FAQs: Knight Local Match Bonus (2025)
What is the Knight Local Match Bonus?
All participating newsrooms that secure local match funds to leverage during NewsMatch 2025 will receive a bonus award.
Local match funds must have been pledged between January 1, 2025 to December 31, 2025.
- Secure between $1,000 and $4,999 in local matches and receive a $500 bonus.
- Secure between $5,000 and $9,999 in local matches and receive a $1,000 bonus.
- Secure between $10,000 and $19,999 in local matches and receive a $2,000 bonus.
- Secure $20,000 or more in local matches and receive a $3,000 bonus.
What is a local match?
A local match refers to when a funder or group of funders match donations made to your organization between Nov. 1 and Dec. 31 dollar for dollar. Local matches are secured and given directly to newsrooms and donors must give explicit permission to leverage their contribution as a matching gift in this way to be considered a “local match.” (The term "local match" refers to any matching funds raised by your newsroom from its networks; it's applicable to national and global organizations as well!) Learn more.
Are local match funds able to be matched by NewsMatch?
No, they are not. When reporting donations, gifts may either be counted towards your NewsMatch dollar-for-dollar match or as additional (or “local”) match funds, but not both. For example, if a donor contributes $1,000 to match donations you receive, their gift would be considered a “local match” and could not be reported as a gift to be matched by NewsMatch. Learn more.
Where can I find resources to help secure a local match?
Check out our library of resources to help secure local matches, including letter templates and examples from other newsrooms.
What do I need to report to qualify for this bonus?
In addition to completing the Index survey, you must also complete a NewsMatch Documentation Submission to verify your eligibility. This will include the completion of a Match Cover Sheet and only one form of documentation dated Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2025, to verify the local matches that will be considered when determining your bonus award
What do you need for a matching gift to qualify for the Local Match Bonus?
We need one form of verification that includes the donor name, amount and date. Common forms of verification include:
- Pledge form signed by donor
- Letter of intent from donor
- Email confirmation from donor
- Scanned check or receipt
- Screenshot of publicized acknowledgment that names the local match funder and their specific gift amount
As a general rule, we need documentation that demonstrates explicit permission from the donor that their contribution is matching donations made during your year-end campaign.
Do local matches have to be “local”?
Local matches do not have to be from "local" supporters. As long as those gifts have been clearly designated as matching funds from the donor, they will count towards this bonus.
Do all of our Board Members agreeing to uniformly donate constitute a "local match fund”?
If all of your Board Members agree to uniformly donate, it does not automatically qualify as a local match. However, if they choose to leverage their combined donations as a matching gift it would constitute a local match. A matching gift is when a donor or group of donors pledge to match donations made to your organization dollar for dollar.
Is the local match bonus capped at $1,000 per person?
There is no individual donor cap on the Knight Local Match Bonus. For example, if one donor gives a $5,000 local match, we'd count the full $5,000 to determine their bonus award and not just the amount up to the $1,000 individual donor match cap.
Do we have to raise an equal amount of local match in order to receive the bonus? For example, we secured $25,000 in local matches but raised only $15,000.
You would qualify for the $3,000 bonus for raising over $20,000 in local match funds. The bonus is dependent on the amount of local matches secured, not the amount raised for the local match.