Our Financials

Last updated 12/23/2025

The American Press Institute is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that supports local and community-based media through research, programs and products that foster healthy, responsive and resilient news organizations. Its parent organization is the News/Media Alliance.

Most of API’s funding comes from investments accumulated throughout the organization’s history, which dates to 1946, including assets from the former Newspaper Association of America Foundation, which merged with API in 2012.

The American Press Institute also receives funding from individuals and philanthropic foundations that support our mission.

Other funding sources for API include revenue generated by its news tools, such as Metrics for News and Source Matters, and its consulting services. Sponsorships also help us extend the reach and accessibility of our work.

API Inclusion and Impact survey and fellowship

Strategic planning for the API Media Inclusion & Impact Survey and API Leaders Fellowship for Inclusion & Impact was funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. These programs, both evolutions of long-standing journalism industry efforts, reaffirm API’s commitment to fostering a more inclusive, transparent and accountable media landscape.

API Inclusion Index

The API Inclusion Index assesses and improves how news organizations, whether in one geography or serving similar demographic groups, connect with and cover those communities, while also improving their internal culture.

API Inclusion Index work in Western Pennsylvania is funded by the Heinz Endowments. From 2022-2024, the Henry L. Hillman Foundation and The Pittsburgh Foundation also supported this work.

API Local News Summits

API Local News Summits are highly participatory, invitation-based events that provide a welcoming and collaborative space for media and journalism leaders to think boldly about the role of the free press in the future of our communities. In 2023, the Templeton World Charity Foundation awarded API a grant to explore how news leaders and researchers outside of journalism can inform one another’s work, including in these summits.

Since 2022, API Local News Summits have been supported by many sponsors, with the majority of the funding providing travel scholarships for attendees. Summit sponsors have included the American Counseling Association; Atlanta Journal-Constitution; the Atlanta Press Club; BlueLena; The Boston Globe; Emerging Leaders LLC; Influencer Journalism; the Kiplinger Program in Public Affairs Journalism; the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation; LOR Foundation; the MDDC Press Association; Microsoft; the National Issues Forum Network; the Oklahoma Press Association; National Federation of Community Broadcasters; The New York Times; the Radio Television Digital News Association; Report for America; Solutions Journalism Network; Subtext; Syracuse University Institute for Democracy, Journalism & Citizenship; the Tennessee Press Association; and the Wallace House Center for Journalists at the University of Michigan.

General Operating Support

The Levi Strauss Foundation is an ongoing partner of the American Press Institute and since 2022 has twice awarded API funding to support its general operating budget.