To donate to Madison Commons, please visit go.wisc.edu/donatetomadisoncommons
Madison Commons Funding Q/A
Q: How is Madison Commons funded?
A: We have a fluctuating budget of about $20,000-$30,000 a year that has come from a variety of sources over the years, including the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at UW–Madison, donors, community partners and grants. Beginning in 2027-2028, SJMC has agreed to begin funding the site fully. The faculty who work on the site do not get paid additional funds.
Q: Who are your individual donors who are contributing more than $5,000?
A: We have had many small donors and one major donor – Sharon Stark, a former communication professional, a UW alum and longtime friend to the school. We would love to engage more donors! Please email robinson4@wisc.edu if you think our mission is worthy and you would like to support it. This money would go directly to students or community members on storytelling and would allow us to fund special projects; it would not go to UW faculty.
Q: What does it mean, though, to work in community with organizations? What about objectivity?
A: At Madison Commons, we believe in the power of collaboration to amplify underrepresented voices and drive meaningful change. Working in community with nonprofit organizations means we engage as partners, not just reporters — sharing knowledge, elevating critical issues and co-creating media that serves the public good. We seek to tell stories that matter, informed by those working on the ground, while maintaining journalistic integrity and independence. We have a professional editing staff that scrutinizes all copy to ensure accuracy, watch for and mitigate conflicts of interest, and avoid polarizing language. Through this approach, we strive to create a more informed, engaged and empowered community where journalists can play a role in moving communities forward. As such, we do not adhere to the type of distanced “objectivity” reporters have historically practiced, deferring to official sources in lieu of connecting deeply with members of marginalized communities, to the detriment of the latter. Rather, our values center on accuracy, balance and challenging problematic social and economic conditions. Our staff and reporters share a keen desire to contribute to and improve the lives of all the people in our communities.
Q: What grants and partnerships have funded the budget?
A: In the past we have had money from: Community Shares of Wisconsin (2024-2025 to write sponsored content for their site and spotlight their member organizations), the Morgridge Center for Public Service’s Community-Based Learning Course Development (2025-2026 to build a course that would create content for Madison Commons), the Knapp Bequest Fund (2025-2026), J-Lab (pre-2020), the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation (pre-2020), and the Ira and Ineva Reilly Baldwin Wisconsin Idea Endowment (pre-2020).
Q: What community partners have you worked with over the years?
Community Shares of Wisconsin, UW Odyssey Project, GSafe, Root 2 Rise, Movin' Out, The Road Home, the podcast Housing Last, Bayview Community Foundation are some of the partners we have collaborated with in either small or big ways.
Q: Who gets paid from this budget?
The vast majority of our budget goes to paying stipends to student interns and to a professional editor who is not part of the UW. We also need money to pay for: any events we do in the community (food, childcare, speakers, etc.), award applications, conference or event registration, student or community member freelancers who write content. If we are doing a big project about solutions to some big problem, we might pay community members to educate our team.
Q: Do you accept anonymous donations?
A: Yes, we accept anonymous donations up to $1,000.
Q: What is your editorial independence policy related to funding?
A: At Madison Commons, our mission is to provide accurate and impactful journalism that serves the public interest. To uphold our credibility and maintain trust with our audience, we adhere to the highest standards of editorial independence. To meet this, Madison Commons maintains full editorial control over all content published on our platform. While we are moving to a model in which, in addition to publishing student reporting on a wide range of topics, we collaborate on our storytelling with local nonprofits, such as UW Odyssey Project and other organizations, our partner organizations have no role in making final editorial decisions. Any content produced by members of these organizations must go through an editing and review process, and the authors’ involvement with partnering organizations is transparently noted next to the content. We strive to cover issues that impact communities, give voice to underrepresented groups and hold power to account. Our reporting is guided by our ethical responsibility to inform, educate and foster democratic discourse that is also solutions focused. Acceptance of funding does not constitute endorsement of the donor’s views, products or political positions.
Q: What is your corrections policy?
A: Madison Commons is committed to accuracy and accountability, and we are diligent about ensuring stories we publish are correct. We ask reporters to complete a fact-checking process when they report and write a story; our editors also review the content before publication. However, we know that we may make mistakes, and we will correct them in a prompt, transparent way.
If we receive a report about an inaccurate or incorrect piece of information in a story, our editorial leadership team will investigate the issue. The editors will consult with the reporter, review any reporting material to verify the reported inaccuracy and check with sources involved in the story.
If editors determine we have made an error, we will correct the content as soon as possible. The correction, which will be amended to the story, will state the nature of the error and provide the correct information. The editors may also attach a note explaining the correction and reasons for fixing the story.
Editors may make minor style edits or change obvious typos without adding a correction.
