The Fund for Investigative Journalism (FIJ), an organisation that provides grants and other support to independent journalists and news organizations, is inviting freelance journalists, staff reporters, and media outlets to apply for its grants to produce high-quality, unbiased, non-partisan investigative stories that have an impact.
Investigation stories are accepted from print, online or broadcast, books, documentaries or podcasts. FIJ does not accept multiple proposals from the same applicant in one grant cycle, except in rare cases. It also does accept resubmissions of proposals that it had declined previously, unless an applicant is specifically invited to resubmit it. To seek an exception to these guidelines, applicants should please email FIJ at grants@fij.org.
FIJ provides several types of grants including the following:
Regular Grants: Regular grants proposals are reviewed three to four times a year for grants up to $10,000. The next deadline is Monday, April 27, 2026.
Seed Funding: This grant provides 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. The next deadline for Seed Funding is April 27, 2026.
Follow-up Grants: Proposals for Follow-up Grants are accepted 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.
Alicia Patterson Fellowships: Successful applicants will spend either six or 12 months traveling, researching, reporting, and writing stories on specific topics that will be published in news outlets. Fellows are awarded $40,000 for a 12-month grant or $20,000 for a six-month grant.
Note that Regular grants, Follow-up proposals, Seed funding, and Regular for previous Seed grantees are submitted through separate application forms, while Alicia Patterson Fellowships are awarded annually.
For further details, please visit https://fij.org/apply-for-a-grant/.
