How we're funded

In the same way that we attribute our sources in individual articles and identify who produced the work we publish, you should know whose support keeps us operating. Below you'll see you'll see the people and institutions who invest in us, and our policies for working with them. But first you should know our news judgments are made independently – not based on or influenced by donors or any revenue source. We do not give supporters the rights to assign, review, or edit content. You can read more about our editorial independence here.

People-powered

Right now The 51st is almost 100% member-funded. We’re so proud, and grateful, to be able to say that. We literally couldn’t do this without you. And we are constantly considering how to be the best stewards of that money.

Join (or upgrade) today

As a community-centered local newsroom, we rely heavily on sustaining members. We believe quality journalism is a public service, so we don't lock our reporting behind a paywall. A minority of our subscribers thus provide free local news for everyone in the District:

We also sell advertising space and accept gifts, grants, and sponsorships from individuals, organizations, and foundations – both to help with our general operations and to support coverage of specific topics or special projects. You'll find anyone who has contributed such gifts listed below. Accepting financial support does not mean we endorse donors or their products, services, or opinions.

Contributions over $5,000

We make public all individual donors who give a total of $5,000 or more per year, in compliance with the Institute for Nonprofit News’s membership standards. As a news nonprofit, we avoid accepting charitable donations from anonymous sources, government entities, political parties, elected officials or candidates seeking public office. We will not accept donations from sources who, deemed by our worker board, present a conflict of interest with our work or compromise our independence. You can see our Conflict of Interest Policy here.

Institutional Funders

We disclose all organizations and foundations who have supported our work, regardless of the amount they contribute.

Taxes and Audits

As a nonprofit corporation that operates as a public trust, we benefit from not paying certain taxes. We may also receive funds from standard government programs offered to nonprofits or similar businesses.

We've only been operating since August. But once we've filed taxes for our nonprofit corporation and undergone our first audit, you'll be able to find copies of those forms on this page.