GrantmakersDistrict of Columbia

American Journalism Project Inc

Washington, DC · EIN 83-1772542. Reported 159 grants totalling $54.2M to 61 organizations across tax years 2021-2024, on Form 990 Schedule I.

61organizations funded
$234,714median reported grant
$54.2Mgranted, 2021-2024
84%of grantees funded again the next year
10%of dollars to its largest recipient

Does this grantmaker accept applications?

Its tax return does not say, and we will not guess. Private foundations file Form 990-PF, which asks outright whether they fund only organizations they select themselves -- 78% say yes, and that one answer is what lets the rest of this site tell you which foundations are worth approaching. Grantmaking charities like this one file a regular Form 990 instead, and the IRS never puts the question to them. Anyone claiming to know the answer from the filing is inventing it.

Three things in the filing do bear on it:

  1. What kind of organization it is. For American Journalism Project Inc, the IRS classifies it under arts & culture rather than as a grantmaker (NTEE A30) -- it is an operating charity that also makes grants.
  2. How spread out its giving is. 61 distinct organizations, with 10% of the dollars going to the largest single recipient. That is genuinely spread out -- the mark of a funder making many independent decisions rather than underwriting one institution.
  3. How much its list changes. 84% of one year's grantees are funded again the next, across 3 year-to-year transitions. That is well above the 57% median for grantmaking charities, and above the 67% private foundations manage. This list is close to settled, so a newcomer has to displace someone rather than fill a gap.

How big are its grants?

The median reported grant is $234,714. Half of what it reported fell between $150,000 and $390,000; the smallest was $8,069 and the largest $5,456,464. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong organization.

Schedule I only reports grants over $5,000. Form 990 requires a charity to list recipients it paid more than that and lets it omit the rest, so every grant-size figure on this page describes the grants it reported, not all of them. Its real median is lower and its real recipient count is higher. This is also why these numbers cannot be compared with the private-foundation figures elsewhere on this site -- Form 990-PF has no reporting floor, so the two are different populations rather than two samples of one.
$5,000 - $10,000
1 grant
$10,000 - $25,000
5 grants
$25,000 - $50,000
5 grants
$50,000 - $100,000
12 grants
$100,000 - $250,000
60 grants
$250,000 Or More
76 grants

Every organization it funded

This is the complete list from its filings, largest first. Recipients are grouped by the EIN the filer reported, not by name, so an organization that was typed differently in two years appears once rather than twice.

OrganizationLocationTotal receivedGrantsYears fundedLast
Ohio Local Information Initiative IncColumbus, OH$5,675,863332024
Free Press Indiana IncIndianapolis, IN$5,612,996222024
Houston Local Information Initiative IncHouston, TX$2,818,829332024
Beacon Media IncKansas City, MO$1,990,252442024
Wcij IncMadison, WI$1,789,583442024
Civic News CompanyNew York, NY$1,756,556442024
Block Club Chicago NfpChicago, IL$1,690,963442024
City Report IncNew York, NY$1,385,045332024
Deep South TodayJackson, MS$1,355,777442024
Sahan JournalSaint Paul, MN$1,348,275442024
Indij Public MediaPhoenix, AZ$1,288,363442024
Cityside Journalism InitiativeOakland, CA$1,276,250442024
El Paso Matters IncEl Paso, TX$1,122,275442024
Marshall Project IncNew York, NY$1,109,000442024
Fort Worth ReportFort Worth, TX$1,082,498332024
Texas Tribune IncAustin, TX$1,049,167222024
Nevada News Bureau IncLas Vegas, NV$1,041,284442024
Capital B News IncNew York, NY$1,013,300442024
The Lenfest Inst for Journalism Spe Asset Fund of the Phl FoundationPhiladelphia, PA$997,000442024
Investigative NewsourceSan Diego, CA$880,863442024
Montana Free PressHelena, MT$838,140442024
Nebraska Journalism TrustOmaha, NE$833,758332024
CalmattersSacramento, CA$812,000112024
Mountain State Spotlight IncCharleston, WV$750,079442024
Enlace Latino Nc IncKnightdale, NC$748,257332024
Vermont Journalism TrustMontpelier, VT$737,156442024
Spotlight PaHarrisburg, PA$702,349222024
Kentucky Public Radio IncLouisville, KY$698,868442024
Muckrock Foundation IncorporatedBoston, MA$659,500222022
Spotlight Delaware IncWilmington, DE$644,975222024
City Bureau NfpChicago, IL$633,127332024
Centro De Periodismo Investigativo IncSan Juan, PR$630,000332023
University Radio Foundation IncCharlotte, NC$601,686332024
Documented LtdNew York, NY$582,461332024
Connecticut News Project IncHartford, CT$559,824442024
New York Focus NewsNew York, NY$556,802222024
Institute for Nonprofit NewsBeverly Hills, CA$518,750222022
Outlier MediaDetroit, MI$493,953332024
Southern California Public RadioPasadena, CA$480,000112024
Lookout Publications NfpPhoenix, AZ$404,950222024
Zero Debt MassachusettsCanton, MA$400,000222024
Amp Local$384,854222024
One MediaPortland, OR$375,512222024
WyofileLander, WY$358,805332024
Grist Magazine IncSeattle, WA$351,625222024
San Jose News BureauSan Jose, CA$351,339332024
Colorado SunDenver, CO$329,300112024
Salt Lake Tribune IncSalt Lake Cty, UT$298,000112024
Open Campus Media IncWashington, DC$289,875222024
Charlottesville TomorrowCharlottesvle, VA$271,000112024
Rebuild Local NewsBrooklyn, NY$250,000112023
Groundtruth Project IncBoston, MA$215,000222022
Brooklyn Community FoundationBrooklyn, NY$205,250112021
Community Lift CorpMemphis, TN$189,000112021
The La LocalLos Angeles, CA$155,552112024
Underscore Media CollaborationPortland, OR$149,500222022
The Oklahoma EagleTulsa, OK$137,000112024
Oklahoma State University FoundationStillwater, OK$135,124112024
Life Shared InternationalOmaha, NE$102,000112021
Frontier Media GroupJenks, OK$77,209112024
Borealis PhilanthropyMinneapolis, MN$50,000112024

