· Public charity
The Lenfest Institute for Journalism Special Asset Fund of Tpf
The mission of the lenfest institute for journalism special asset fund of the philadelphia foundation (the institute) is to receive, manage, and distribute assets in support of the philadelphia foundation (tpf) by enabling quality local journalism that serves its communities.
What it funded, over time
Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2024.
Where the money goes
Grants by size, and the largest recipients.
By grant size · FY2024
- Under $10k7 grants · $51k
- $10k–50k49 grants · $981k
- $50k–250k32 grants · $2.5M
- $250k+9 grants · $11M
| Recipient | Amount |
|---|---|
| THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER | $7,847,500 |
| SPOTLIGHT PA | $510,000 |
| CHICAGO PUBLIC MEDIA INC | $500,000 |
| SEATTLE TIMES COMPANY | $500,000 |
| STAR TRIBUNE MEDIA INTERMEDIATE HOLDINGS COMPANY II | $500,000 |
| NEWSDAY LLC | $500,000 |
| CAMBRIDGE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE INC | $475,000 |
| FEDERATION OF NEIGHBORHOOD CENTERS INC | $325,000 |
| THE HAITIAN TIMES | $276,625 |
| NUEVA ESPERANZA INC | $237,000 |
| DELAWARE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC | $150,000 |
| WURD RADIO LLC | $125,000 |
| CIVIC CAPITAL CONSULTING | $125,000 |
| WHYY | $120,000 |
| FUNTIMES MAGAZINE LLC | $107,500 |
Does the money reach high-need areas?
Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.
Its human-services grants (FY18–24, $2.4M) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 77% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.
How this is measured
Which US states its grants reach
How this is measured
Where the work is directed
The same grants placed two ways: where each recipient sits, and where its stated purpose sends the money.
About 16% of The Lenfest Institute for Journalism Special Asset Fund of Tpf’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address. By recipient address, 60% of the giving stays in PA; by stated purpose, 44%.
How this is measured
Who it funds again
Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.
Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +70% since the first grant, against +37% for those funded once.
114 repeat relationships: 57 still active in FY2024, 57 since wound down; 38 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).
How the two cohorts compare
Organizations
Total granted
Median revenue growth · since first grant
Still filing today
New vs renewed · share of each year
In FY2024, 88% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $1.8M went to new ones.
Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant
How this is measured
Backed again, and grew
- TUTemple University - Of The Commonwealth System of Higher Education6× · 2017–2023 · $4.9M · revenue +5%
- SPSPOTLIGHT PA3× · 2022–2024 · $3.4M · revenue +853% · 37% of their budget
- RPRESOLVE PHILADELPHIA INC5× · 2019–2024 · $2.7M · revenue +122% · 56% of their budget
Funded once
- APAMERICA PRESS INCone grant, 2019 · $3.4M
- CBCAPITAL B NEWS INCone grant, 2021 · $1.3M · revenue -4%
- IPINDEPENDENCE PUBLIC MEDIA OF PHILADELPHIA INCone grant, 2021 · $250k · revenue -50%
How this is measured
Repeat means funded in two or more distinct years. Growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.
Closest unfunded matches
The nonprofits that most resemble its grantees but are not funded by it, scored along the direction from the rest of the field toward the portfolio. A resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.
To educate journalists and the public, and foster public debate, about improving political journalism to reflect public needs and hold the powerful accountable.
Nashville public radio's mission is to be the most trusted & independent nashville voice, connecting our communities through non-partisan journalism, compelling storytelling, civil conversation and music discovery.
Providing research, education and practical information all aimed at optimizing newspapers' business operations, deepening their community engagement and enhancing the quality of their journalism.
The mission of the springfield daily citizen is to inform our community and be a catalyst for good.
To bring quality public television programs and resources to communities throughout new jersey and its tri-state neighbors. its content, both on-air and online, aims to reflect the diverse
Public narrative teaches journalists and non-profit organizations to tell better stories in order to fulfill our missions to support a free and informed press, and to ensure that non-profit and neighborhood voices are heard, and are part…
The daily pennsylvanian exists to inform the penn community of relevant news and opinion while providing a training vehicle for students.
Trusting News improves the quality of news reporting by studying trust in news and training and coaching journalists to demonstrate credibility and actively earn trust. Their work equips thousands of journalists every year to better…
The news media alliance (nma) is a nonprofit organization representing nearly 2,000 news media organizations and their multi-media platform businesses in the us, canada and europe.
The american journalism project, inc. is a first-of-its-kind venture philanthropy dedicated to building and supporting local news across the country. american journalism project makes grants to nonprofit news organizations, partners with…
States newsroom is the nation's largest state-focused nonprofit news organization, with reporting from every capital. every newsroom is led by a veteran local journalist with deep knowledge of the state's political history and media…
Through in-depth and thought-provoking journalism, prism reflects the lived experiences of people most impacted by injustice. As an independent and nonprofit newsroom LED by journalists of color, we tell stories from the ground up: to…
How this is measured
191 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.
Each grant beside the grantee’s revenue from every source, year by year.
How this is measured
Counted here: distinct organizations funded across 2017 to 2025, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 191 of the 330 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile.
Each grantee is resolved to its own IRS returns. Association, dated; never a causal claim.
Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee
Showing the 200 largest grantees by grant value.
Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing
Grantee by grantee: a decade per organization, before and after funding
A decade per grantee: revenue shaded, grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.
- Who funds City Report Inc ↗
- Who funds Temple University - Of The Commonwealth System of Higher Education ↗
- Who funds SPOTLIGHT PA ↗
- Who funds RESOLVE PHILADELPHIA INC ↗
- Who funds FIRST DRAFT NEWS INC ↗
- Who funds AMERICAN PRESS INSTITUTE INC ↗
- Who funds NATIONAL TRUST FOR LOCAL NEWS ↗
- Who funds LOCAL MEDIA FOUNDATION ↗
- Who funds WHYY INC ↗
- Who funds CAPITAL B NEWS INC ↗
- Who funds CHICAGO PUBLIC MEDIA INC ↗
- Who funds Cambridge Artificial Intelligencer Inc ↗
- Who funds CULTURETRUST GREATER PHILADELPHIA ↗
- Who funds CIVIC NEWS COMPANY ↗
- Who funds Nueva Esperanza Inc ↗
- Who funds FEDERATION OF NEIGHBORHOOD CENTERS ↗
- Who funds PUBLICSOURCE ↗
Co-funders
Grantmakers whose grantees overlap with this funder’s far more than size alone predicts. Closer means stronger alignment; arcs show where they also fund each other. Here they form a tightly interlocked group: most of these funders back each other's grantees too.
Open a dossier: Institute for Nonprofit News · Local Independent Online News Publishers Inc · Solutions Journalism Network Inc · The Groundtruth Project Inc · The Miami Foundation Inc · The William Penn Foundation · The Philadelphia Foundation · Pro Publica Inc · John S and James L Knight Foundation · Independence Public Media of Philadelphia Inc · The Int'L Center for Journalists Inc · American Journalism Project Inc
How this is measured
How much its grantees rely on government
Each dot is one organization The Lenfest Institute for Journalism Special Asset Fund of Tpf funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Lenfest Institute for Journalism Special Asset Fund of Tpf. Bigger dots raise more.
- Delaware Community Foundation Inc: 13% of income from government
- Trustees of Boston University: 12% of income from government
- Vermont Journalism Trust Ltd: 0% of income from government
How this is measured
Play a game based on Lenfest Institute for Journalism Special Asset Fund of Tpf’s filings →