How Canary Media will sustain and expand its reporting on the clean energy transition

We plan to deliver the journalism the world needs to combat climate change.
By Nicholas Rinaldi

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Co-authored with Katherine Tweed, Canary Media Senior Director of Content & Partnerships

Canary Media launched two weeks ago as a nonprofit newsroom, the result of a prodigious effort from our team, with support from RMI, to build an outlet that will shine a light on the clean energy transition.

So far, so good. We have published more than 50 articles and received an enthusiastic response to our brand of journalism from the industry.

But there are still miles to go.

We want to hire more reporters to cover new markets. We must have a more diverse newsroom. We want to expand globally. We want to build a best-in-class digital platform.

To do so as a nonprofit, it’s imperative that we support ourselves financially. In other words: If we can’t make money, we can’t deliver the journalism the world needs to combat climate change.

Below are the ways we plan to sustain Canary Media.

1. Donations

Readers who believe in our mission and style of journalism can support us by making individual tax-deductible donations here.

This support is incredibly important. It signals that our work is valuable to you, and it allows us to reinvest in our newsroom.

Companies and institutions can also make philanthropic contributions to support our work through donations and grants.

2. Grant-funded journalism

Organizations can support Canary through grants for investigative journalism. These grants enable us to develop and execute projects that align with our mission while remaining independent and objective.

3. Sponsorships and custom content

Companies align with Canary because they support ambitious journalism. They know the industry and the public need fact-based information to advance economywide decarbonization.

Our launch sponsorship program is an example. AWS Power & Utilities, Black & Veatch, Hannon Armstrong, LevelTen Energy, Schneider Electric and Uplight are the first companies to sponsor us, and we plan to work with others in the coming weeks.

As we expand our digital platform to include podcasts, webinars, white papers, video and other audio products, mission-aligned companies and organizations can work with Canary’s team of content and marketing experts to create meaningful engagement with our community that furthers the mission of rapid decarbonization.

For more information, please read our sponsorship charter here.

4. Premium subscriptions

Premium subscriptions offer readers who are looking for deeper insights access to select subscriber-only content on the site.

Our talented journalists have long been known for their ability to go deep on the issues that matter most to those who follow the clean energy industry. A premium news service supports the resources needed for long-form journalism.

As the Canary platform evolves, we will explore this line of revenue.

5. Events

This one is a medium- to long-term ambition. We know better than anyone the value of live, in-person events for building a community.

Until we can all get together in person again, we will evaluate opportunities for virtual events in the coming months and ways to work with mission-aligned partner events.

6. Merchandise

Tote bags, t-shirts, coffee mugs. We’re working on it. Interested? Click here to let us know what Canary merch you’d like to see.

If you have questions or sponsorship inquiries, you can contact us at [email protected].

Nicholas Rinaldi is the general manager at Canary Media, where he leads the outlet's marketing, content and operations teams.