Partnership & Collaboration - Local News Catalyst

Find Strength in Sharing

How Local Public Media Organizations Can Reduce Costs, Generate Revenue, and Stay Resilient

Partnerships, shared services, and outsourcing can help stations cut expenses, boost revenue, and preserve their essential role in the community without sacrificing local voice or independence.

These strategies aren’t one-size-fits-all. There’s a spectrum of collaboration options—from light-touch outsourcing to deeper operational partnerships—that can make a real difference in the next 6–12 months.

Range of Partnership Options

1. Outsourcing Functions

Hiring established vendors or contractors to handle specific tasks.

➡ Examples: Accounting, IT, engineering, HR/payroll, fundraising or grant writing, underwriting sales, marketing, digital ad sales.

➡ Advantages: Immediate cost savings, access to expertise, ability to add revenue-generating specialists (grant writers, sponsorship sales reps) you couldn’t afford full-time.

➡ Disadvantages: Less in-house control, need to manage vendors, risk of scope creep.

➡ When It Makes Sense: To quickly cut costs, add new revenue capabilities, or scale up capacity without permanent hires.

➡ What’s Needed: Clear service agreements with deliverables, performance measures, and exit terms.

2. Shared Services

Splitting costs, staff, or systems with another organization (public media or otherwise).

➡ Examples: Co-funded HR or legal counsel, joint underwriting sales teams, shared finance or development staff, pooled digital services, group purchasing, shared engineering, joint events, etc.

➡ Advantages: Significant cost savings, chance to share revenue-generating roles (like fundraisers or sales reps), builds relationships, maintains some local control.

➡ Disadvantages: Coordination and governance challenges, potential imbalance in benefits, slower decision-making.

➡ When It Makes Sense: When there’s a trusted partner nearby or in your state and both need to reduce costs or grow revenue.

➡ What’s Needed: An MOU covering roles, cost splits, decision rights, and exit terms.

3. Journalism Collaborations

Pooling reporting and coverage capacity with other media outlets.

➡ Examples: Regional investigative teams, statewide reporting hubs, co-reported series with local nonprofits or university journalism programs.

➡ Advantages: Greater reporting reach, stronger impact, more compelling to funders, ability to tackle bigger stories.

➡ Disadvantages: Shared editorial control, different timelines and cultures, possible brand overlap.

➡ When It Makes Sense: To fill coverage gaps or jointly serve underserved communities you can’t reach alone.

➡ What’s Needed: Editorial agreements covering rights, branding, workflow, and decision-making.

4. Content and Production Partnerships

Collaborating to create programming, events, or cultural content – not just journalism.

➡ Examples: Co-producing a series or event with another station or cultural organization; producing regional podcasts or video series; selling co-branded event sponsorships.

➡ Advantages: Expands audience reach, creates new sponsorship/underwriting opportunities, spreads production costs, strengthens community connections.

➡ Disadvantages: Brand alignment challenges, shared revenue must be negotiated, can add complexity to production timelines.

➡ When It Makes Sense: When a partner has complementary strengths (content, venues, audiences, sponsors) and you both want to grow reach and revenue.

➡ What’s Needed: Production agreements covering costs, creative control, branding, sponsorship splits, and distribution.

5. University or Institutional Partnerships

Leveraging staff, students, or facilities through collaboration with a college, university, or civic institution.

➡ Examples: Integrating student reporters or production staff, tapping faculty for research or expertise, sharing facilities or equipment.

➡ Advantages: Reduces staffing costs, expands programming capacity, builds future talent pipeline, provides access to research.

➡ Disadvantages: University bureaucracy, potential mission drift, slower decision cycles.

➡ When It Makes Sense: When you need labor or additional credibility that can’t be afforded otherwise.

➡ What’s Needed: Agreements defining roles, content control, branding, and cost-sharing.

6. Mergers or Acquisitions

Combining with another organization to form a single, stronger entity.

➡ Examples: Two local stations consolidate into a single nonprofit, a station agrees to take over operations of another.

➡ Advantages: Deep cost savings, unified strategy, access to broader infrastructure, stronger fundraising power.

➡ Disadvantages: Loss of autonomy, complex legal processes, disruption for staff (and audiences), board/license holder complexity.

➡ When It Makes Sense: When a station cannot remain viable independently or combining unlocks new opportunities for growth.

➡ What’s Needed: Legal due diligence, board/license holder approvals, integration plans, and clear communication.

How to Choose the Right Approach

To decide which paths to pursue in the next 6–12 months, ask:

1. What functions or areas are driving the most financial strain – or could grow revenue if resourced differently? Not sure how? See how your station compares with peers on the Financial Insights page

2. What’s our primary goal: stabilize cash flow, grow revenue, reduce costs, or all three?

3. Who are the logical partners – other stations, nonprofits, vendors, universities? Use the Local News Ecosystem page to find potential partners and the Community Insights to identify communities with similar characteristics to yours

4. How much change can our organization realistically manage right now?

5. Could outsourcing or sharing one or two areas buy us time to avoid bigger cuts?

6. What steps could lead to longer-term opportunities (grants, sponsorships, audience growth)?

Finding and Working with Partners

➡ Identify prospects using your system and affinity group networks, local knowledge, the local ecosystem data, or other community nonprofits.

➡ Vet vendors for nonprofit/public media experience and proven cost-effectiveness.

➡ For revenue collaborations, seek partners with complementary audiences, sponsors, or cultural fit.

➡ Start small to build trust—then expand to deeper partnerships if it works.

Agreements to Put in Place

Clear agreements reduce risks and misunderstandings. Depending on the collaboration, you may need:

➡ Service contracts (for vendors)

➡ MOUs (for shared staffing, services, or facilities)

➡ Production or editorial agreements (for co-created content or journalism)

➡ Revenue-sharing agreements (for events, sponsorships, or joint productions)

➡ Letters of intent and legal reviews (for mergers, operating agreements, or other deep integrations)

Real-World Examples

➡ CoastAlaska: Provides a range of services for stations in Alaska, including finance and accounting, engineering, IT, group buys, development, and editorial support.

➡ More examples coming soon

Need Help Making Sense of It All?

You don’t have to do this alone. We offer several ways to help you turn data into strategy:

➡ Download the Partnership & Collaboration Worksheet

➡ Review Financial Benchmarks to identify cost pressures and revenue potential

➡ Attend a webinar or training focused on shared services and sustainability (coming soon)

➡ Book a one-on-one consultation or office hours session (coming soon)

➡ Join a peer learning cohort or community of practice (coming soon)

Please note that one-on-one support is reserved for small, under-resourced local public media news organizations, but all website resources are freely available to anyone.

We’re continually adding new resources as they're developed. Let us know if there’s something specific you’d like to see, and sign up for our newsletter to stay updated on the latest additions.