Civic News Company

What Civic News Company does

Civic News Company is a 501(c)-style nonprofit news publisher founded in 2014 by Elizabeth Green and headquartered in New York, operating three vertically-focused, locally-rooted newsrooms under a shared civic-journalism mission. Chalkbeat covers K-12 education across eight local bureaus (Chicago, Colorado, Detroit, Indiana, New York, Newark, Philadelphia, Tennessee) plus a national desk; Votebeat covers election administration in five states (Arizona, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Texas, Wisconsin); Healthbeat, launched in summer 2024 in partnership with KFF Health News, covers public health in New York City and Atlanta, with a third city planned for 2025. The organization employs 80 staff including a newsroom of ~50 journalists, and its reporting is licensed under Creative Commons for free republication.

The platform is built on a commodity publishing stack—Arc XP CMS, WordPress, Mailchimp for newsletters, Parse.ly for analytics, Salesforce for donor management, and News Revenue Hub for donation processing—with no proprietary technology or AI components. Distribution is multi-channel: owned websites, 11+ email newsletters reaching 64,000+ daily subscribers, Apple News, social media, and partnerships (NYT Headway, KFF Health News, Your Local Epidemiologist, CalTech/MIT election projects). The product surface extends beyond journalism to a media kit of monetized offerings including website and newsletter sponsorship ($1,000–$30,000/month), sponsor-led webinars ($10,000 minimum), event sponsorships, dedicated emails, sponsored long-form content, Apple News ads, and a multi-market jobs board.

Revenue is structurally nonprofit: FY2024 raised $14.7M from foundations and individual donors (cumulative >$80M over 10 years), supplemented by the earned-revenue media kit and jobs board. All journalism is free to readers with no paywall. Sponsorship customers are primarily education-focused organizations (named examples include NYC Outward Bound Schools and Math for America) seeking to reach the ~500,000 monthly unique readers who control or influence ~$25B in education spending. The Board of Directors is chaired by Gideon Stein (President of The Moriah Fund) and includes senior executives from Meta, Airbnb, TelevisaUnivision, and the Beacon Fund, with Amanda Bennett and Felicia Wong added in December 2025.

Name

Civic News Company

Legal name

Civic News Company

Website

https://civicnews.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Civic News Company is a nonprofit publisher operating three local-first newsrooms—Chalkbeat (education), Votebeat (elections), and Healthbeat (public health)—serving civic professionals and engaged readers across the United States with free, independent journalism funded by philanthropy and sponsorships.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Nonprofit Local News Publishing

NAICS

Social Advocacy Organizations (8133), Civic and Social Organizations (81341)

SIC

Newspapers: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2711)

akta.pro primary industry

Investigative & Nonprofit News Organizations (MPAJADAF)

akta.pro secondary industries

Democracy, Voting Rights & Civic Participation Advocacy (BPAGAFAJ), Digital Inclusion & Civic Tech (Connectivity, GovTech for Social Good) (BPAGALAK)

Keywords

• Nonprofit news publishing
• Local journalism
• Education news
• Election administration coverage
• Public health reporting

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Philanthropy and Individual Donations: Tax-exempt donations from individual donors, major gifts, legacy gifts, donor advised funds, and gifts of stock or securities. Processed through News Revenue Hub.
2. Sponsorships and Advertising: Sponsorship packages ranging from $1,000 to $30,000 per month for Chalkbeat. Includes website banners, newsletter sponsorships, dedicated emails, sponsored content, event sponsorships, webinar sponsorships, Apple News ads, and jobs board postings.
3. Jobs Board: 30-day job posting appearing on all jobs boards, discounted bulk packs (buy 4 get 1 free), featured job postings, leaderboard banner ads.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Civic News Company is a nonprofit news organization that publishes three local newsrooms—Chalkbeat (education), Votebeat (election administration), and Healthbeat (public health)—delivering free, independent, locally focused journalism to communities across the United States. It monetizes its audience through philanthropic donations, advertising/sponsorship packages, and a jobs board, and supplements editorial capacity through partnerships such as KFF Health News and Your Local Epidemiologist.

