We are excited to announce that the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation (PJMF) has renewed its support in 2025 for Tiny News Collective with a grant of $350,000 for our metrics initiative focused on local news entrepreneurs. This funding will help us expand our metrics programming, technology and coaching for early-stage news organizations that need right-sized, relevant data to help make decisions in their phase of development.

In the first year of the metrics initiative, TNC learned more about the needs for smaller newsrooms, with key takeaways that each newsroom needs to tie metrics to their unique mission and audience, and that founders need context for their data. We also partnered with Datasketch to design, build and roll out custom metrics dashboards for an initial cohort of TNC members, while providing training on the dashboards. 

The grant from PJMF will help us expand the program to:

• Onboard dozens more TNC members to the program in partnership with Datasketch. 
• Provide one-on-one coaching for newsrooms to stay up to speed on their dashboard and metrics. 
• Enhance the dashboards for newsrooms as we consider new features and data sources. 
• Create additional asynchronous resources for busy founders such as documentation and automated email content to learn about their data.
• Co-design an AI tool to elevate insights and make the dashboard more interactive.

“With this renewal grant from PJMF, we will accelerate the knowledge, fluency and ability of TNC members to act on their data to build and engage their audiences, improve their products and find new revenue opportunities,” said Amy L. Kovac-Ashley, Tiny News Collective executive director. “The metrics and insights will help them tell their stories to funders, advertisers, potential audiences and their community at large about their impact. We can’t wait to expand on this important work.”

The Patrick J. McGovern Foundation is a philanthropic organization dedicated to advancing artificial intelligence and data science solutions to create a thriving, equitable and sustainable future for all. PJMF works in partnership with public, private and social institutions to drive progress on our most pressing challenges, including digital health, climate change, broad digital access and data maturity in the social sector.

“Independent journalism is the foundation of informed and engaged communities. Local newsrooms need advanced tools and resources to continue being a trusted service for the people relying on them. At the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation, we believe that sustainable newsrooms and community resilience are interlinked — reinforcing a cycle of informed dialogue and societal progress,” said Vilas Dhar, president of the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation. “Our expanded partnership with Tiny News Collective reflects our commitment to ensuring small newsrooms can continue to be effective and reliable - deepening connections among audiences everywhere.”