Local News Sustainability Fund
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Funds regional newsrooms in areas that have become 'news deserts' after local paper closures left communities without dedicated local reporting.
Why this matters in the United States
About 50 million Americans now have limited or no access to local news, according to Northwestern University's Medill State of Local News 2025 report, which counted 213 counties with no local news source at all and more than two newspaper closures a week. The losses fall hardest on rural counties and lower-income communities, where papers were small to begin with and replacements are rare.
When a paper closes, nobody attends school board meetings, checks the county budget or covers the local court. Researchers have linked the loss of local news to lower voter turnout, fewer candidates in local races and higher borrowing costs for local governments, since no one is watching how money is spent. Digital startups have filled some gaps, mostly in cities, but the advertising that once paid for reporters has moved to large platforms. Keeping a reporter on a local beat now usually takes a mix of newsroom, philanthropic and community funding.
What your gift pays for
- A share of the salary for a reporter placed in a local newsroom on an underserved beat
- Local fundraising support that helps host newsrooms keep the position funded over time
- Training and editorial coaching for early-career reporters during their placement
- Reporting costs such as travel to rural areas and public records requests
Organization
Report for America · United States
US IRS EIN (parent: The GroundTruth Project Inc) · No. 46-0908502
Founded 2017 · Headquarters: Boston
US national service program (of The GroundTruth Project) that places and co-funds journalists in local newsrooms to cover under-reported communities.
How they work: Report for America works like a national service program. It recruits reporters, many early in their careers, through a competitive application and matches them with host newsrooms that have proposed a specific coverage gap. Salaries are shared: the program pays part, the newsroom pays part, and local donors cover the rest, with the newsroom's share rising over a placement that can last up to three years. Corps members also take on a community service project, such as mentoring student journalists.
Track record: Since 2018 Report for America has placed 759 corps members in 429 host newsrooms; 181 reporters served in 152 newsrooms in the 2024-25 corps year.
✓ Verified by our team on 31 October 2021
Giving in the United States
Where public systems leave gaps, the American causes on this site step in: rural towns that have lost their only hospital or cannot afford to fix aging water lines, cities where rents have outrun shelter capacity, and counties hit hardest by opioid overdoses. Other funds back veterans, survivors of domestic violence, foster youth aging out of care and Hispanic college students, many of them first-generation. Partners range from national nonprofits such as Meals on Wheels America and the American Red Cross to a federal rural health office and the Department of Veterans Affairs.
24 causes are listed in the United States, each with its own verified organization. $2,628,640 has been distributed to causes in the United States since 2021.
Our guide to giving in the United States · all 24 causes
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How your gift reaches this cause
- You send crypto to DonateCrypto’s verified wallet for the coin you choose. No platform fee is taken; blockchain network fees still apply.
- Your transaction ID ties the gift to this cause. Our team checks it on the blockchain and emails your official receipt once it’s confirmed.
- We then convert the funds for this cause and send them to Report for America, the organization named above, by bank transfer to its registered bank account, within 24 hours of confirming your donation.
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