Product overview

Civic News Company operates a platform of three distinct nonprofit newsroom brands covering critical civic topics: Chalkbeat (education news in 8 communities), Votebeat (election administration in 5 states), and Healthbeat (public health in New York City and Atlanta, in partnership with KFF Health News). The organization also offers a suite of monetization products including job boards, event sponsorships, sponsored content, newsletter and website advertising, dedicated emails, webinars, and Apple News placements primarily through Chalkbeat's media kit offerings. All journalism is available for republication under Creative Commons license.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Chalkbeat Nonprofit newsroom covering the effort to improve schools for all children, especially those who have historically lacked access to a quality education, with eight local bureaus (Chicago, Colorado, Detroit, Indiana, Newark, New York, Philadelphia, Tennessee) plus a national desk. Free to readers, with all journalism available for republication under Creative Commons.
• Votebeat Nonpartisan nonprofit newsroom covering how elections are run, from early and mail-in voting to voter registration and election security, in Arizona, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Wisconsin.
• Healthbeat Nonprofit newsroom reporting on public health prevention systems including infectious diseases, air and water quality, food safety, and collective well-being in New York City and Atlanta, with national coverage provided by KFF Health News.
• Chalkbeat Jobs Board Employment marketplace connecting education recruiters with candidates across Chalkbeat's nine markets plus remote positions, offering 30-day single postings, discounted bulk packs, featured postings, and leaderboard banner options.
• Chalkbeat Sponsorship Packages Custom multi-channel sponsorship offerings from $1,000 to $30,000 per month that combine website banners, newsletter placements, dedicated emails, sponsored content, Apple News ads, event sponsorships, and job board placements to reach education decision-makers across one or all Chalkbeat local bureaus.
• Chalkbeat Sponsor-Led Webinar Premium webinar sponsorship product where clients lead a one-hour virtual event hosted by Chalkbeat. Minimum $10,000 investment includes promotion across all Chalkbeat newsletters for one month, a dedicated email, registrant data sharing, and one-year on-site hosting.
• Chalkbeat Sponsored Content Long-form sponsored articles (300–600 words) with the look and feel of Chalkbeat editorial content, including header image and embedded video or download links, homepage referral promotion, and newsletter banner placements.
• Votebeat Expert Desk Service provided to nonprofit and local independent journalists via the Knight Election Hub that connects them with 75 election administration experts—former election officials, technology experts, and election law scholars—for background on complex election issues.

Quantifiable outcome

• 88% of Chalkbeat readers say friends and colleagues often ask their opinions about education news
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration6 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and flagship.

• CalTech Election Integrity ProjectcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 21 October 2024CalTech's Election Integrity Project partnered with Votebeat to provide access to qualified experts for the free Expert Desk service, which consists of 75 election administration experts answering urgent questions from journalists.
• Knight Election HubcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 21 October 2024Votebeat's Expert Desk service is offered to journalists from nonprofit and local independent media as part of the Knight Election Hub collection of resources, helping strengthen election coverage across journalism.
• Voting Technology Project (CalTech/MIT)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 21 October 2024The Voting Technology Project from CalTech and MIT partnered with Votebeat to ensure access to qualified experts for the Expert Desk service supporting journalists covering complex election issues.
• The New York Times (Headway)flagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 18 October 2024Chalkbeat partnered with Headway, an initiative of The New York Times, on a project showcasing how students experience the 2024 election. Collected responses from more than 1,000 students and 200 teachers across all eight Chalkbeat locations and 29 other states. Launched 'Teen Election Challenge' asking teens across the US about the election.
• KFF Health NewscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 2 October 2024KFF Health News provides national coverage for Healthbeat, Civic News Company's public health newsroom. Healthbeat was founded as a collaboration between Civic News Company and KFF Health News, with Healthbeat handling local reporting in New York City and Atlanta while KFF Health News provides national coverage.
• Your Local EpidemiologistflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 2 October 2024Healthbeat and Your Local Epidemiologist launched an ongoing editorial partnership in New York. Dr. Marisa Donnelly combines her decade of public health experience with Healthbeat's community-first reporting. The partnership co-produces and distributes analysis to New Yorkers through Healthbeat's New York newsletter, serving more than 260,000 people around the world.

Scale indicators12 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• ProPublica: Largest U.S. investigative nonprofit newsroom, comparable in mission (independent, donor-funded journalism) and reliance on major-gift philanthropy. ProPublica operates at greater national scale but shares Civic News Company's nonprofit model and editorial stance.
• WNYC: Major public radio station and nonprofit news organization; shares New York HQ, mission-driven public-interest journalism, and donor-plus-sponsorship revenue model. COO Andrew Golis was previously CCO at WNYC.

Direct peers

• The Texas Tribune: Nonprofit state-focused digital newsroom with similar revenue model (membership + foundation + sponsorship), comparable headcount, and mission-driven approach to local civic coverage. Closest direct functional peer in structure and scale.
• The 19th News: Nonprofit newsroom covering gender, politics, and policy with a similar donor-and-sponsorship model and explicit mission-driven framing of journalism as a public good. Comparable size and stage.
• KFF Health News: National nonprofit newsroom covering health policy and public health, current Healthbeat national-coverage partner. Operates at greater national scale but shares donor-funded model and health-vertical focus.
• Stateline (Pew Research): Pew's state-policy reporting initiative covering statehouses, voting, and education with philanthropic backing. Directly comparable to Votebeat's local/state election coverage mission and donor-supported structure.
• The Marshall Project: Nonprofit investigative news organization covering the criminal justice system with similar donor-funded model and vertical specialization. Operates at a similar scale with comparable philanthropic funding base.
• CalMatters: California-focused nonprofit newsroom covering state policy, education, and politics with foundation and sponsor funding. Highly comparable in vertical coverage (education) and operating model to Civic News Company.
• Center for Public Integrity: One of the largest U.S. investigative nonprofit news organizations, with explicit overlap with Votebeat's election administration and accountability focus. Shares the foundation-funded model and nonprofit structure.

Emerging players

• The Connecticut Mirror: State-level nonprofit digital newsroom covering state government, education, and policy with a donor-and-sponsorship model similar to Civic News Company's Chalkbeat bureaus. Comparable operational template at a smaller geographic scale.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses6 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/CivicNewsCo
• Facebookfacebook.com/CivicNewsCompany
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/civic-news-company

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 records

Subsidiaries3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Civic News Company