Montana Free Press (MFP)

The Montana Free Press (MFP) is a non-profit news organization based in Helena, Montana that was one of five partners with the Associated Press (AP) to beef up local news coverage in advance of the 2024 elections. Left-of-center advocacy groups and Democratic mega-donors fund the AP’s partners. 1

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At-A-Glance

Type: Non-profit, 501(c)(3)
Website: montanafreepress.org
Formation:

2019

President/CEO:

John Adams

Location: Helena, MT View on map
Tax ID: 47-5237719
Most Recent Filing: 2024
Budget (2024): Assets: $1,419,011 Revenue: $2,151,666 Expenses: $1,926,060

Contents

    MFP is an independent news source that collaborates with other news outlets to report stories on the state of Montana. MFP claims to move society toward justice and equity by studying bureaucratic processes, seeking out dark corners of major institutions, digging deep into data and documents, and holding power accountable to the people. 2

    Founding and History

    Montana Free Press was founded on February 26, 2016, by a group of five board members and close advisers in the basement of the Missoula Public Library. The organization’s founder, John S. Adams, previously the capital bureau chief of the Great Falls Tribune, established MFP as Montana’s first nonprofit digital-first statehouse news organization. Adams had departed from the Tribune due to a      restructuring by Gannett Co. Around the same time, several of Montana’s leading political journalists were also laid off by another media chain. 3

    Adams was also previously the director of communications for Clean Wisconsin, a left-of-center nonprofit that claims to protect and preserve Wisconsin’s clean water, air, and natural heritage. 4

    Motivated by a decline in commercial print journalism and inspired by nonprofit models like ProPublica and the Texas Tribune, Adams aimed to provide Montanans with independent, objective journalism. 5 He launched his own nonprofit news outlet, the Montana Free Press, operating under the fiscal sponsorship of the left-leaning Institute for Nonprofit News. Adams serves as the chair of MFP’s board, which is comprised of Democratic and Republican state senators, and a former investigative reporter who is now a licensed private investigator. 6

    Funding

    The Montana Free Press has secured grants from left-of-center organizations such as the American Journalism Project (AJP), megadonor philanthropists Simon and Trench Coxe, and Arnold Ventures. Major donors from 2018 to 2023 include a $65,000 and $100,000 grant from the Daylight Foundation for the years 2018 and 2019, a $875,000 grant from the AJP in 2020, a $59,395.05 and $50,000 grant from Simone and Tench Coxe in 2021 and 2022, and a $150,000 grant by Arnold Ventures in 2023. 7

    In 2023, the Schwab Charitable Fund awarded a $90,275 grant to MFP and in 2022 the Wilburforce Foundation provided a $50,000 grant for “environmental” purposes. 8

    Financial Statistics

    Total Assets

    Total Revenue

    Total Expenses

    YearTotal AssetsTotal RevenueTotal ExpensesFiling
    2024 $1,419,011 $2,151,666 $1,926,060 View
    2023 $1,094,047 $1,305,049 $1,470,356 View
    2022 $1,338,420 $1,079,434 $1,253,412 View
    2021 $1,395,111 $925,213 $936,289 View
    2020 $1,427,198 $1,706,709 $569,646 View

    Prior year filings: 2019, 2018

    Revenue Detail

    Expenses Detail

    Employee Compensation

    • Number of Employees: 24

    Highest Earning Employees

    EmployeeTitleTotal Compensation
    John AdamsExecutive Dir.$96,622

    Grant Activity

    All-time grants received statistics from Candid dataset:

    • Total Grant Value: $4,117,411
    • Number of Grants: 131
    • Number of Funders: 51

    Selection of highest value grants received from the last seven years:

