CFAs: European Local Cross-border Grants

The grant programme is open for teams of local investigative journalists and/or local media outlets from at least two different European countries who have incisive ideas for cross-border investigations looking at problems, and/or existing solutions to them, at a sub-national scale. This programme:

• Stimulates local journalists and news outlets to conduct investigative journalism by fostering collaboration with and learning from colleagues in other countries,
• Supports journalists and news outlets to focus on localised issues, at the level of cities, regions, or specific types of areas in different countries that face similar problems.
• Increases the dissemination, reach and impact of locally-focused investigative journalism.

Funding Information

• In 2025 the total grant budget is €365,000 to distribute over two application rounds.
• For the next deadline, they have €250,000 to distribute.

Eligible Costs

• A grant can cover two types of costs:
  • Working time of the journalists to conduct their investigation.
  • Expenses:
    • They allow what directly supports the investigation such as travel for reporting on the ground, visa, accommodation, translation, fixers, access to pay-databases, freedom of information (FOI) requests, legal screening, insurance, etc.,
    • Following expenses cannot be covered by the grants: overhead, office costs, investments goods (such as IT hardware, mobile phones, cameras, software …), production costs (e.g. web design, illustrations, …), recoverable VAT, food and beverage, per diems, and content distribution.
    • Grantees must minimize unnecessary travel, particularly air travel. Their policy is to only facilitate essential reporting trips, and not meetings of collaborators to discuss and coordinate research or editorial approaches. This can be done online. It will save time and money, and reduce carbon emissions.
    • All costs should arise during the project period and after the signing of the grant agreement with Journalismfund Europe.

Eligibility Criteria

• Investigative teams of at least two journalists and/or media outlets can submit a proposal for journalistic investigations with a localised focus within Europe. The projects, which could not be realised without financial support, will have news value, while being original and using innovative and rigorous research methods.
• This grant programme is open to local journalists/media outlets domiciled in at least two different countries, with at least one based in an EU country. When relevant for the story, team members from outside Europe can be accepted, too. At least 80% of your requested budget should go to journalists/media from EU countries.
• The applicants must be professional freelance journalists and/or media outlets. Personal references and/or references to earlier work are essential in that respect. Students are not eligible. Media outlets must be legal entities officially incorporated at least one year before the application deadline of the grant call.
• The investigation proposal must clearly present the localised subject of a collaborative cross-border journalism investigation. The aim of this grant programme is to support journalists and news outlets to dive into issues, at the level of cities, regions, or specific types of areas in different countries that face similar problems.
• The result of the investigation must be published by at least two professional media outlets in at least two different European countries. Letters of intent (LOI) for publication from at least two professional media outlets are required.
• Journalists who were previously allocated a grant by Journalismfund Europe can reapply. The jury will include the result of previous grants in their evaluation of the new application.
• Investigative journalism published by professional local media in any form is eligible, no matter whether print, online, broadcast or cross-media. All journalistic end products qualify for a grant: newspaper and magazine articles, radio and television documentaries and series, photo-reportages and books, podcasts and journalistic non-fiction books.
• All relevant topics are eligible.

Assessment Criteria

• The jury will assess the applications based on the following criteria:
  • Localised subject (regions, cities, type of geographic areas, type of organisation or system operating locally, etc…)
  • Added value compared to mainstream coverage
  • Relevance for the thematic focus of this programme
  • Quality of research methods and presentation/storytelling
  • Feasibility of the investigation, timeline and budget
  • Team structure and experience of the applicants
  • Work effort requirement
  • Cross-border aspect
  • Pooling research capacity and knowledge
  • Watchdog of institutions, policies and money

For more information, visit Journalismfund Europe.