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I’m at WeMedia 08 in Miami today, because at 4:15 ET I’ll be speaking on a panel about the Knight News Challenge. That’s where my colleague Adam Glenn and I got the grant to fund our community journalism project, Boulder Carbon Tax Tracker. Gary Kebbel, director of the News Challenge progam for the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, will be talking to my fellow grantee Nora Paul (Univ. MN) and me about the News Challenge process.

My understanding is that this is going to be more of a discussion than a presentation. But still, I wanted to pull my thoughts together in a way that might be useful to other people considering applying for a News Challenge grant…

1. Not sure your idea can work? Good! They call it the News “Challenge” for a very good reason: As far as I can tell, none of the News Challenge winners are attempting projects that are obvious “sure things.” Knight’s goal is to fund projects that are pioneering news projects with the potential to build and bind community. Yeah, “pioneers” — otherwise known as “the guys with the arrows in their backs.” Pioneering in the media field takes courage to persist in the face of uncertainty, skepticism, and setbacks. In my opinion, Knight is demonstrating exactly the kind of courage they wish to support through this program.
2. Don’t over-think your initial application. Many News Challenge applicants and winners spent considerable time (sometimes weeks or months) painstakingly crafting their initial application. In contrast, Adam and I brainstormed a few dozen potential projects, narrowed it down to a short list of just over a dozen ideas we thought were strongest, and submitted applications for each of those. Boulder Carbon Tax Tracker happened to be the one that “stuck.” The News Challenge process will guide you through fleshing out your initial concepts both logistically and financially — so trying to figure out all the details up front won’t necessarily gain you any ground. IMHO, it’s more important to find a strong idea that matches the News Challenge goals, express it clearly, and convey that you have the passion, skills, and resources to give it at least a decent chance of success.
3. There’s a learning curve with the grant world. A great thing about News Challenge is that these grants are not just for nonprofits and academics. Companies, independent professionals (like Adam and me), and other nontraditional grant recipients are welcome to apply and can indeed win. If, like me, you’ve never applied for or gotten a foundation grant before, be sure to budget time as part of the project to learn how to work with this process. It’s not onerous or scary, but it is a whole new financial and procedural world. The experience is valuable and positive, but it will take work and time.
4. Have a plan A, B, C, and D — and budget for ALL of them. What if your initial strategy doesn’t work? You don’t give up, you keep trying with Plan B. What if that doesn’t work either? Or that? If you’re truly pioneering new media territory, make sure you plan to be adaptable — and budget for it as best you can. Knight wants all its grantees to succeed; but they expect to learn important lessons from each and every grant. In my personal opinion, this is one way the News Challenge proposal refining process could be improved — more emphasis on planning and budgeting for adaptive strategies.
5. Be honest with yourself, and with Knight, when your initial approach either doesn’t work or hits snags. This can be scary because no one wants to “disappoint” a major funder. But this is a bit different from winning a contract to implement a project. Remember that Knight is basically funding an R&D process here. They sincerely want to learn — and often you learn more useful information from problems and missteps than from perfection. Again: Keep adapting, and share what you learn, and you won’t really “fail” here.

…Anyway, that’s my take. I encourage people with a passion for changing how media works so it can serve communities better to apply for News Challenge grants. I’d definitely do it again.