Stories in the news media generate a day of buzz (best case).
But they don't drive donations in typically. There's a technical reason why: because the call to action in news stories is either, on purpose, non-existent or very, very weak.
The news media does not like to shill for causes. It feels dubious to them. They'll report news, soft and hard; but that's it. They won't ask for you. Or a one-time clip will end (best case) with something like, "If you'd like to donate a winter coat in good repair, please bring it in your nearest drop-box. This holiday season, wrap your warm heart around someone who's exposed to the cold. Please think about it."
I've always thought the collapse of the print news industry worldwide had a silver lining, as a windfall for ambitious nonprofits.
When you hire a professional journalist, the hard part's already done: that person's pen is already trained to write entertaining stories. That's what journalists do. They tell stories to help the facts go down.
"All" you, the nonprofit, have to do is explain how fundraising communications work (ask, thank, report, repeat) ... and hang a few more things on the tool belt like donor-centricity and sales copywriting techniques.
You're not hiring them to be journalists anymore. That should be made absolutely clear. This is not yet another job in the same industry.
You're asking them to remain a professional writing. But you're also hiring them to become something brand new and much needed in the fundraising arsenal: storytellers in service to a good cause, a good cause that depends heavily on wildly happy donors to resource and grow the mission.