Funding & Transparency

The Kingfish Project — kingfish.la Effective date: July 17, 2026 Last updated: July 17, 2026

How to read this policy

Plain language: Every section starts with a short summary in everyday English. The summaries help you understand; the detailed text underneath is the official version.

Each section begins with a plain-language summary, written following the Federal Plain Language Guidelines and ISO 24495-1. Summaries aid understanding; if a summary is ever inconsistent with the full text beneath it, the full text controls.

The short version

Plain language: Right now, every dollar behind this outlet is the founder’s own — no donors, no grants, no advertisers. When we do start accepting support, the rules below already apply: major donors get named publicly, nobody buys coverage, and no money comes from the governments we cover.

Where the money comes from today

Plain language: One hundred percent founder-funded. That means total independence from outside funders — and it also means the outlet currently depends on one person, which our Sustainability Policy exists to fix.

The Kingfish Project is currently funded entirely by its founder. We accept no advertising, hold no grants, and have taken no outside donations to date. This gives us complete independence from outside financial influence; it also concentrates our funding in a single person, a fragility we address in our Sustainability Policy. Our current funders list is short and complete: Bentley Hensel. As that changes, this page and our transparency page change with it.

Our tax status, honestly

Plain language: We’re preparing to file for federal 501(c)(3) status. Until the IRS grants it, donations to us are not tax-deductible — and we’ll say so plainly anywhere we ask for support.

The Kingfish Project is preparing to file for recognition as a tax-exempt organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Contributions are not tax-deductible unless and until the IRS grants that recognition. We will state our current status clearly wherever we solicit support, and we will update this policy and our transparency page when it changes.

Rules for the money we’ll accept

Plain language: When donations open: donors giving $5,000 or more in a year get publicly named. No large anonymous gifts. Nobody can earmark money for coverage outcomes. And we refuse money that compromises the mission.

When we begin accepting outside support, these rules apply from the first dollar:

• Major donors are named. Donors contributing $5,000 or more in a calendar year are publicly disclosed by name on our transparency page.
• No large anonymous gifts. We do not accept anonymous or donor-advised contributions above $5,000 whose true source we cannot identify and disclose. Smaller gifts may remain private — reader privacy is legitimate; hidden influence is not.
• No editorial strings. Support may be designated for broad coverage areas consistent with our mission, but never conditioned on editorial outcomes, as our Editorial Independence Policy requires.
• Right of refusal and return. We decline — or return — funding whose source, conditions, or appearance would compromise our independence.
• Donors get covered like anyone else. If a funder becomes part of a story, the financial relationship is disclosed in that story.

Money we won’t take

Plain language: No money from the governments we cover. No money from candidates, campaigns, PACs, or parties. Heightened scrutiny for anyone else we actively cover.

• We do not accept funding from Louisiana state or local government entities, agencies, or officials — the institutions we exist to cover.
• We do not accept funding from political candidates, campaigns, political action committees, or political parties.
• Contributions from entities or individuals who are subjects of our active coverage receive heightened scrutiny and are refused or disclosed prominently.

Revenue transparency

Plain language: Once there’s revenue worth reporting, we publish an annual breakdown of where it came from — and our IRS filings will be public as required by law and posted here anyway.

We will publish an annual summary of our revenue by source category on our transparency page. Once our federal filings exist, our Form 990s will be publicly available as the law requires, and we will post them ourselves rather than making you look them up.

Advertising and sponsorship

Plain language: We run no ads today. If that ever changes, sponsored material gets labeled unmistakably and sponsors get the same firewall as donors.

We currently accept no advertising or sponsorship. If we ever do, sponsored content will be clearly and unmistakably labeled, and sponsors will have no more influence over editorial content than any donor: none.

Contact

[email protected] The Kingfish Project, 1924 Albert St, Alexandria, LA 71301