their communities and detailed budgets to execute their plans.

Five best practices for earning philanthropic support for journalism are to:

-ground journalism in community listening;

-harness the power of convening;

-show, don’t tell;

-include a strong budget; and

-focus on impact.

Winners included Our Times Newspaper’s Youth Media Lab, The Record North Shore’s Youth in Journalism Workshop, Street Sense Media’s ‘Lived Experience Reporting and Resources Guide’, and Arkansas Democrat-Gazette’s Arkansas Health Beat.

More on these and links to some of the projects are here.

The LMA credits support from Knight Foundation – as well as Google News Initiative – for its training of 20 newsrooms in the 2025-2026 national cohort and expanding its offerings to include an alumni newsletter and webinars.

Pictured: Street Sense Media’s presentation covered issues including the rising criminalisation of homelessness and impact of national policies on unhoused DC residents