This application is only for journalists who received a seed grant from the Fund for preliminary reporting, and they are now coming back for a full, regular grant for an investigative story on the same topic.

If you would like to apply for a regular grant but did not receive a seed grant for this story, please see the application form for regular grants.

Thank you for your interest in applying for a grant from the Fund for Investigative Journalism. The Fund provides grants to journalists for investigative stories that break new ground – which means they uncover wrongdoing in the public and private sectors and reveal information that was previously unknown or hidden. Below is an overview of the grant application. You can also watch this short video about what to include in the grant application and watch this short video about how to craft an effective proposal.

Types of grants

The fund provides three main types of grants:

• Regular Grants for 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 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 they’re preliminary reporting is finished.
• Follow-Up Grants 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. 

 Basic information and requirements

• Grants are for specific investigative projects. They cover expenses such as travel, records fees, research, equipment rental and reporting time. 
• While most applicants are freelancers, some applicants are news outlets seeking assistance to cover the expenses of investigations. The Fund encourages proposals from journalists of color.
• The Fund 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.
• Applications must include a brief summary, proposal, budget, resume, clips, references and letter of commitment from a media outlet to publish the story.
• All information contained in an application is held strictly confidential by the Fund's board and staff, is shared with no one outside of the organization, and is used solely for the purpose of making a grant decision.

 Timing of review

• Regular grants and seed grants are made three times each year, in the spring, summer and fall. Deadlines are posted on our website. Applicants receive a decision about six weeks after the deadline for proposals.
• The Fund reviews two types of grants on a rolling basis: follow-up grants and proposals for regular grants from journalists who received seed grants for preliminary reporting on the same story. Applicants receive a decision within about a month of applying for these grants. 
• For regular grants, the first half of the grant award is paid when the proposal is approved and the second half is paid when the story is published. Seed grants and follow-up grants are paid in full when the proposal is approved.

Key information to include in the proposal The Fund’s Board of Directors reviews every grant application carefully and votes on which to approve. The narrative proposal in the grant application should answer five key questions clearly and directly:

1. 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.)
2. What initial findings do you already have? (Share what information you’ve already developed and hope to develop that will make this a good story. Be specific, and share details of what you’ve already learned and how you’ve learned it. All information is held strictly confidential.)
3. What is your investigative plan? (Share your general roadmap for tracking down information, including public records, other documents, interviews and your own observations.)
4. What will you uncover that’s new? (Distinguish what new information your investigation would uncover or expose, as opposed to what information you’ll report on that’s already public.)
5. 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.)

Budget guidelines

Please see the sample budget on our website. 

• Your estimated budget should itemize expenses of reporting such as travel, document fees, equipment rentals (not purchase) and the reporter’s time. 
• The budget should be specific and detailed. It should show a breakdown of expenses and explain how you arrived at estimates.
• Grants will not cover expenses such as office space rental, office supplies and equipment purchase.
• If you are receiving other funding for this investigative project, your budget should identify other sources. The budget should show the sources and amounts of funding you have already secured (meaning it has been either committed or received), as well as sources and amounts of funding you’re in the process of requesting.

  We do not accept resubmissions of proposals that we’ve declined previously, unless we specifically invite you to resubmit it.

We do not accept multiple proposals from the same applicant in one grant cycle, except in rare cases. To seek an exception to this guideline, please email us at grants@fij.org.

Please follow the prompts below to apply. If you have questions or need help completing an application, please email us at grants@fij.org.

Thank you for your interest in applying for a grant from the Fund for Investigative Journalism. This application is for seed funding to cover the expenses of preliminary reporting, such as open-records requests and initial reporting trips. If you want to apply for a regular grant, with a full investigative story proposal, please use the form for regular grants.

 Overview of grants for seed funding

• Grants are for preliminary reporting for specific projects. The grants cover early reporting that can lead to full investigative projects. This includes, for example, open-records requests, initial reporting trips to identify and interview sources and the reporter’s time.
• Grants are $1,000 to $2,500. The entire grant is paid up-front.
• Journalists who receive seed funding can apply for full grants (up to $10,000) once they conduct the preliminary reporting and secure a commitment from a media outlet to publish or broadcast the story.
• All information contained in an application is held strictly confidential by the Fund's board and staff, is shared with no one outside of the organization, and is used solely for the purpose of making a grant decision.
  

 Criteria for seed funding

• Freelance journalists and those who are not in full-time staff roles at a media outlet are eligible to apply for seed funding.
• Seed funding must be used to obtain documents or information that could lead to a full investigative story. The journalist’s time can be one cost covered by the grant, but it should not be the only cost.
• Other criteria for seed funding mirrors the Fund’s criteria for full grants: stories must be investigative in nature (meaning they uncover wrongdoing that was previously hidden or unknown), and journalists must be U.S.-based or working on a story with a very strong U.S. angle.

What to include in the application

• Resume and two work samples
• You can include a letter of recommendation from an editor, mentor or professor if you choose, but this is optional.
• A one-paragraph summary of your project. This should be able to stand alone as a very brief description of the preliminary reporting you plan to do and the investigation you think it could shape.
• A longer narrative of what the potential story is, why you think there’s a bigger story and what preliminary reporting you plan to conduct. 
• Estimates of the preliminary reporting expenses that you need funding to carry out, with a rationale for how the estimates were calculated. This should be a detailed breakdown of costs (for example, specific locations of trips and costs of airfare, mileage, lodging etc., and/or a breakdown of your expected time to report the project and your hourly rate).
• A brief explanation of other reporting that has been done on this subject and how your project would advance the story.

We do not accept resubmissions of proposals that we’ve declined previously, unless we specifically invite you to resubmit.

We do not accept multiple proposals from the same applicant in one grant cycle, except in rare cases. To seek an exception to this guideline, please email us at grants@fij.org. 

Please follow the prompts below to apply. If you have questions or need help completing an application, please email us at grants@fij.org.