Fund For Investigative Journalism Inc

What Fund For Investigative Journalism Inc does

The Fund for Investigative Journalism Inc (FIJ) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 1969 by Philip M. Stern in Washington, D.C., providing grants and support services to independent investigative journalists. Its core offerings are three competitive grant programs: Regular Grants of up to $10,000 for full investigative stories (requiring a publication commitment from an outlet), Seed Grants of $1,000-$2,500 for preliminary reporting and research, and Emergency Grants for stories on threats to U.S. democracy reviewed on a rolling basis. Beyond direct funding, FIJ offers editorial mentorship from veteran investigative reporters and pro bono legal help through a partnership with the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.

The organization also operates the FIJ-Schuster-Ford Foundation Diversity Initiative in partnership with the Schuster Institute for Investigative Journalism at Brandeis University, providing up to $9,000 in grants plus research assistance, library access, mentoring, and pro bono legal counsel to women journalists and journalists of color pursuing social justice investigations. FIJ's board of directors and 26-member advisory board comprise Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists from organizations including NPR, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Reuters, ProPublica, and The New York Times. Applications are accepted three times per year through an online portal (investigate.submittable.com), with proposals reviewed and voted on by the board.

FIJ's business model is philanthropic: revenue comes from foundation grants (Ford Foundation, Nicholas B. Ottaway Foundation, Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation, Park Foundation, Reva and David Logan Foundation, Gumshoe Group) and individual donations accepted through the Network for Good platform. Grant-making volume has scaled materially — from a record 30 grants in April 2023 to 44 grants in July 2023, and 67 grants in the latest disclosed cycle — reaching journalists in 27 states and producing 125+ published stories in a 12-month period. Grantees' work has historically driven concrete public-impact outcomes including congressional hearings, legislative reforms, EPA enforcement actions, and criminal convictions, and has won virtually every major U.S. journalism award.

Name

Fund For Investigative Journalism Inc

Legal name

Fund for Investigative Journalism Inc

Website

https://fij.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1969

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Fund for Investigative Journalism is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 1969 that awards grants and editorial support to independent investigative journalists and nonprofit newsrooms pursuing public-interest reporting.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Journalism Grants (Nonprofit Grantmaking)

NAICS

Grantmaking Foundations (813211), Grantmaking and Giving Services (8132)

akta.pro primary industry

Public Charities & Grantmaking Intermediaries (BPAGAKAE)

akta.pro secondary industries

Investigative & Nonprofit News Organizations (MPAJADAF), Grantmaking & Philanthropic Funds (Institutional Donors) (BPADAOAB)

Keywords

• Investigative journalism grants
• Nonprofit grantmaking
• Journalism funding programs
• Freelance journalist support
• Media philanthropy

Headquarters

HQ city

Washington

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Foundation and Corporate Grants: FIJ receives funding from foundations including Ford Foundation, Nicholas B. Ottaway Foundation, Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation, Park Foundation, Reva and David Logan Foundation, and others to support grant-making programs.
2. Individual Donations: FIJ accepts donations from individuals through its website via Network for Good platform.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

The Fund for Investigative Journalism is a nonprofit grantmaking organization that provides competitive financial grants and supplementary support services to freelance investigative journalists and nonprofit newsrooms. Its core offerings are Regular Grants (up to $10,000 for full investigative stories), Seed Grants ($1,000-$2,500 for preliminary reporting), and Emergency Grants for threats-to-democracy stories, accompanied by pro bono legal help through the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and editorial mentorship from veteran investigative reporters.

