This upcoming round of grants will invest in NC Local News Lab Fund’s existing network of trusted messengers and news organizations, new partners, and projects that meet emerging news and information needs in North Carolina’s marginalized communities.
Since 2017, the NC Local News Lab Fund has made more than $2.4 million in grants backed by a coalition of funders who believe that sustainable, resilient, inclusive news and information networks are essential to healthy communities and a healthy democracy.
Following
last year’s largest-ever round of grants, new gifts from the Burroughs Wellcome Fund, Prentice Foundation, Blue Cross and Blue Shield Foundation of North Carolina, and the Democracy Fund continue to grow the NC Local News Lab Fund’s grantmaking to organizations ensuring that everyone in North Carolina can find, trust and use the local news and information they need. In May, the Burroughs Wellcome Fund made a $50,000 gift and
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina Foundation made a gift of $100,000. Prentice Foundation renewed its support with a $10,000 grant in winter 2022.
"Our goal is to fund trusted media resources that provide the latest and most accurate health and science information," said Russ Campbell, director of science communication at the Burroughs Wellcome Fund. "Our support for the Local News Lab is to assist those organizations to connect and communicate to the communities of North Carolina."
These foundations join other North Carolina funders: Dogwood Health Trust, Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust, and the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation. This coalition has invested a total of more than $1.4 million since April 2020.
The NC Local News Lab Fund continues to bring national support to this local funding collaborative. Longtime partners Democracy Fund made a two-year, $800,000 grant in late 2021.
“Strong local journalism directly translates into more power for the people of North Carolina: to make choices about their lives, to hold power to account, and to participate in our democracy. We believe that the best decision makers on strengthening local news ecosystems are the people who live in them, and we are proud to support the North Carolina Local News Lab’s statewide efforts,” said Teresa Gorman, Program Manager at
Democracy Fund.
For those seeking grants from the NC Local News Lab Fund, this latest round of grant applications will open July 6 and close at noon on Aug. 29. The NC Local News Lab Fund will award general operating grants of between $15,000 to $75,000 to public charity nonprofit entities that serve North Carolina residents and their rapidly evolving information needs. General operating grants will provide organizations the flexibility they need to reinforce their capacity and respond to the current needs of their communities. For-profit organizations with appropriate fiscal sponsorship for a project with a charitable purpose are also eligible to apply.
More information about criteria, application questions and other details about applying for a grant are available here in English and Spanish. Grant seekers are welcome to reach out to Lizzy Hazeltine, Fund Director, as they prepare to apply.
The Fund welcomes funders interested in learning alongside them or joining our collaborative fund building strong statewide information networks.
Prospective grant recipients and funding partners can find out more about the NC Local News Lab Fund in case studies, a list of current and past grant partners, and more on their
updated, bilingual website and
on Twitter.
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About the Burroughs Wellcome Fund
Based in Research Triangle Park, N.C., the Burroughs Wellcome Fund is an independent private foundation. Its mission is to serve and strengthen society by nurturing a diverse group of leaders in biomedical sciences to improve human health through education and powering discovery in frontiers of greatest need.
About the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina Foundation
The Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina Foundation is a private, charitable foundation established as an independent entity by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina in 2000. Over the past two decades, the organization has worked with - and supported - nonprofit organizations, government entities, and community partnerships across the state, investing $173 million into North Carolina through more than 1,200 grants, collaborations, and special initiatives. grants. Within its focus areas of early childhood, healthy communities, healthy food, and oral health, the foundation strives to address the key drivers of health, taking a flexible approach designed to meet identified needs in partnership with the community.
Learn more at
bcbsncfoundation.org.
About the North Carolina Local News Lab Fund
The
North Carolina Local News Lab Fund is a pooled fund housed at the North Carolina Community Foundation. The fund was established in 2017 to ensure that everyone in North Carolina can find, trust and use high-quality news and information, delivered by providers that are reflective of and engaged with their communities. This coalition of local and national funding partners is building a resilient, sustainable news and information network that serves all North Carolina residents with accessible, inclusive news and information.
Since its launch, the Fund has deployed more than $2.4 million to 37 organizations to expand coverage in more than 40 North Carolina counties, with funding partners including the Democracy Fund, Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation, Kate B. Reynold Charitable Trust, Dogwood Health Trust, the Prentice Foundation, Park Foundation, Educational Foundation of America, and the Burroughs Wellcome Fund.
For more information about the NC Local News Lab Fund at NCCF, contact Lizzy Hazeltine at
lizzy@nclocalnews.org.
About the North Carolina Community Foundation
The
North Carolina Community Foundation (NCCF) is the single statewide community foundation serving North Carolina and has administered more than $217 million in grants since its inception in 1988. With more than $400 million in assets, NCCF sustains more than 1,200 endowments established to provide long-term support of a broad range of community needs, nonprofit organizations, institutions and scholarships.
NCCF partners with a network of affiliate foundations to provide local resource allocation and community assistance across the state. An important component of NCCF’s mission is to ensure that rural philanthropy has a voice at local, regional and national levels.
Media contact
Amy Dominello Braun, Senior Communications & Marketing Officer for the North Carolina Community Foundation
abraun@nccommunityfoundation.org, 919-256-6922