Funding and Finances

On this page you can find our donors and our expenses. Our financial years run from March to February. Until June 2020, GroundUp was a project of Community Media Trust. On 10 June 2020, we became an independent non-profit company.

For income we currently are only reporting institutional grants and donations of R100,000 or more. We round them to the nearest R10,000.

Last updated 15 May 2024

Contents

Income (institutional donors) for 2023/24

  • Constitutionalism Fund via New Venture Fund: R1,900,000 (February 2024)
  • Millennium Trust: R500,000 (February 2024)
  • Bertha Foundation: R550,000 (January 2024)
  • Cameron Schrier Foundation: R2,850,000 (January 2024)
  • The Second Stella and Paul Loewenstein Charitable and Educational Trust, via Investec Philanthropy: R500,000 (November 2023)
  • Claude Leon Foundation: R40,000 (used to pay Press Council fee, October 2023)
  • Idea Candy: R75,000 (used to cover some expenses on Thabo Bester story, September 2023)
  • Millennium Trust: R1,500,000 (September 2023)
  • This Day: R500,000 (September 2023)
  • Yellowwoods Social Investments: R500,000 (September 2023)
  • Sigrid Rausing Trust: R2,130,000 (April 2023)
  • Claude Leon Foundation: R2,000,000 (April 2023)
  • Millennium Trust: R1,000,000 (March 2023)

Income and expenditure for 2022/23

Income (institutional donors)

  • Millennium Trust: R500,000 (February 2023)
  • Bertha Foundation: R550,000 (January 2023)
  • Cameron Schrier Foundation: R2,600,000 (December 2022)
  • Google News Equity Fund: R220,000 (December 2022)
  • Open Society Foundation: R800,000 (December 2022)
  • Millennium Trust: R500,000 (September 2022)
  • Yellowwoods Social Investments: R500,000 (September 2022)
  • Millennium Trust: R750,000 (August 2022)
  • Sigrid Rausing Trust: R1,820,000 (June 2022)
  • Millennium Trust: R500,000 (March 2022)

Income and expenditure for 2021/22

Income (institutional donors)

  • Claude Leon Foundation: R700,000 (February 2022)
  • Bertha Foundation: R550,000 (January 2022)
  • Cameron Schrier Foundation: R2,360,000 (December 2021)
  • Media Defence: R20,000 (December 2021)
  • Free Press Unlimited (EU): R80,000 (December 2021)
  • Open Society Foundation: R600,000 (November 2021)
  • Yellowwoods Social Investments: R500,000 (September 2021)
  • Millennium Trust: R500,000 (September 2021)
  • Sigrid Rausing Trust: R1,870,000 (June 2021)
  • Open Society Foundation: R800,000 (May 2021)
  • Free Press Unlimited (EU funds): R310,000 (May 2021)
  • Claude Leon Foundation: R450,000 (April 2021)

Income and expenditure for 2020/21

Income (institutional donors)

  • Media Legal Defence Initiative: R15,000 (January 2021)
  • Bertha Foundation: R550,000 (January 2021)
  • Cameron Schrier Foundation: R1,678,000 (December 2020)
  • Free Press Unlimited (EU funds): R730,000 (November 2020)
  • Millennium Trust: R800,000 (September 2020)
  • Claude Leon Foundation: R123,000 (August 2020)
  • International Centre for Journalists: R170,000 (July 2020)
  • Sigrid Rausing Trust: R1,800,000 (April 2020)
  • Media Legal Defence Initiative: R35,000 (April 2020)

Expenditure

Management & Editing 2,299,796
Reporting 3,639,929
Administration (CMT Payments) 630,000
Overheads (Bank Fees) 9,443
IT, Equipment & Supplies 125,068
Legal 243,819
Marketing 15,417
Total 6,963,472

 

 

Income and expenditure in 2019/20

Income (institutional donors)

  • Claude Leon Foundation: R450,000 (February 2020)
  • Claude Leon Foundation: R180,000 (January 2020)
  • Bertha Foundation: R1.8 million (January 2020)
  • Cameron Schrier Foundation: R1.5 million (November 2019)
  • Millennium Trust for Viewfinder: R150,000 (September 2019)
  • Bertha Foundation for Viewfinder: R150,000 (September 2019)
  • Millennium Trust: R650,000 (September 2019)
  • Bertha Foundation: R550,000 (July 2019)
  • RAITH Foundation: R840,000 (April 2019)
  • Open Society Foundation: R900,000 (March 2019)
  • Claude Leon Foundation: R325,000 (March 2019)

Expenditure

Management & Editing

1,591,516

Reporting

3,030,603

Administration

630,000

Marketing

30,929

IT & Equipment

72,219

Legal

284,742

Bank fees

7,521

Total

5,647,530

Income and expenditure 2018/19

Income (institutional donors)

  • Cameron Schrier Foundation: R680,000 (January 2019)
  • Hazel Geffen Estate: R200,000 (October 2018)
  • Millennium Trust: R650,000 (September 2018)
  • Cameron Schrier Foundation: R660,000 (August 2018)
  • Shuttleworth Foundation flash grant: R60,000 (July 2018)
  • Cameron Schrier Foundation: R330,000 (July 2018)
  • Bertha Foundation: R550,000 (June 2018)
  • Cameron Schrier Foundation: R360,000 (April 2018)
  • RAITH Foundation: R800,000 (April 2018)
  • Open Society Foundation: R900,000 (March, 2018)

Expenditure

Management & Editing

1,133,763

Reporting

3,089,522

Administration

606,864

Marketing

169,947

IT & Equipment

70,338

Legal

125,600

Total

5,196,034

Income and expenditure 2017/18

Income (institutional donors)

  • Claude Leon Foundation: R330,000 (January 2018)
  • Social Justice Initiative: R460,000 (December 2017)
  • South Africa Development Fund: R270,000 (September 2017)
  • Millennium Trust: R600,000 (September 2017)
  • Cameron Schrier Foundation: R260,000 (August 2017)
  • Bertha Foundation: R550,000 (July 2017)
  • RAITH Foundation: R1,030,000 (May 2017)
  • Indigo Trust: R340,000 (May 2017)

Expenditure

Management & Editing

1,069,956

Reporting

2,255,341

Administration

558,369

Marketing

65,157

Website & equipment

73,524

Total

4,022,347

Income before 2017/18

  • Open Society Foundation: R800,000 (February 2017)
  • Claude Leon Foundation: R250,000 (January 2017)
  • Cameron Schrier Foundation: R250,000 (January 2017)
  • Cameron Schrier Foundation: R350,000 (November 2016)
  • Open Society Foundation: R420,000 (August 2016)
  • Bertha Foundation: R550,000 (July 2016)
  • South Africa Development Fund: R150,000 (June 2016)
  • RAITH Foundation: R940,000 (May, 2016)
  • Millennium Trust: R550,000 (April 2016)
  • Claude Leon Foundation: R250,000 (March 2016)
  • Open Society Foundation: R520,000 (January 2016)
  • Bertha Foundation: R500,000 for 2015/16
  • Claude Leon Foundation: R250,000 for 2015
  • Indigo Trust: R397,000 for 2015/16
  • Millennium Trust: R500,000 for 2015
  • RAITH Foundation R850,000 for 2015
  • South Africa Development Fund: R325,000 for 2015/16

Salary bands

GroundUp's editor's salary as of April 2024 is R67,531 per month.

Full-time journalists are paid either salaries or combination of basic salary and commission per article. Reporters' salaries can range from R21,000 to R45,000 per month.