When Nelson Poynter created the Institute in 1975, his vision was that it would serve an important mission and that others would follow his lead in supporting journalism in the interest of democracy. Since then, thousands of journalists have been helped over the years. Today the need is greater than ever before.

Many of our participants have seen their organizations’ training budgets evaporate, hampering their ability to grow their skills or deepen their knowledge. New technologies have revolutionized the way news is communicated making the need for training in ethics, leadership and the core values of journalism even more vital.

Throughout our history, Poynter has provided working journalists with subsidized training. Now, we increasingly rely on scholarship gifts and other private funds to allow our teaching to have the broadest reach.

A scholarship gift is a wonderful way to invest in the future of journalism. Whether you give $50, $100 or more, every gift to the scholarship fund will make a difference. An endowed gift will provide a meaningful way to have your name, or that of another family member, journalist or former mentor, associated in perpetuity with Poynter.

Gifts to the Dean’s Annual Scholarship Fund: $1,000 or less

Gifts of $1,000 or less go directly into the Dean’s Annual Scholarship Fund and are awarded to participants on the basis of both merit and need.

Named Annual Scholarship: 
$5,000 or more

A named annual scholarship carries your name or the name of someone else you choose to honor. You will have the opportunity to meet the participants receiving your scholarship.

Named Endowed Scholarship: 
$100,000 or more

A permanent endowment gift of $100,000 for scholarship support in the first year provides about $5,000 in the first year of the gift’s establishment. As the corpus of the fund grows over time, the distributions from the fund increase as well.

To discuss endowed or named scholarships, please contact Ann Madsen, Director of Institutional Advancement at 727-553-4651 or via email at amadsen@poynter.org.