Product overview

The Fund for Investigative Journalism (FIJ) is a nonprofit grant-making organization founded in 1969 that provides financial and support services to independent investigative journalists. FIJ's core offerings consist of competitive grant programs: Regular Grants (up to $10,000 for full investigative stories), Seed Grants ($1,000-$2,500 for early reporting), and Emergency Grants (for democracy-related stories). Grantees also receive supplementary support including Pro Bono Legal Help through the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and Editorial Mentorship from veteran reporters. FIJ also operates the FIJ-Schuster-Ford Foundation Diversity Initiative in partnership with Brandeis University, offering combined grants and fellowships to underrepresented journalists. The organization publishes a monthly newsletter showcasing grantees' work.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Regular Grants Competitive grants of up to $10,000 for freelance investigative journalists to cover expenses of specific investigations including travel, open-records fees, document collection, and reporting time. Requires a letter from an outlet committing to publish.
• Seed Grants Seed grants of $1,000 to $2,500 for freelance journalists to cover expenses of early reporting and research that can lead to full investigative stories, including public-records fees, travel, and reporter time. Does not require publisher commitment.
• Emergency Grants Emergency grants for stories on threats to democracy in the U.S., reviewed on a rolling basis through the online application portal.
• FIJ-Schuster-Ford Foundation Diversity Initiative A diversity initiative partnering with the Schuster Institute for Investigative Journalism at Brandeis University, funded by Ford Foundation, offering up to $9,000 grants plus fellowships to women journalists and journalists of color for social justice investigations.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 125 stories published by grantees in 12 months
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers9 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Gumshoe GroupcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 25 April 2023Gumshoe Group transferred its successful preliminary reporting grant program to FIJ. The program provides $1,000-$2,500 seed grants to freelance journalists for early reporting. Gumshoe Group provided $40,000 to cover the first year of grants along with application materials and evaluation processes.
• Schuster Institute for Investigative Journalism at Brandeis UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 June 2016FIJ and Schuster Institute partnered to distribute Ford Foundation grants supporting female journalists and journalists of color. Selected journalists receive FIJ grants up to $9,000 plus Schuster fellowships providing research assistance, Brandeis library access, mentoring, editorial guidance, and pro bono legal advice from a major New York firm.
• Reporters Committee for Freedom of the PresscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFIJ partners with the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press to provide free legal help to journalists who receive grants from the Fund.
• Centre for Investigative Journalism (London)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFIJ sends training fellows to the Centre for Investigative Journalism's Summer Conference in London to improve professional skills in investigative techniques.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Center for Public Integrity: Center for Public Integrity is a major nonprofit investigative newsroom whose former senior editor (Jennifer LaFleur) sits on FIJ's board. It operates as a news organization rather than a grantmaker, but its grantees (via partnerships) overlap with FIJ's funder ecosystem.
• ProPublica: ProPublica is a large nonprofit investigative newsroom; former reporter Bernice Yeung sits on FIJ's board. While ProPublica funds its own staff reporting rather than grants, it competes for donor dollars and journalistic mindshare in the same accountability-journalism space.
• International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ): ICIJ is a globally networked investigative reporting organization whose alumni and board members (Maud Beelman, Agustin Armendariz) overlap directly with FIJ's board, reflecting shared talent pool and complementary (rather than competing) grant/funding models.

Direct peers

• Alicia Patterson Foundation: Founded in 1945, the Alicia Patterson Foundation awards fellowships to independent journalists and is run by Margaret Engel, who serves on FIJ's advisory board. Directly comparable grantmaking mission for working journalists.
• Schuster Institute for Investigative Journalism at Brandeis University: Brandeis's Schuster Institute is FIJ's formal partner in the FIJ-Schuster-Ford diversity initiative and provides fellowships, research assistance, and mentoring for the same grantees. They co-fund and co-support overlapping journalism cohorts.
• Pulitzer Center: Pulitzer Center funds independent investigative and accountability reporting globally, including travel grants and reporting support for freelance journalists. Directly comparable to FIJ in mission, grantee profile (freelance journalists), and foundation-funded grant-making model.
• Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press: Reporters Committee is FIJ's legal-help partner, providing pro bono services to FIJ grantees. It also runs its own legal aid and micro-grant programs for journalists, making it both a partner and a functionally adjacent funder in the freelance journalist support ecosystem.
• Gumshoe Group: Gumshoe Group was a small journalism grantmaker founded in 2019; it transferred its seed-grant program to FIJ in April 2023 with $40,000 in transition funding. Now operating within FIJ, Gumshoe represents the prior-incumbent of a program FIJ has absorbed.
• Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE): IRE provides training, resources, and small grants/awards to investigative journalists and supports the same freelance reporter pipeline FIJ serves. Multiple FIJ board members (Jennifer LaFleur, Mark Greenblatt) have IRE affiliations, illustrating overlap in community and ecosystem.

Emerging players

• Report for America: Report for America places journalists into local newsrooms and partially funds their salaries, overlapping with FIJ in the journalism funding space but with a different delivery model (placement vs. cash grants to freelancers).

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/FundFIJ
• Facebookfacebook.com/FundFIJ
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/fundfij

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles43 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Fund For Investigative Journalism Inc