Date of Award

5-15-2025

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Public Administration (MPA)

Department

Public Administration

First Advisor

Dr. Craig Maher

Abstract

Nonprofit organizations often seek revenue streams that are intuitively connected to their mission. However, without careful planning and intentional analysis, nonprofit organizations may not fully maximize their funding potential and develop an effective and balanced revenue portfolio aligned with its mission (Young, 2017). This paper is an organizational analysis of the Nebraska Journalism Trust, a 501c3 nonprofit organization and the publisher of the Flatwater Free Press, to analyze and assess revenue models for public interest nonprofit journalism organizations that serve state and local communities. The Nebraska Journalism Trust illustrates how nonprofit organizations can meet community needs in response to private market failure and how a nonprofit in a nascent subsector can finance its mission.

The case study utilizes benefits theory and portfolio theory to assess the organization’s mission, goods, and beneficiaries, identify logical mission-aligned revenue streams, and evaluate its current portfolio with an ideal revenue portfolio. The case study examines the organization’s financial records and supplements its analyses with interviews with organizational leaders. This case study finds that the organization’s primary benefits are redistributive, group, and public goods. Its mission-aligned sources of support are predominantly oriented around donations with a robust revenue portfolio that is highly aligned with an ideal portfolio. While its revenue is highly concentrated in donations, it is fairly diversified within this category among grantmakers (local and national) and individuals (major donors and small-dollar grassroots donors). This case study concludes its analysis with recommendations to strengthen the revenue portfolio. Future research could compare similar organizations in other communities, groups with narrower constituency focuses, and organizations with different funding or staffing structures. A deeper analysis of specific fundraising tactics and donor motivations could be instructive to understand how new nonprofit journalism organizations can raise funds to reach a higher scale of operations.

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