Advertise with Us

Started in 2015, CalMatters is a non-profit non-partisan digital news organization dedicated to informing Californians about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues. Our reach and impact continues to grow each year as more people are drawn to non-partisan award winning news and find us on our digital platforms and partner outlets throughout the state reaching tens of thousands of interested people every day.

When you become a CalMatters advertiser and or sponsor you’re choosing to support an informed electorate while affiliating your business with our important and award winning work.

Advertisers and sponsors benefit from reaching a highly informed and engaged audience on the cutting edge of news and politics for the state of California.

We offer a variety of digital and event advertising and sponsorships that deliver authentic, uncluttered visibility on our website, newsletters, explainers, podcasts, events and other editorial products that reach a highly engaged readership of educated people who want to stay informed.

CalMatters is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit funded by donors, members, business sponsors and event ticket sales. Our business sponsors play no role in guiding the journalism or events produced by CalMatters. For more information please contact Ben Warner | bwarner@calmatters.org

CalMatters is read by a growing audience of highly informed and engaged people who are on the cutting edge of California politics, public policy and the latest news and information about the state. Our award winning content is available at no charge across CalMatters digital channels and 250 partner channels throughout the state.

Advertising with CalMatters website and Email newsletters is one of the best ways to expand your brand’s reach while maintaining a high degree of control over your exposure, your target audience, your brand’s message environment and your campaign goals.

Website

The CalMatters website is the heartbeat of our news and information. Averaging 250,000 visitors per week. Banner ads are available on the article pages, our most highly trafficked section and can be purchased weekly.

Newsletters

Advertisers reach our most passionate followers in our newsletters.  Ad space is limited to provide a clean uncluttered reader experience and maximum share of mind for our sponsors.

Content Sponsorship

CalMatters creates special editorial products that provide deeper coverage about important topics. With sponsorship, businesses can align themselves to a topic that is important to them for an extended period of time and reach a passionately curious audience.

2022 California Voter Guide

The most comprehensive interactive California Voter Guide. More than 4 million Californians used our 2020 election guide and related products and viewed our prop videos. The guide is updated frequently and portions will be translated into multiple languages and distributed to non-English-language media partners across the state. Along with the guide, we’re also producing our popular Gimme Props game and one-minute proposition video explainers that will receive millions of views as voters mark their ballots leading up to election day.

Legislator Tracker

The Glass House interactive guide to the California State Legislature is a unique tool that allows Californians to understand and follow the 120 state Senators and Assembly Members whose decisions shape our lives in the Golden State.  This feature-rich tracker helps civically curious Californians learn about their elected representatives, how they voted, the committees they serve on, the sources of their funding, their ideological scores and rating by special interest groups, their districts’ demographics, media coverage of them, recent election data and ways to contact them directly. Limited to one sponsor per quarter, available year round.

Explainers

Explainers bring an innovative approach to reporting on important matters and are popular with teachers, students, voters, and anyone trying to understand the complicated issues California faces.

• Designed to explain, educate and illustrate complex policy issues and provide valuable and engaging content for both policy novices as well as wonks, CalMatters Explainers are deep dives into critical, relevant and timely issues through the format of a card deck, often accompanied by a video. 
• They’re updated to incorporate new information and data as they develop so they always feel current.  
• They are shared widely as they’re always thorough, topical and rich in data. 
• Sponsorship detail: Limited to one sponsor per quarter, available year round. As the sole sponsor of our valuable, evergreen series, your logo and name will appear on all views of our Explainers during the quarter, including the more than a dozen we have already created and all new ones.

Podcasts

Podcasts are an increasingly popular and effective platform for CalMatters to reach more people with important and engaging content. They’re listened to by people who are truly engaged and care about each topic we cover. We’re planning to add more Podcasts in 2023 and encourage sponsors to share our vision and support us as we grow this important platform. Sponsors receive recognition in opening and closing credits and logo recognition on the podcast webpage.

Gimme Shelter

The only podcast devoted to covering California’s housing affordability crisis from a statewide perspective and has been downloaded more than 600,000 times. A timely, biweekly podcast devoted to California housing politics and policy is hosted by Manuela Tobias, CalMatters housing reporter, and Liam Dillon, who covers housing and other issues for the Los Angeles Times. The podcast features discussion and analysis of housing issues as well as interviews with housing newsmakers and caters to a highly engaged audience. Listen here.

Live Events

CalMatters live events further engage and connect our community and educate, interact and inspire audiences in key California markets. We are building an event strategy over the next year and welcome being able to partner with sponsors that are willing to support us as we grow. 

Sponsorships are available for a series or per show and receive recognition at the start and end of the event, on the livestream that’s recorded and lives on our YouTube page, on invitations, the event site, our website and in our WhatMatters newsletter, with sponsor logos and links.

Our current events include;

• Talking Props virtual-event series, where CalMatters editors and reporters demystify the ballot measures, answer questions, and explain what their impact will be on us and on our state. 
• Future of Work series, co-sponsored with The Milken Institute, including four webinars from June through November. Themes encompass the great resignation, blue-collar green jobs, how higher education is preparing the future workforce and housing policy and the future of work. 
• Higher Ed series focuses on the challenges our UC, CSU and community college campuses will face this fall.  
• There will be more events coming in 2023.

• Ads are sold on a weekly basis on a first come first served basis. 
• Custom packages are available for integrated buys and recurring programs
• Prices and dates are subject to change
• Annual Business Memberships are available to promote your company and get the following benefits:
  • 10% discount on advertising placed by the business member company, which can also be placed on behalf of other clients. 
  • A first look at future advertising and sponsorship opportunities. 
  • Listing in our Business Partners list on our website 

For rates and more information contact Ben Warner at advertise@calmatters.org.