For the third time this year, the Institute for Nonprofit News, with support from Google News Initiative, is providing fast-track grants to news organizations covering natural disasters. This week, news outlets based in Kerr County and the other counties declared a State of Emergency in Texas are eligible for $10,000 in unrestricted funds to support their work in providing essential information about the damage and recovery efforts from the July 4 flash floods.
“Reporters often serve as first responders, going to the scene of a disaster while it is still unfolding,” said Jonathan Kealing, chief network officer at INN. “For local news outlets especially, covering a crisis can test their limited resources, and so INN is making these grants as a way to make sure the information keeps flowing.”
With extreme weather events on the rise, INN and GNI piloted this approach to supporting local news coverage during the California wildfires in January 2025 and made a second round of grants to news organizations covering the March floods in West Virginia and Kentucky.
News organizations are invited to read the eligibility criteria and apply by Friday, July 18. Support will be distributed on a rolling basis while available funds last. Most grantees should receive funding within a week of acceptance. INN has already reached out to six newsrooms providing essential coverage to expedite their applications. The Institute for Nonprofit News supports a membership network of more than 500 independent newsrooms across North America. Texas newsrooms do not need to be members of INN to receive this support.
