Nebraska Journalism Trust

The Nebraska Journalism Trust is a news organization that reports on various issues in Nebraska including state politics and abortion access. The nonprofit is affiliated with the Institute for Nonprofit News, a left-of-center network of not-for-profit media organizations.

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At-A-Glance

Type: Non-profit, 501(c)(3)
Issue Areas: Abortion Policy, Healthcare Policy, Criminal Justice Policy
Website: nebraskajournalismtrust.org
Formation:

2021

Executive Director:

Matt Wynn

Location: Omaha, NE View on map
Tax ID: 86-3968316
Most Recent Filing: 2024
Budget (2024): Assets: $6,036,460 Revenue: $4,094,669 Expenses: $2,063,429

Contents

    Background

    The Nebraska Journalism Trust was established in April 2021. 1 The nonprofit covers a wide range of political and policy issues in Nebraska, including LGBT interests, environmental initiatives, critical race theory, abortion access, and elections. 2

    The Nebraska Journalism Trust is a member of the Institute for Nonprofit News, a left-of-center network of nonprofit media organizations. 3 The nonprofit emphasizes the importance of integrating diversity, equity, and inclusion policies into its operations. 2

    The Nebraska Journalism Trust runs Silicon Prairie News, a digital publication focused on business and startup news. The nonprofit also publishes the Flatwater Free Press, an online magazine that features investigative journalism stories in Nebraska. 2

    Staff

    Matt Wynn is the executive director at the Nebraska Journalism Trust. 4

    Leah Keinama works as the director of civic journalism at the Nebraska Journalism Trust. Leah previously worked as a development intern for Vital Voices Global Partnership. 5

    Wally Weitz is a board member of the Nebraska Journalism Trust. Wally is also the founder of the Weitz Family Foundation. 6

    Lynn Roper serves as a board member for the Nebraska Journalism Trust. 6

    Advocacy

    In November 2022, the Nebraska Journalism Trust filed and won a lawsuit against the Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy for demanding payment to access public records related to the state’s analysis of nitrate levels in groundwater. In March 2024, the Nebraska Supreme Court overturned the decision. 7

    The nonprofit uses its platform to highlight the implications of policies implemented in Nebraska. These policies include a prohibition on abortions after 12 weeks’ gestation, 8 restrictions on certain adult-themed books in schools, 9 increased penalties for assaults and gun crimes, 10 high rates of asylum denials 11 , and the refusal of some Nebraskans to take the COVID-19 vaccine. 12

    In March 2024, the Nebraska Journalism Trust organized an event featuring religious and environmental experts to raise awareness about what they claimed to be the “intersection between faith and climate change.” 13

    Partnerships

    The Nebraska Journalism Trust signed a content sharing agreement with Montana Free Press, CalMatters, Honolulu Civil Beat, South Dakota News Watch, and the Associated Press to expand coverage of local news ahead of the 2024 election. 14

    Finances

    The financial records of the Nebraska Journalism Trust indicate that in 2021, the nonprofit received a total of $750,000 in donations. 15 This sum included $100,000 from the Sherwood Foundation, which is founded and chaired by Susan A. Buffet, and $150,000, from the Lozier Foundation, a private grantmaking foundation that supports left of center groups in Nebraska. 15

    Between July 2021 to December 2022, the nonprofit received over $2.5 million from 1,490 donors including a 650,000 donation from the Weitz Family Foundation, a private grantmaking foundation run by the Democratic-leaning family of Nebraska investor Wallace Weitz. 16

    Additionally, donations of $100,000 each were received from the American Journalism Project, Arnold Ventures, the AIM Institute, and the Sherwood Foundation. 16

    The Nebraska Journalism Trust was chosen by the American Journalism Project, along with more than 10 other nonprofits, to receive grants ranging from $25,000 to $200,000 for exploring artificial intelligence applications in local news. 17

    The American Journalism Project also donated $1.1 million to the Nebraska Journalism Trust for the nonprofit to grow its team and serve new communities. 18

    In January 2022, the Nebraska Journalism Trust received $1,925 from Humanities Nebraska 19 to explore the current state of journalism in Nebraska. 20

    The Nebraska Journalism Trust was one of 11 organizations awarded at least $500,000 21 by The Invisible Institute, a nonprofit journalism production company based on the South Side of Chicago. 22

    In 2024, the Nebraska Journalism Trust received $175,000 from the Weitz Family Foundation to support its online media platform, the Flatwater Free Press. 23

    Sponsors

    Silicon Prairie News is sponsored by Elevator Spaces, 24 the Lincoln Partnership for Economic Development, 25 Do Space, 26 Millwork Commons, 27 and the Omaha technology-sector group AIM Institute. 28

    Organizations sponsoring Flatwater Free Press include the American National Bank, 29 Kios, 30 Ho-Chunk, Inc., 31 the Nebraska Community Foundation, 32 and the Platte Institute for Economic Research, a right-leaning nonpartisan public policy think tank. 33

