by Dr. Deborah Bauers

Created on: May 02, 2009

Your boss casually drops a piece of paper on your desk and disappears quickly.

"Investigate the million dollar endowment that has just been given to the local university by a community non-profit. Get on this Sam."

Is he kidding? People are only interested in "breaking news." Right? With a disappointed sigh you can already visualize all your efforts on this one, reduced to a mere blurb on page 10.

Let's think about this for a minute. Maybe there's an angle here. After all, a million dollars is a huge sum of money and somebody's going to reap the biggest benefit. That kind of money has to come from somewhere. Digging around into the facts might produce something newsworthy after all. The best way to find your reporting angle is to keep looking until you turn up something that will pique the interest of your readers.

Reporting on Non-Profits isn't that different from other types of journalism. With just a few tips, you can learn how to write about organizations that exist, not primarily to make money, but to provide products and services to an identified population.

1. Do Your Research

The best way to begin every journalism assignment is to investigate. This means that you will need to research and find out everything you can about your subject; in this case, a non-profit. A comprehensive way to cover all your investigative bases is to use the "Who, What, Why, Where, When, and So What?" method. A journalist has many resources at his disposal in the discovery process. The internet, public records, and the interview process are the three that are most frequently utilized.

Begin by doing a thorough background check into the history of the non-profit. Find out where its monies have been invested. Look at its track record and reputation. Make a list of questions that you want to find the answers to, so that your investigative process is an organized one that yields the information you need to write your article. Look for the length of time the non-profit has been in operation. Research the activities it has been involved in and their outcomes. Determine whether the non-profit has a documented history of success or, at least, has future endeavors planned that look promising.

2. Contact Non-profit Officers and Set up Interviews

Setting up interviews with the chief officers in a non-profit organization is a great way to learn about its philosophy, vision, mission statement, and operations. If you're looking to write on the financial aspect or report on either a donation that

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