The Daily Herald has been the leading news and information source in Everett and Snohomish County, Washington, for more than a century. The news organization recently released its Community Impact Report 2023. We asked Brenda Mann Harrison, the journalism development director, to share some background on creating this most recent report.

How many years has The Daily Herald been engaged in journalism fundraising efforts? When did you start producing an annual Impact Report?

Brenda Mann Harrison

The Daily Herald first reached out to our community for support of our investigative journalism in March 2020, shortly after the COVID-19 pandemic began. The initial response was amazing. Four years later, we have four community-supported journalism funds that help pay for local news reporting.

We introduced our first annual report early in 2022. The Community Impact Report for 2021 gave us the opportunity to thank donors for supporting local journalism and it showcased the impact the Herald makes with the public’s help.

In what ways does The Daily Herald monitor and assess the impact of its reporting? How is this information communicated transparently to stakeholders and the public?

We ask reporters to regularly share with our journalism development director what they hear from the community about the impact of their stories – either comments they receive by email or as voice messages – and the changes they see in the community as a result of their coverage.

We also look at data about how stories are viewed online and amplified through social media and other news organizations.

One of our favorite ways to monitor the difference our reporting makes is by asking the public to tell us. We do that through our regular communications with donors, subscribers and readers and at public events where we have an opportunity to collect stories in person about the Herald’s impact.

Another key source for information about the Herald’s reporting is our annual Community Listening Survey. We share what we hear through the survey and from community feedback in a variety of ways with donors and the public, including the annual impact report.

What led to the selection of the current format for The Daily Herald’s Impact Report?

Our first two annual reports were designed as PDF documents that could be printed on letter-size paper or shared digitally. We promoted the reports through ads in the printed and e-editions of the newspaper, social posts and email messages.

For our most recent community impact report, we felt it was important to give all our readers a chance to receive a copy firsthand with their printed or digital copy of the newspaper. So we designed it as a tabloid that was inserted in a weekend edition.

Anyone can access the report on our website, and we link to it often when introducing someone new to the value of local journalism.

What strategies does The Daily Herald employ to engage with its audience and foster community support for its reporting, particularly in terms of translating impact into sustained funding?

We’ve learned regular communication is essential to increase awareness that a local newspaper like The Daily Herald is essential for a thriving community and democracy and that public support is vital to sustain local journalism.

We also invite the community to interact with us through Herald Forums, which bring together a panel of experts to discuss a specific issue, and our annual Behind the News Stories event, which highlights key local reporting from the past year that made a significant difference.

At every touchpoint, we try to make it easy for individuals, businesses, and funders to understand the challenges local newspapers face and to support the journalism that makes a difference for our community.

Reflecting back on your participation in the RFA/LMA Sustainability Lab, how did The Daily Herald incorporate the insights gained from the lab into the development of its Impact Report?

The Herald gained a lot of new information through our participation in the LMA Sustainability Lab and from connecting with the participants, so it’s difficult to identify what we specifically used in our approach to our community impact report. In general, the Sustainability Lab provided examples of best practices for community outreach and reinforced the importance of thanking supporters and telling them how they made a difference and why it’s essential that local journalism survives.

What valuable insights have you gained as you seek funding for journalism? What advice would you offer to others considering similar endeavors?

Seeking funding for local journalism isn’t easy, but it’s incredibly rewarding when you find supporters who want to make a difference for something they value – something that’s bigger than themselves. Even though a donor may want to have an impact on the broader community by supporting journalism, it’s often a personal connection that can have a huge influence on their decision to give. Like anything worthwhile, those connections take time to develop and time to be nurtured.