Public Media Bridge Fund has announced a Sustainability Open Call to provide grant funding for Collaborative Operating Models. Below is an excerpt from their media release as well as links to access the program guidelines and informational slide deck.
OPEN CALL:COLLABORATIVE OPERATING MODELS
The Bridge Fund’s first open call under the Sustainability Program focuses on advancing collaborative operating models across the public media system. The purpose of this initiative is to implement new operating and collaborative structures that strengthen the long-term sustainability of public media organizations while preserving and advancing public media’s essential local mission.
For this open call, the Bridge Fund will support collaborative projects that are ready for implementation. At this time, we are not seeking proposals for exploratory projects, research, or discovery efforts.
Funded projects should aim to:
● Create measurable operational efficiencies, cost savings, and/or revenue growth.
● Reduce structural duplication while remaining deeply rooted in local service.
● Establish replicable and/or scalable models that could be adapted across the public media system.
● Demonstrate strong governance alignment and organizational readiness among committed partners.
● Move organizations beyond short-term stabilization toward long-term sustainability.Funded projects should be guided by the following principles:
● Be bold, but grounded: We are looking for ambitious ideas that are realistically achievable over a twelve-month horizon.
● Structural change: We are interested in long-term sustainable models, not temporary fixes or incremental changes.
● Local service is primary: Operational efficiency should strengthen, not dilute, local service and impact.
● Learning is a deliverable: Selected projects should both transform and inform how public media engages with and serves local communities.