    AmountYearFunderSubject
    $403,8522022 American Journalism Project IncTO GROW AND DIVERSIFY REVENUE AND TO ADVANCE TOWARD A SUSTAINABLE MODEL FOR LOCAL NEWS.
    $275,0002024 The Arthur M Blank Family FoundationGOOD GOVERNANCE
    $200,0002024 Silicon Valley Community Foundation
    $191,6742021 American Journalism Project IncTO GROW AND DIVERSIFY REVENUE AND TO ADVANCE TOWARD A SUSTAINABLE MODEL FOR LOCAL NEWS.
    $191,6742020 American Journalism Project IncTO GROW AND DIVERSIFY REVENUE AND TO ADVANCE TOWARD A SUSTAINABLE MODEL FOR LOCAL NEWS.
    $186,0002023 M.J. Murdock Charitable TrustNew Reporting Staff – To increase local news coverage in Montana
    $162,3002023 Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift FundFor grant recipient's exempt purposes
    $146,8892023 American Journalism Project IncTO GROW AND DIVERSIFY REVENUE AND TO ADVANCE TOWARD A SUSTAINABLE MODEL FOR LOCAL NEWS.
    $119,4002022 Donor Advised Charitable Giving, Inc.ARTS, CULTURE & HUMANITIES
    $95,7252024 American Journalism Project IncTO GROW AND DIVERSIFY REVENUE AND TO ADVANCE TOWARD A SUSTAINABLE MODEL FOR LOCAL NEWS.
    $90,2752023 Donor Advised Charitable Giving, Inc.ARTS, CULTURE & HUMANITIES
    $83,9502024 Donor Advised Charitable Giving, Inc.ARTS, CULTURE & HUMANITIES
    $75,0002025 Headwaters FoundationTo support independent reporting on issues relating to both health and Indigenous communities in Montana
    $50,0002024 Wilburforce FoundationENVIRONMENTAL – GENERAL SUPPORT 2024
    $50,0002023 Wilburforce FoundationENVIRONMENTAL – GENERAL SUPPORT
    $50,0002022 Philip I Kent FoundationGENERAL OPERATING
    $50,0002022 Inasmuch Foundation2022 GENERAL OPERATING ($50,000); 50000.00; 04/28/2022
    $50,0002022 Wilburforce FoundationENVIRONMENTAL
    $50,0002022 Montana Healthcare FoundationHEALTH CARE REPORTING FOR MONTANANS
    $50,0002021 Wilburforce FoundationENVIRONMENTAL
    $50,0002020 Lee and Donna Metcalf Charitable TrustTO HELP MONTANA FREE PRESS BECOME FIRMLY ESTABLISHED AS AN ON-LINE INVESTIGATIVE JOURNAL COVERING MONTANA STATE AND LOCAL EVENTS OF SIGNIFICANT PUBLIC CONCERN.
    $50,0002020 Inasmuch FoundationGeneral support
    $50,0002020 Wilburforce FoundationENVIRONMENTAL
    $45,0002024 Headwaters FoundationMONTANA FREE PRESS – HEALTHY EQUITY BEAT
    $41,0002020 The Miami FoundationPROGRAM SUPPORT

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    Financials, employee compensation, and grant information provided by Candid.

    Mentioned in this Article

    References

    1. Lawrence, Susan. “Behind AP’s ‘Nonpartisan’ Initiative to Reach New Audiences in an Election Year: Democratic Megadonors.” Washington Free Beacon, April 12, 2023. https://freebeacon.com/media/behind-aps-nonpartisan-initiative-to-reach-new-audiences-in-an-election-year-democratic-megadonors/.
    2. Montana Free Press. “About MTFP.” Montana Free Press. Accessed July 31, 2024. https://montanafreepress.org/about-mtfp/.
    3.  Adams, John S. “Once on the Verge of Leaving Journalism, a Montana Reporter Launches a Nonprofit News Outlet.” Columbia Journalism Review, June 27, 2016. https://www.cjr.org/united_states_project/john_adams_montana_free_press.php.
    4.      “John Adams.” LinkedIn. Accessed July 31, 2024. https://www.linkedin.com/in/jsadams/
    5. Montana Free Press. “The First Five Years.” Montana Free Press, February 26, 2021. https://montanafreepress.org/2021/02/26/the-first-five-years/.
    6. Adams, John. “How John S. Adams Started Montana Free Press.” Columbia Journalism Review, January 29, 2018. https://www.cjr.org/united_states_project/john_adams_montana_free_press.php.
    7. Montana Free Press. “Donor Transparency.” Montana Free Press. Accessed July 31, 2024. https://montanafreepress.org/donor-transparency/.
    8. Cause IQ. “Montana Free Press.” Cause IQ. Accessed July 31, 2024. https://www.causeiq.com/organizations/montana-free-press,475237719/.