    Financials

    The financial records of the Nebraska Journalism Trust indicate that in 2022, the nonprofit generated a revenue of $2,093,022 and incurred expenses totaling $633,631. 34

    Financial Statistics

    Total Assets

    Total Revenue

    Total Expenses

    YearTotal AssetsTotal RevenueTotal ExpensesFiling
    2024 $6,036,460 $4,094,669 $2,063,429 View
    2023 $3,484,511 $2,339,777 $1,231,503 View
    2022 $2,601,400 $2,093,022 $633,631 View
    2021 $860,096 $1,085,699 $229,278 View

    Revenue Detail

    Expenses Detail

    Employee Compensation

    • Number of Employees: 21

    Highest Earning Employees

    EmployeeTitleTotal Compensation
    Matt WynnEXECUTIVE DIRECTOR$125,000

    Grant Activity

    All-time grants received statistics from Candid dataset:

    • Total Grant Value: $4,159,868
    • Number of Grants: 72
    • Number of Funders: 35

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

    AmountYearFunderSubject
    $650,0002023 Weitz Family FoundationGENERAL OPERATING
    $304,4142023 American Journalism Project IncTO GROW AND DIVERSIFY REVENUE AND TO ADVANCE TOWARD A SUSTAINABLE MODEL FOR LOCAL NEWS.
    $279,3442024 American Journalism Project IncTO GROW AND DIVERSIFY REVENUE AND TO ADVANCE TOWARD A SUSTAINABLE MODEL FOR LOCAL NEWS.
    $250,0002024 Silicon Valley Community Foundation
    $250,0002022 American Journalism Project IncTO GROW AND DIVERSIFY REVENUE AND TO ADVANCE TOWARD A SUSTAINABLE MODEL FOR LOCAL NEWS.
    $225,0002024 Weitz Family FoundationGENERAL OPERATING
    $200,0002024 Arnold VenturesTO PROVIDE OPERATING SUPPORT TO FLATWATER FREE PRESS.
    $150,0002024 Good Words FoundationSUPPORT FLATWATER FREE PRESS
    $107,3502023 Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift FundFor grant recipient's exempt purposes
    $100,0002024 The Sherwood Foundation2025 OPERATING GRANT
    $100,0002024 The Sherwood Foundation2024 OPERATING GRANT
    $100,0002023 Good Words FoundationGENERAL SUPPORT
    $100,0002022 The Sherwood Foundation2022 OPERATING GRANT
    $90,0002023 Silicon Valley Community Foundation
    $90,0002022 Silicon Valley Community FoundationCommunity Development
    $75,0002024 The Sherwood FoundationDOCUMENTERS NEBRASKA
    $75,0002023 The Sherwood Foundation2023 OPERATING GRANT
    $70,0002024 The Lozier FoundationGENERAL OPERATING SUPPORT
    $63,4292024 Lincoln Community FoundationGeneral support
    $50,0002024 Gilbert M and Martha H Hitchcock FoundationTo further thecharitable purposeof the recipient
    $50,0002024 Inasmuch FoundationGENERAL OPERATING ($50,000)
    $50,0002022 Weitz Family FoundationGENERAL OPERATING
    $50,0002022 Good Words FoundationGENERAL SUPPORT
    $42,5002024 Annette and Paul Smith Charitable FundEducational Institutions
    $40,0002023 The Lozier FoundationGENERAL OPERATING SUPPORT

