Sponsored post by The Lenfest Institute
ONA is where some of the best ideas in journalism are traded: in hallway conversations, during a coffee break, or in the text thread that starts during a session.
The challenge is what happens after the conference. You go home energized, but quickly sink back into the day-to-day—trying to solve complicated audience, revenue, and operational problems without a clear place to compare notes.
That’s the gap the Lenfest Institute for Journalism’s Communities of Practice (CoPs) are built to fill.
What Makes a CoP Different?
The Institute’s communities are more than just another cohort—they are peer-to-peer learning networks designed as practical, trusted spaces for strategic learning and open data sharing.
- High Signal, Low Noise: Members describe the communities as efficient and focused. No fluff—just peer-tested solutions, with programming driven by you.
- On-and-Off Ramps: They are designed so you can participate deeply when you need help, and step back when your workload spikes without “falling behind” a rigid schedule.
- A Philosophy of Mutual Aid: While the Institute facilitates the connection, the strength comes from members sharing expertise and solutions with each other.
- Ongoing Grant Opportunities: Members of our communities are regularly invited to participate in open call grants designed to encourage experiments in news business models.
The Core Communities of Practice
The Lenfest Institute currently facilitates several CoPs that are open to all practitioners and free to join:
- News Philanthropy Network (Fundraising & Development) Launched in 2019 to nurture the growing field of news fundraising, this network now engages more than 2,600 practitioners. It offers resources like a self-guided grant writing course and monthly workshops on topics like election fundraising.
- Audience Community of Practice (Growth & Engagement) Supporting over 350 audience development professionals, this community focuses on peer connection and expert-led programming. It covers the “now” of the industry—from AI and vertical video strategies to community listening and internal newsroom collaboration.
- Beyond Print (Local Newspapers) This program supports local news organizations as they evolve beyond legacy print to digital business models. The Beyond Print CoP provides practical programming and hands-on support to help teams test and adopt strategies across revenue and operations to build more resilient businesses.
The broader ecosystem: In addition to these four, the Institute supports smaller communities for AI technologists, news creators, statewide and city-based newsrooms, major metro newspapers, Pennsylvania local news leaders, and more.
Why This Matters for the ONA Crowd
A lot of conference takeaways are inspiring, but they are incredibly hard to implement alone. CoPs make implementation easier because they:
- Keep learning ongoing, not just annual.
- Create a “safe space” where people can share what’s actually happening behind the scenes.
- Help teams move faster by comparing approaches, tools, and lessons learned in the open.
If ONA is where we trade ideas, Communities of Practice are where we stress-test them, adapt them, and put them to work.
How to Join
If you’re at ONA and thinking, “I need my people”—the fundraising folks, the audience leads, the statewide publishers—the Lenfest Institute has a single place to explore these options and raise your hand for the right fit.
Click here to join a Lenfest Institute Community of Practice.
