OPPORTUNITIES
The Big Questions: Request for Proposals
Deadline: June 24, 2025, at 11:59 PM EDT
Award: Up to $100,000
Eligibility: Applicants aged 18 and older
Description: Supported by the John Templeton Foundation, the National Geographic Society seeks innovative storytelling proposals—such as photography, short film, writing, and data visualization—that explore profound questions about human existence, the boundaries of knowledge, and the relationship between humans and the natural world.
Freshwater Storytelling: Request for Proposals
Deadline: April 22, 2025, at 11:59 PM EDT
Award: Level I Grants: Up to $20,000; Level II Grants: Up to $100,000
Eligibility: Applicants aged 18 and older
Description: The National Geographic Society, in partnership with the Conrad Hilton Foundation’s Safe Water Initiative, seeks storytellers to create content that raises public awareness about sustainable freshwater use. Projects can include photography, film, and data visualization, focusing on challenges faced by communities such as last-mile households, low-income households, women and girls, and children in achieving equitable access to freshwater.
Spatial Thinking: Inspiring Action through Place-Based Solutions
Deadline: May 5, 2025, at 11:59 PM EDT
Award: Level I Grants: Up to $20,000; Level II Grants: Up to $100,000
Eligibility: Applicants aged 18 and older
Description: The National Geographic Society invites proposals that address challenges specific to a place using educational solutions grounded in spatial thinking. Projects should be co-developed with the impacted community and may utilize tools such as geospatial technologies, maps, and data.
Spreading Love Through the Media
Who is this for? Journalists, Filmmakers, and Media Creators
Award: $5,000 - $50,000
Deadline: March 24, 2025
Description: The Greater Good Science Center is offering funding for nonfiction storytelling projects that explore love beyond romance—highlighting it as a deep, selfless commitment to others' well-being.
Project Timeline: September 1, 2025 – February 28, 2027
Source: Greater Good Science Center
Pulitzer Center Grants
Who is this for? Writers, photographers, radio producers, filmmakers
Award: Varies
Deadline: Rolling
Description: Offers grants to cover the hard costs of reporting projects. Open to all journalists, including freelancers and staff journalists.
Source: Pulitzer Center
Open Call: Hidden Beauty
Deadline: March 31, 2025
Award: Grand Prize: $1,000; Category Winners: $250 each
Eligibility: Open to photographers worldwide
Description: The Lucie Foundation invites photographers to explore and capture unconventional or overlooked forms of beauty. Submissions are accepted in four categories: Portrait, Still-life/Landscape, Candid/Community, and B/W. Forty selected photographers will be featured in an online exhibition.
Crisis Relief Grants
Deadline: Rolling
Award: Financial assistance for essential expenses
Eligibility: Professional dramatists with less than $15,000 in combined bank accounts and meeting at least two professional criteria
Description: The Dramatists Guild Foundation’s Crisis Relief Grants provide financial assistance to dramatists facing unexpected financial, personal, or medical crises. Funds can be used for housing, utilities, medical bills, groceries, and legal fees. First-time applicants are prioritized.
Public Humanities Program Grants
Deadline: April 2, 2025
Description: Florida Humanities offers grants to support projects that explore the humanities in engaging and impactful ways. Projects can include documentary films that focus on Florida's culture and history.
Source: Florida Humanities
Out on Film Filmmaker Fund
Who is this for? Emerging and established filmmakers focusing on LGBTQ+ stories, with an emphasis on Georgia and Southern queer storytellers
Award: Grants up to $2,500
Deadline: February 28, 2025
Description: The Out on Film Filmmaker Fund provides financial assistance to queer artists to complete their projects. Submissions are accepted for documentary, narrative, experimental, animated, or episodic projects about the LGBTQ+ experience. The fund encourages applications from underrepresented voices, including people of color and transgender individuals.
Source: Out on Film
She Built NYC: Open Call for Artists
Deadline: March 31, 2025, 12:00 AM EST
Budget: $350,000 to $1 million
Eligibility: Professional visual artists or artist teams, legally authorized to work in the U.S., aged 18 or older
Description: The City of New York seeks artists to design permanent public monuments honoring trailblazing women who have significantly impacted New York City. This initiative aims to address the underrepresentation of women in the city's public art collection.
Picture Collection Artist Fellowship
Deadline: March 31, 2025
Award: $2,000 to $5,000
Eligibility: U.S. citizens, permanent residents, and foreign nationals residing in the U.S. for at least three years by the application deadline
Description: The New York Public Library offers this fellowship to support artists or scholars developing new creative or scholarly work based on the Picture Collection's holdings. Fellows receive dedicated access to the collection and staff guidance.
Fire Island Artist Residency (FIAR)
Deadline: April 1, 2025, 11:59 PM EST
Residency Dates: July 11 – August 1, 2025
Location: Cherry Grove, Fire Island, New York
Eligibility: Emerging visual artists identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, non-binary, intersex, two-spirit, or queer
Description: FIAR offers a four-week summer residency providing free live/work space to LGBTQIA+ emerging visual artists. Residents engage with renowned artists and scholars through intimate studio visits, dinners, and discussions, fostering the creation and preservation of queer art-making.
Gender Equality Grant - Pulitzer
The Pulitzer Center, a non-profit organization that supports independent global journalism, is seeking applications for investigative data-driven projects on issues related to gender equality and the empowerment of women & girls
Deadline : Rolling
Verizon’s Behind the Lens Program
Deadline: Rolling applications
Award: On-the-job training and experience covering high-profile sports events
Eligibility: Aspiring professionals interested in sports content creation
Description: A collaboration between Verizon and the NFL, this program aims to expand the talent pool in sports content creation by providing hands-on experience in capturing photo and video content, mentorship from established professionals, and opportunities to build a portfolio through access to NFL events.