El Tímpano today released the Civic Partnerships Playbook, a free, practical guide for local newsrooms seeking new revenue strategies, particularly those serving immigrant and low-income communities.

The Playbook draws on five years of experience at El Tímpano, a Bay Area news and civic engagement organization that generated $350,000 in 2025 through contracts with government and nonprofit agencies seeking to connect with hard-to-reach communities.

In an op-ed published today on Poynter.org, El Timpano founder Madeleine Bair makes the case that civic partnerships offer a replicable path to sustainability for community news outlets serving low-income communities—and challenges journalism funders to invest in these often-overlooked organizations.

“El Tímpano doesn’t deliver advertising to affluent consumers, nor is it funded by subscriptions or well-heeled members. We’ve built something even stronger: a news outlet that is part of the civic infrastructure,” Bair wrote.

What the Playbook covers

Made possible by a grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the playbook walks newsroom leaders through the full arc of building a civic partnerships program: assessing whether the model fits their outlet, developing a strategy, setting prices, finding and pitching partners, and evaluating results. 

It addresses questions about the difference between civic partnerships and advertising, the risks of working with government agencies, and whether SMS—El Tímpano’s primary Spanish-language distribution channel—is required.

As part of the project, El Tímpano is leading webinars in partnership with journalism associations, and is working directly with a small cohort of newsrooms, beginning with the Immigrant News Coalition, to support adoption of the model. 

El Tímpano is also exploring individual coaching for newsrooms as a new service, with potential support from funders for outlets in their grantee networks.

About El Tímpano

El Tímpano is a Bay Area-based news, information, and civic engagement organization founded in 2018 and designed with and for Latino and Mayan immigrants. It reaches more than 6,600 subscribers through a Spanish-language SMS news service and thousands more through a Maya Mam-language video program, and has grown from a staff of one to 15 over the past five years.