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    Contact Us

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

    Mentioned in this Article

    References

    1. “Non-Profit News Outlet Seeks to Fill Gap in Nebraska as Newspapers Shrink.” Nebraska Public Media. Accessed June 21, 2024. https://nebraskapublicmedia.org/en/news/news-articles/non-profit-news-outlet-seeks-to-fill-gap-in-nebraska-as-newspapers-shrink/.
    2.  “Good Journalism Matters.” Nebraska Journalism Trust. Accessed June 21, 2024. https://nebraskajournalismtrust.org/.
    3. “Policies & Documents.” Nebraska Journalism Trust. Accessed June 21, 2024. https://nebraskajournalismtrust.org/policies-documents/.
    4. “Matt Wynn – Nebraska Journalism Trust.” LinkedIn. Accessed June 21, 2024. https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-wynn-b61012a/.
    5. Leah Keinama  – | linkedin. Accessed June 21, 2024. https://www.linkedin.com/in/leah-hasse/.
    6. “Board Members.” Nebraska Journalism Trust. Accessed June 21, 2024. https://nebraskajournalismtrust.org/board-members/.
    7. Hansen, Matthew. “A Sad Day for Nebraskans’ Right to Know.” Flatwater Free Press, March 29, 2024. https://flatwaterfreepress.org/a-sad-day-for-nebraskans-right-to-know/.
    8. Gentzler, Sara. “Nebraska Doctors Say Abortion Ban Has Changed How They Care for Patients.” Flatwater Free Press, June 21, 2024. https://flatwaterfreepress.org/a-year-in-nebraska-doctors-say-12-week-abortion-ban-has-changed-how-they-care-for-patients/.
    9. Mejia, Evelyn. “Surge of Book Removal Requests Turning Nebraska Libraries into Cultural Battlegrounds.” Flatwater Free Press, December 14, 2023. https://flatwaterfreepress.org/surge-of-book-removal-requests-turning-nebraska-libraries-into-cultural-battlegrounds/.
    10. Cordes, Henry J. “Gun Law Gave Nebraska Biggest Prison Growth in the Nation.” Flatwater Free Press, March 7, 2022. https://flatwaterfreepress.org/gun-law-gave-nebraska-biggest-prison-growth-in-the-nation/.
    11. “Statewide Archives – Page 5 of 15.” Flatwater Free Press. Accessed June 21, 2024. https://flatwaterfreepress.org/topics/statewide/page/5/.
    12. Hansen, Matthew. “‘it’s Really Made Me Question My Faith in Humanity.’ Docs Decry Avoidable Covid Wave.” Flatwater Free Press, October 15, 2021. https://flatwaterfreepress.org/nebraska-doctors-despondent-as-preventable-covid-wave-slams-state/.
    13. “Events.” Nebraska Journalism Trust. Accessed June 21, 2024. https://nebraskajournalismtrust.org/events/.
    14. Staff, MTFP. “Associated Press Announces New Content-Sharing Agreement with Montana Free Press.” Montana Free Press, May 29, 2024. https://montanafreepress.org/2024/05/29/associated-press-announces-new-content-sharing-agreement-with-montana-free-press/.
    15. “Nebraska-Journalism-Trust-IRS-Form-990-2021.Pdf.” Nebraska Journalism Trust. Accessed June 22, 2024. https://nebraskajournalismtrust.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Nebraska-Journalism-Trust-IRS-Form-990-2021.pdf.
    16. “Nebraska-Journalism-Trust-IRS-Fo.” Nebraska Journalism Trust, n.d. https://nebraskajournalismtrust.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Nebraska-Journalism-Trust-IRS-Form-990-2022.pdf.
    17. Monge, Stefanie. “Nebraska Journalism Trust Receives Grant to Explore AI Applications in Local News.” Silicon Prairie News, February 22, 2024. https://siliconprairienews.com/2024/01/nebraska-journalism-trust-ai-grant-award/.
    18. Gretchen A. Peck | for Editor & Publisher. “The Future of Funding Journalism.” Editor and Publisher, March 28, 2023. https://www.editorandpublisher.com/stories/the-future-of-funding-journalism,242656.
    19. “About Us.” Humanities Nebraska, March 12, 2024. https://humanitiesnebraska.org/about-us/.
    20. “2022 Grant Recipients.” Humanities Nebraska, May 25, 2023. https://humanitiesnebraska.org/grants/2022-grant-recipients/.
    21. University, Medill – Northwestern. “The Data-Driven Reporting Project Awards Nearly $500,000 to 11 New Document- or Data-Driven Projects – Medill – Northwestern University.” Medill. Accessed June 21, 2024.    https://www.medill.northwestern.edu/news/2024/the-data-driven-reporting-project-awards-nearly-500,000-to-11-new-document-or-data-driven-projects.html.
    22. “Introduction.” Invisible Institute. Accessed June 21, 2024. https://invisible.institute/introduction.
    23. “Funding.” Weitz Family Foundation, August 19, 2022. https://weitzfamilyfoundation.org/our-approach/funding/.
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    25. “Lincoln by the Numbers.” LPED | Home. Accessed June 21, 2024. https://www.selectlincoln.org/.
    26. “Home.” Do Space. Accessed June 21, 2024. https://dospace.org/.
    27. “Millwork Commons, a Vibrant Neighborhood in Omaha, Nebraska.” Millwork Commons, May 23, 2024. https://millworkcommons.com/.
    28. Silicon Prairie News, May 28, 2024. https://siliconprairienews.com/.
    29. Home: American National Bank. Accessed June 21, 2024. https://www.american.bank/?utm_source=website+&utm_medium=sponsorship+page+&utm_id=FFP.
    30. “Kios Omaha’s NPR Station.” 91.5 KIOS-FM Omaha Public Radio. Accessed June 21, 2024. https://www.kios.org/.
    31. “Home: Economic Development Corporation: Ho-Chunk Inc..” Ho, February 22, 2024. https://www.hochunkinc.com/.
    32. “Turning up Nebraska’s Dream Switch.” Nebraska Community Foundation, June 11, 2024. https://www.nebcommfound.org/.
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    34. “Nebraska Journalism Trust.” Nebraska Journalism Trust | Omaha, NE | Cause IQ. Accessed June 21, 2024. https://www.causeiq.com/organizations/nebraska-journalism-trust,863968316/.