Applicant criteria
NationalityNo specific nationality required
Age
- No specific age required
Gender
- Both
Opportunity criteria
Opportunity description
The Fund for Investigative Journalism provides grants and other support for reporters to produce high-quality, unbiased, nonpartisan investigative stories that have an impact.
They provide several types of grants:
- Regular grants: They review proposals three to four times a year.
- Seed funding: They provide small grants for preliminary reporting that can lead to full investigations. These grants cover costs like open-records requests and initial reporting trips.
- Expedited grants: In rare cases, they provide expedited review for proposals that are extremely urgent and cannot wait for the regular review cycle.
- Follow-up grants: They accept proposals for timely follow-up coverage to original investigations that were produced with grants from the Fund. Grantees can apply for expedited review for follow-up grants.
- Emergency Grants: Threats to Democracy in the U.S.: These grants are for stories that break new ground and expose wrongdoing related to threats to democracy in the U.S.
- Diversity Fellowship: In their commitment to increasing diversity in the field of investigative journalism, the Fund for Investigative Journalism offers diversity fellowships.
Grant Amounts
- The maximum grant is $10,000. Grants cover out-of-pocket expenses such as travel, document collection and equipment rental. The Fund also considers requests for small stipends, as part of the budget.
- Reporters who have already published an investigation with a grant from the Fund can request up to $2,500 for timely follow-up coverage to the original story.
- Reporters who do not yet have a full investigative proposal but need support to do initial reporting to develop a story, can apply for seed funding to help cover the expenses of preliminary reporting. These grants range from $1,000 to $2,500.
Eligibility
- Freelance journalists, staff reporters and media outlets are eligible for grants.
- Investigations can be for print, online or broadcast stories, books, documentaries or podcasts.
Application
- Regular, Expedited, and Follow-up proposals are submitted through the same application form.
- Seed funding is submitted through a special application form.
- Emergency Grants are submitted through their own application form.
Benefits
- Grants up to $10,000 for expenses such as travel and document collection.
- Follow-up grants up to $2,500.
- Seed funding from $1,000 to $2,500 for preliminary reporting.
Eligibility criteria
- Freelance journalists, staff reporters, or media outlets.
- Investigations for print, online, broadcast, books, documentaries, or podcasts.