The Community Foundation of North Central Massachusetts has awarded the Harvard Press a $2,000 grant in support of the paper’s soon-to-be announced Fund for Community Journalism.
The news was announced Oct. 28 in an email from foundation President Steve Adams to co-owner Lisa Aciukewicz and editor John Osborn.
The donation is the first received by the Press since the foundation agreed last month to act as fiscal sponsor for a Harvard Press Fund for Community Journalism. The foundation’s fiscal sponsorship will allow the Press to solicit tax deductible donations while remaining a for-profit LLC, a hybrid model adopted by papers such as the Berkshire Eagle and Philadelphia Inquirer. The agreement between the Press and the foundation stipulates that the fund will be used “to support local reporting in the North Central Massachusetts region” and that “a strict separation of funding and reporting will be enforced.”
The Community Foundation of North Central Massachusetts is a nonprofit public charity that promotes philanthropy in North Central Massachusetts and helps philanthropists invest in the communities and causes they care passionately about. The foundation was founded in 2001. Its establishment was the work of a committee from the United Way of North Central Massachusetts who saw the potential to build more philanthropy in the region.
“We are thrilled to play a part in sustaining and, perhaps, rejuvenating local journalism in our region. The kind of quality local journalism practiced by The Harvard Press sets our region and our state apart,” Adams said.
The agreement acknowledges that “to continue fulfilling their important role, news media outlets covering local news must increasingly turn to private funders to enable them to deliver in-depth local reporting that serves the public interest and protects the community.”
With a fiscal sponsor in place, co-owners Aciukewicz and Sue Robbins plan a major fundraising drive in December to enhance the newspaper’s ability to cover local news and ensure a sustainable future.
“We are very excited about our new relationship with the Community Foundation of North Central Massachusetts as it opens up an avenue for accepting tax deductible donations,” said Aciukewicz. “Their sponsorship is much appreciated as is the unexpected grant, which will be a boost as we train new citizen journalists.”
