NC Local is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit news organization. We are funded by grants, donations, sponsorships and other earned revenue.
Funding acceptance policy
As a nonprofit organization, NC Local receives financial support to cover the costs related to pursuing its mission, including the creation and distribution of its produced or co-produced content. NC Local is committed to transparency and to that end, NC Local follows the standards guidance as put forth by the Institute for Nonprofit News (INN).
Further, its routine practice will be to share the identity of individuals and organizations that provide funding or services to NC Local for its operations or activities in its annual Impact Report. NC Local will accept anonymous gifts and grants, directing them to general support funding and publicly disclose them as “anonymous,” if in the opinion of NC Local’s Board of Directors receiving such funding would not impair, or be perceived as impairing, the editorial independence or integrity of NC Local. Names of donors who contribute $5,000 or more will appear in our 990 filings with the IRS, as required by law. Consistent with INN standards, we also ensure anonymous funding doesn’t make up a material part of revenue. By that, we mean anonymous donations generally total no more than 15% of total annual revenue.
NC Local will not solicit funding from any political parties, elected officials or candidates seeking public office. We will not accept donations from sources who, deemed by NC Local’s Board of Directors, present a conflict of interest with our work or compromise our independence or integrity.
NC Local editorial judgments and operational decisions 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. We maintain a firewall between news coverage decisions and sources of all revenue.
Accepting financial support does not mean NC Local endorses donors or their products, services or opinions.
Donor transparency and privacy policy
NC Local values its donors and respects requests for privacy. As such, NC Local does not share, trade, sell, or otherwise release donors’ personal information to any third parties. NC Local uses Blue Lena to manage its donor and reader information.
As a matter of practice, NC Local will disclose in its annual Impact Report the identity of individuals and organizations that provide funding or services to NC Local for any of its operations or activities. Names of donors who contribute $5,000 or more will appear in our 990 filings with the IRS, as required by law. But otherwise, we do not disclose donor information without explicit consent.
Finances
NC Local’s 990 tax form may be found on Guidestar.