Florida Press Foundation Partners with Column to Launch Community Fund

This giving season, supporters of local journalism can tap into the Florida Press Foundation through Column’s platform to make tax-deductible donations to newspapers across Florida. Through a partnership with the Florida Press Foundation (FPF) for the Florida Press Association (FPA) membership, Column has built a fundraising platform for the FPA's member publications. The Foundation will launch its Florida Community News Fund on September 23, 2020.

Column and FPF started planning the donations platform in late August. Within one week, Column developed a set of tools that enable newspapers to quickly set up engaging, informative, custom-branded donation campaign pages. When they visit these pages, readers, supporters and community members can use Column's secure payment processing system to make one-time or recurring donations to a newspaper of their choice. These donations flow to the newspaper through the FPF, a non-profit organization associated with the FPA.

“The Florida Press Foundation is excited to be working with Column on our Florida Community News-Fund movement," said Jim Fogler, CEO of the Florida Press Association. "We sought a partner that not only builds technology but shares our mission to support the journalism that is vital to the communities we serve. Column is that trusted partner — and we look forward to growing together!”

FPF and Column hope that this campaign will bolster Florida newspapers as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to strain newsrooms around the country. Now more than ever, journalists are vital to our communities, distributing public health information that keeps citizens safe and informed. Through custom messaging on their campaign sites, newspapers can tell supporters why they need help from their readers, as well as what they hope to accomplish with donated funds. All contributions will go toward helping newspapers better serve their communities.

A public benefit corporation committed to helping journalistic institutions disseminate public interest information, Column is eager to see donations help sustain local newspapers across Florida and future participating states.

"We can’t imagine a better way to leverage our technical expertise to advance our mission of supporting journalism," said Jake Seaton, CEO of Column. "Our thanks to the Florida Press Foundation for trusting Column with this critical function. We look forward to more state associations coming on board!"

Supporters of local journalism can find links to donation campaigns on newspapers' websites, on social media, or at fpf.column.us.