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How to strengthen your journalism grant or fellowship application, according to funders
By Elliot C. Williams
To help pull back the curtain on how to find and position yourself to win grants and fellowships designed for journalists, the Institute convened a panel with Anne Godlasky, president of the National Press Foundation; Marina Walker Guevara, executive editor at the Pulitzer Center; and Monica Williams, an independent journalist and fellow at Reynolds Journalism Institute who is developing a grant tracking tool.
Each speaker shared strategies to help journalists find more funding opportunities, sharpen their proposals, and stand out among their peers.
Over the next few weeks, we'll share pieces of advice from the discussion.
Tip #2: Apply even if you don’t meet 100% of the requirements
“Sort of like a job application, I don’t think you need to hit 100% of everything,” Godlasky said. “Make sure that your interest in [the subject matter] is really authentic. What we don’t want to see is if it is a fellowship or a grant for a very specific beat and you have shown zero interest in that up until now. Then it kind of feels like, okay, you’re just looking for some money right now.”
Williams cited the Harvard Business Review article from 2014 about “Why women don’t apply for jobs unless they’re 100% qualified” and stated that she wouldn’t be surprised if this statistic also applies to marginalized communities. “So I always advise people to apply anyway and let them tell you no,” Williams said. “Don’t rule yourself out of the process.”
The speakers also said there are ways you can show that your experience is relevant to your specific pitch, even if it’s not an exact match with the listed requirements. For example, if you have a background in technical writing, you might highlight examples of your work that would be useful to the reporting work.
“Make sure that the clips you are showing match the ambition of the project you are proposing,” Walker Guevara added. “Some people are sometimes proposing, for example, a very complex data-driven project, but then you look at the clips, and the clips are very feature-y. There’s no data work there, then there’s a gap.”
She added that in certain circumstances, it’s okay to over-communicate a bit. “At the Pulitzer Center, we even have a section that is called ‘additional materials,’ and you can just upload a Word document with a couple of extra thoughts that may answer these gaps in the application.”
Watch the full webinar here:
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