Frequently Asked Questions

In order to be eligible to apply for and receive funding through this open call, media organizations must:

(1) Be an established legal entity that is none of the following: (a) a publicly listed and/or traded company; (b) a subsidiary of a larger organization or corporation with significant activities outside media; or (c) majority-owned by an active political actor.

(2) Meet the International Fund’s definition of public interest media and focus on publishing original public interest content.

(3) Operate in one or more of the 40 eligible countries (see FAQs for full list).

(4) Have total annual costs of at least $300,000 USD in the last fiscal year.

(5) Have existed and continuously published for more than three years.

(6) Not have distributed dividends to shareholders in the last three years.

(7) Have a profit margin below 5% (average over 3 years) and a cash runway of less than 12 months.

These criteria are specific to grants made within the context of this open call and may not apply to other grants made by the International Fund.

Media organizations operating in each of the International Fund’s 40 focus countries will be eligible to apply for funding.

Africa and Middle East: Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Kenya, Lebanon, Namibia, Niger, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, and Tunisia.

Asia and Pacific: Bhutan, Indonesia, Mongolia, Nepal, Pacific Islands (Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu), Philippines, Sri Lanka, and Timor Leste.

Eastern Europe: Armenia, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine.

Latin America & the Caribbean: Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, and Paraguay.

The International Fund defines Public Interest Media as that which:

(1) Exists to inform the public on matters that concern them or helps to ensure that power is held to account;

(2) Provides fact-based information in a trustworthy manner;

(3) Commits to the demonstrable pursuit of truth, for example through sourcing practices and the representation of the audiences it hopes to serve;

(4) Is editorially independent; and

(5) Is transparent about processes, finances and policies used to produce it.

In order to be eligible to receive funding, media organizations must be able to demonstrate their alignment with this definition.

This open call will focus on supporting public interest media organizations that primarily publish content including original news and current affairs reporting, investigations, and/or explanatory content on social and political matters.

We understand that media organizations sometimes work with fiscal sponsors or “friends of” entities to receive and manage grant funds. The International Fund is broadly able to provide grants to these organizations, provided that grant funds will ultimately be used by an organization in one of the focus jurisdictions. Other considerations (evaluated on a case-by-case basis) may impact the International Fund’s ability to award grants in this way.

Audience strategies may focus on audience discovery, reach, engagement, or any combination of the three.

(1) Audience discovery includes activities related to better understanding your current audience and/or identifying potential new audience segments (by age, gender, region, or geography).

(2) Audience reach involves either sustaining or expanding your audience numbers, both within current segments and across new ones.

(3) Audience engagement involves either sustaining or deepening the conversation between your audience and your journalists.

Across these focus areas, applicants may be seeking to sustain, expand, or deepen current reach and engagement. This includes news organizations that are looking to create two-way conversations with their audiences and listen and respond to the needs and concerns of the communities they engage.

Audience strategies submitted as part of this open call must include the following elements:

(1) A description of objectives and outcomes

(2) A plan for implementation (including with respect to staffing and other resources) and an overview of how grant funds will be used to support this plan

(3) Current audience metrics and expectations for how these will evolve as a result of the proposed strategy

(4) Proposed timeline and anticipated challenges

More details are available on the full application form (which will be shared directly with eligible media organizations that submit the initial eligibility form on this website). Audience strategies will be assessed based on (a) the potential impact of its stated objectives and outcomes and (b) the likelihood these will be achieved, based upon the proposed implementation plan, budget, and timeline, as well as the team’s demonstrated track record.

First, submit the initial eligibility form available on this website to ensure your organization is eligible to receive support through this call for proposals.

Next, you will receive an email regarding your eligibility to proceed to the full application stage. For eligible organizations, this will include guidance on how to complete your full application, including your audience strategy, as well as other information and documentation required.

First, please wait up to fifteen (15) minutes, as emails can sometimes take some time to process.

Next, please check whether the email landed in your spam folder (the name of the sender will be International Fund for Public Interest Media). If you cannot find it there, please send an email to opencall [at] IFPIM [dot] org with the name included on your submission, and our team will be glad to assist.

All proposals will be assessed across three dimensions: (i) eligibility, based on requirements noted above; (ii) the strength and impact potential of the full proposal; and (iii) a review of key due diligence considerations.

Guided by these criteria, the International Fund team will create an initial shortlist that will be shared with external juries for review. The external juries, which will include regional experts as well as experts in media audience and finance, will make final grant recommendations.

Recommended grants will be presented to the International Fund’s Board of independent experts for their standard review on a No-Objection Basis (more information about the Board and the role it plays in grant-making is available on the International Fund’s website) prior to contracting. The International Fund’s donors are not involved in the Fund’s grant-making decisions.

Individual grants awarded to media organizations will provide approximately $250,000 USD in funding over a period of 24 months. Applicants should take the approximate grant size into consideration when developing their proposals. Final amounts will depend on the proposal made by each applicant.

Organizations that are selected to receive a grant should use a majority of the funds to support new and existing initiatives that relate to their audience strategy. As part of the full application, eligible organizations will be asked to submit a grant budget detailing planned use of funds.

Organizations that are awarded grants must participate in a collaborative monitoring, evaluation, and learning process and must submit semi-annual reports to capture progress and lessons learned.

Yes, organizations that have previously applied or been considered for a grant from the International Fund are invited to participate, pending their alignment with the general eligibility criteria for the call.

However, organizations that have already received grants from the International Fund are not eligible to participate.