OVERVIEW: The Fund for Investigative Journalism supports individuals and groups working on journalistic projects that expose wrongdoing such as corruption, malfeasance and misuse of power.
IP TAKE: This is an approachable funder that accepts proposals three times per year. Applicants should carefully review the organization’s webinar and FAQ for eligibility and application guidelines. It’s also not a bad idea to read through the fund’s grantee’s stories page to get a good sense of the types of investigative stories it prioritizes. Keep in mind that each grant type has its own application form, so make sure you’re using the right form before you submit. Contact information is provided below.
Also note that after its 2026 merger with the Alicia Patterson Foundation, Patterson’s programs have been folding into FIJ.
PROFILE: The Fund for Investigative Journalism (FIJ) was founded in 1969 by the late Philip M. Stern, a “public-spirited philanthropist who devoted his life to ‘balancing the scales of justice.’” It seeks to help “to finance exposes of harmful and wrongful conduct, such as corruption at all levels of government; corporate, governmental and press nonfeasance, misfeasance and malfeasance; abuses of civil and human rights and of the environment; unsafe medical technologies; and improper donor influence on research in academe.”
Grants for Journalism
The fund awards grants to authors, freelance reporters and small publications that produce groundbreaking stories to expose transgressions or wrongdoing. Funding invests in:
- Regular grants: Proposals are reviewed three to four times a year for grants up to $10,000.
- Seed funding: These are small grants, up to $2,500, for preliminary reporting that can lead to full investigations. These grants cover costs like open-records requests and initial reporting trips.
- Follow-up grants: Provide support 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 up to $2,500.
- Regular grants for those who have previously received Seed funding: FIJ reviews proposals for individuals who received Seed funding from FIJ for grants up to $10,000 on a rolling basis. Applicants receive a decision within about two to four weeks.
- Diversity Fellowship: FIJ offers diversity fellowships online when applications are open.
Regular, Follow-up proposals, Seed funding, and Regular for previous Seed grantees are submitted through separate application forms.
Diversity Fellowships are submitted through their own application form, which is posted online when fellowships are open.
FIJ has also partnered with Investigative Reporters and Editors and the Society of Environmental Journalists to offer mentors who work with grantees over the length of their projects. In addition to its grantmaking, the fund also considers small stipend requests from its grantees.
Important Grant Details:
Grants are awarded in amounts of up to $10,000. Grants average $5,000 with the first half paid out upon approval and the second half paid out according to the original proposal. In recent years, FIJ The fund awarded over $790,000 in grants in a recent year and held nearly $1.7 million in assets. It has modestly increased funding to keep up with attacks on journalism.
- FIJ accepts grant proposals of 1,000 words or less for its three annual grantmaking cycles.
- FIJ does not accept resubmissions of proposals that it has declined previously, unless it has specifically invite you to resubmit.
- To learn more about the type of work supported by FIJ, explore its grantees’ stories page.
- While submission deadlines are subject to change, they typically fall in March, May, and September of each year.
- The fund’s website features a webinar and FAQ on applying for grants.
- FIJ warns that second-half payouts are not guaranteed if the projects are not completed in a timely matter.
- General inquiries may be submitted to the fund via email.
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