Many of you may remember our announcement last fall that the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism successfully raised $75,000 in matching funds under the Challenge Fund for Journalism.

Well, a new report takes a look under the hood, to assess how the Center managed to accomplish its goal -- while also building itself into a stronger organization. (See page 25 for a short profile.)

We expanded our board, increased board members’ involvement in raising revenue, hired a part-time development consultant and full-time public engagement director, improved our use of technology and created new streams of income, including money we earned for producing investigative reports and our money and politics coverage.

“The Center’s story is one of both inspiration and practical steps that combined to create lasting change and, it is hoped, long-term sustainability,” says the report by TCC Group, the New York City-based consulting firm that managed the Challenge Fund for Journalism for the Ford, Knight, McCormick, and Ethics and Excellence in Journalism foundations.

“WCIJ’s experience offers a potential road map to other new investigative journalism groups seeking to make their way in the current media ecosystem.”

We certainly hope so.

And we look forward to sharing our hard-earned lessons, and drawing upon others’ experiences, as this new media ecosystem evolves.

Warmly,