Impact Media and Measurement Fund

A successful and connected Central Valley requires informed and engaged residents who monitor progress on community priorities and hold themselves accountable with measurement and transparency for achieving them. This can be difficult to accomplish given the changing media landscape and the complexity and diversity of communities and cultures in the region.

The Central Valley Community Foundation (CVCF) has established the Impact Media and Measurement Fund to increase civic agency for both informing and engaging residents, as well as increasing transparency and accountability in achieving community goals.

The Impact Media and Measurement Fund is a Designated Project at CVCF that provides financial support to projects in three funding areas:

  • Issue-specific, Solutions Journalism – Media that is focused on CVCF’s four regional transformation strategies – workforce development and education; economic mobility; neighborhood quality; and environmental stewardship;
  • Community Networks & Voice – Local non-traditional communication networks that serve to diversify and strengthen sources of information, amplify and connect community voices, and improve resident involvement in local decision making; and
  • Community Measurement and Accountability – research, measurement, and reporting on community indicators in CVCF’s four priority areas.

Contributions to The Impact Media and Measurement Fund will be tax deductible as provided by law, and meet the exempt purposes set forth in the Internal Revenue Code section 501(c)(3).

Donate Online


Button above will direct you to donations for our Impact Media and Measurement Fund. Donations to individual projects can be made using the buttons under Projects section.

Donate by Mail

Make check payable to:
Central Valley Community Foundation
Please include Impact Media & Measurement Fund on the memo line. Mail donations to: Central Valley Community Foundation Attn: Impact Media & Measurement Fund
5260 N Palm Avenue, Suite 122
Fresno, CA 93704

Any donor contributing over $1,000 (annually) to the fund will be recognized publicly on CVCF’s website.

The Central Valley Community Foundation maintains control over the disbursement of all grant funds. While donors and contributors may direct funds to specific projects or issues, they do not have editorial control over content produced with fund resources, or the interpretation of data. CVCF, the Impact Media & Measurement Fund, and all related projects will be held to strict donor transparency and editorial independence policies (Find policies under Fund Guidelines & Standards).

Fund Guidelines & Standards
Guidelines

The Impact Media and Measurement Fund at CVCF expects projects supported by the fund to be transparent about the funding of their operations and to maintain editorial independence from all revenue sources in order to ensure news judgments are made in the interest of the communities they serve. Projects supported by the fund can be issue-specific but must be available to the general public.

CVCF staff works closely with project leadership to ensure timely completion of the scope of work and compliance with the funding agreement.

We observe both an Editorial Independence Policy and a Donor Transparency Policy in addition to our standard grant agreement, and we hold all contributors, donors, and grantees to these same standards. This commitment is reflected below:

Editorial Independence Policy
In order to guarantee editorial independence, CVCF requires projects within the Impact Media and Measurement Fund to:

  • Maintain a firewall between news coverage decisions and sources of all revenue. Acceptance of financial support does not constitute implied or actual endorsement of donors or their products, services, or opinions.
  • Make news judgments independently and not on the basis of donor support.
  • Carefully consider accepting support for the coverage of particular issues or topics while maintaining editorial control of the coverage; the grantee will not cede review or influence of editorial content, nor of unauthorized distribution of editorial content.
  • Disclose any relationships with donors to the IMMF if they are mentioned in or become part of an editorial story.
  • Agree to make public all donors who give a total of $1,000 or more per year. A current list of donor names, including but not limited to individuals, sponsors, and grantors, will be published on the project website for all donations whether they come through the Impact Media and Measurement Fund or another source.
  • Agree not to accept anonymous donations or donations from government entities, political parties, elected officials, or candidates actively seeking public office.
  • Agree not to accept donations from sources who present a conflict of interest or compromise the independence of the project.

Donor Transparency Policy
CVCF is committed to transparency in every aspect of funding our organization. All donors to the Impact Media and Measurement Fund acknowledge the following:

  • Accepting financial support does not mean that CVCF or the projects within the Impact Media and Measurement Fund endorse donors or their products, services, or opinions.
  • The Impact Media and Measurement Fund will accept gifts, grants, and sponsorships from individuals, organizations, and foundations to help with general operations, coverage of specific topics, and special projects.
  • News judgments are made independently – not based on or influenced by donors. We do not give supporters the rights to assign, review, edit, or distribute content.
  • Both CVCF and the grantee will make public all donors who give $1000 or more per year.
  • CVCF will not accept donations from anonymous sources, government entities, political parties, elected officials, or candidates actively seeking public office into this fund.
  • CVCF will not accept donations from sources who present a conflict of interest or compromise the independence of the project.

Projects

Research/In the News