The New Jersey Local News Lab Fund is a collaborative fund that supports people and organizations working to build a more connected, collaborative and sustainable local news and information ecosystem in New Jersey. The Fund is locally-led and managed by an advisory group made up of local stakeholders, the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, and Democracy Fund. It is housed at the Community Foundation of New Jersey.

WHY WE INVESTED

The New Jersey Local News Lab Fund invests in ideas, people, and organizations that are working to ensure people have access to the news and information they need in New Jersey. The fund will focus on building more healthy news ecosystems as a vital part of just communities and a healthy democracy.

New Jersey has become a bold laboratory for new models of collaboration, revenue experiments, and community engagement. This fund will continue that momentum and help broaden the work there beyond newsrooms to other civic information networks and institutions.

A key goal of the fund is to catalyze new momentum locally around supporting local public-interest news that serves all communities. As such, the fund is built as an open platform for partnership with other funders and donors. We are working closely with local and regional foundations to expand the size of the fund, leveraging even more dollars to support local news and information efforts.

HOW TO GET INVOLVED

1. On Twitter, follow @thelocalnewslab.

2. Sign up to learn more here.

2019: $200,000 2017: Up to $1,300,000 over two years.