47 of 61 (77%) received money in more than one year over the 4 years we hold. Remember the $5,000 floor: an organization funded every year at $3,000 shows up here as never funded at all.

What the money was for

Taken verbatim from the purpose column of its filings, largest first. This is the closest thing to a statement of what it funds, in its own words.

What kind of organizations it funds

By each recipient's own IRS classification, for the 59 of 61 recipients we could match to a registered organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses -- Schedule I reports the recipient's EIN, so this is a lookup rather than a name match.

Arts & Culture
33 orgs
Education
11 orgs
Public & Societal Benefit
4 orgs
Community Improvement
3 orgs
Philanthropy & Grantmaking
2 orgs
Civil Rights
2 orgs
Human Services
1 org
Environment
1 org

Giving by year

Tax yearGrants reportedTotalMedian grant
202131$8,296,915$233,000
202234$14.1M$275,000
202342$13.3M$215,400
202452$18.5M$202,475

Tax years, not calendar years, and the most recent year is usually incomplete -- Form 990 arrives about a year after the year it covers, so a low final year means late paperwork rather than a grantmaker winding down.

Where its money goes

13% of its giving went to organizations in New York. Community foundations and federated funds are usually the most geographically bounded funders there are -- being outside the footprint is normally disqualifying in a way that a weak programme fit is not.

New York
$6.9M
Texas
$6.1M
Ohio
$5.7M
Indiana
$5.6M
California
$4.5M
Illinois
$2.3M
Missouri
$2.0M
Wisconsin
$1.8M

Down to the city

New York, NY
$6.4M
Columbus, OH
$5.7M
Indianapolis, IN
$5.6M
Houston, TX
$2.8M
Chicago, IL
$2.3M
Kansas City, MO
$2.0M

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Funders that support the same organizations

These grantmakers and private foundations gave to organizations this one also funded. Shared grantees are the strongest signal available that two funders have overlapping priorities -- and a funder already backing your peers is a far warmer prospect than one that merely lists your cause.

The Miami Foundation Inc49 shared recipientsFidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund44 shared recipientsInstitute for Nonprofit News42 shared recipientsDonor Advised Charitable Giving Inc40 shared recipientsSilicon Valley Community Foundation35 shared recipientsVanguard Charitable Endowment Program31 shared recipients

How to approach this grantmaker

  1. Look for a published programme first. Unlike most private foundations, organizations of this kind often do run open, deadlined grant cycles with written guidelines. Its own website is the authority on that; this page is the authority on who it has actually paid.
  2. Check you are its size. The median reported grant is $234,714 -- and because grants under $5,000 need not be reported, it very likely writes smaller cheques than this page can see.
  3. Check you are in its geography. Its giving concentrates in New York.
  4. Read the recipient list for organizations like yours. If nothing on it resembles your work, that is a real answer and a cheap one to get.

Related guides

Foundations funding arts & culture in New YorkEvery funder in this group, rankedFoundations funding education in New YorkEvery funder in this group, rankedFoundations funding arts & culture in TexasEvery funder in this group, rankedFoundations funding education in TexasEvery funder in this group, ranked

Where these numbers come from

Everything above is taken from American Journalism Project Inc's own Form 990 Schedule I filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 4 returns (tax years 2021-2024). Nothing here is scraped, inferred or estimated.

On its most recent return it told the IRS it made grants to 51 section 501(c)(3) organizations and 2 other organizations. That is the filer's own count for one year; the totals above cover every year we hold.

Address of record on the latest return: 6218 Georgia Avenue Nw 1-599, Washington, DC, 20011.

EIN 83-1772542 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this

This is history, not an open call. Form 990 is published about a year after the tax year it covers. Nothing on this page is a deadline. It is a record of who this organization has actually funded, which is the best available predictor of who it will fund next.

Is something here wrong about your organization? Email hello@funderscope.com and we will correct it.