The Fund for Investigative Journalism (FIJ), a non-profit organisation based in the United States that provides grants and other support to independent journalists and news organisations, is now accepting proposals from freelance journalists, staff reporters, and media outlets to enable them to produce high-quality, unbiased, nonpartisan investigative stories that create an impact.
Eligible projects must be investigative, uncovering previously hidden wrongdoing or systemic failures.
The fund provides three main types of grants: Regular grants, Seed grants, and Follow-up grants.
The Regular Grants take care of expenses of investigative stories on any topic, in any type of media in the U.S. These grants are up to $10,000; Seed Grants are for preliminary reporting that can help shape investigative stories. These are also on any topic and for U.S. stories. These grants are up to $2,500 for initial reporting expenses. Journalists who receive seed grants can come back to the Fund to apply for a regular grant, after their preliminary reporting is finished. The Follow-Up Grants are for journalists who received a regular grant and now need funding to do shorter follow-up stories, after the initial investigation runs. These grants are up to $2,500.
The grants are for specific investigative projects. They cover expenses such as travel, records fees, research, equipment rental, and reporting time. While most applicants should be freelancers, some applicants who are from news outlets seeking assistance to cover the expenses of investigations are welcome. The Fund encourages proposals from journalists of colour. It provides grants for print and online articles, television and radio stories, documentary films, podcasts, and books.
To be considered, foreign-based story proposals must come from U.S.-based reporters or have a strong U.S. angle involving American citizens, government or business; all stories must be published in English, in a media outlet in the United States.
Proposals must include: a project summary and a detailed narrative, proposed budget (excluding office rent/supplies or equipment purchases), resume, two work samples, two references, and a letter of commitment from a media outlet for publication.
The narrative proposal in the grant application should answer five key questions clearly and directly:
- What makes this an investigative journalism project? (Explain what wrongdoing it would uncover in the public or private sector that has been previously hidden or unknown, and explain what parties or systems your reporting will investigate as accountable for the wrongdoing.)
- What initial findings do you already have? (Share what information you have already developed and hope to develop that will make this a good story. Be specific, and share details of what you have already learned and how you have learned it. All information is held strictly confidential.)
- What is your investigative plan? (Share your general roadmap for tracking down information, including public records, other documents, interviews, and your own observations.)
- What will you uncover that is new? (Distinguish what new information your investigation would uncover or expose, as opposed to what information you will report on thatis already public.)
- Why are you uniquely suited to do this? (Share any experience you have covering the relevant field or issues, or what background you have that qualifies you for this investigative journalism project.)
The Board of Directors reviews and votes on all eligible proposals. Approximately six weeks after the application deadline has passed, applicants will be notified by email of the Board’s decision. If an expedited review is requested and granted, applicants will be notified of the Board’s decision within about two weeks.
Please visit: https://tinyurl.com/37jh83nd to apply for the Regular grants, as well as https://tinyurl.com/37xnausm for the Seed grant. Grant for a Regular grant after receiving the Seed grant can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/yt5rkjru, and https://tinyurl.com/3xb7b79n for Follow up grant.
The deadline for Regular grants is September 9, 2025, 5:00 AM, while the deadline for Seed grants is September 16, 2025, 5:00 AM.
For questions about how to apply for a grant, please check the FAQ page or send an email to grants@fij.org.
