Specialty Funds

Through the generosity of supporters, IRE has a wide variety of specialty funds for your consideration. Explore the categories below to find a fund that matches your passion, your mission, your priorities. You may donate to IRE's general operating fund, which gives us the most flexibility to meet current needs. Or you may choose to provide financial support for a designated fund. Regardless, IRE appreciates your commitment to nurturing investigative journalism to strengthen our democracy. For more information, please contact Anna López, IRE’s Director of Partnerships, at 301-852-9547 or anna@ire.org.

Support IRE programs & resources

All IRE programs and services

IRE General Fund: IRE applies income from the fund where it is needed most in the organization within a given year.

The IRE Resource Center

Eugene S. Pulliam Fund for IRE’s Resource Center: The fund was created with a gift from the Jane Pulliam Trust. It supports IRE’s Resource Center, a rich reserve of print, broadcast and online stories, tipsheets and guides to help journalists start and complete the best work of their careers.

FOI Resources

Freedom of Information Initiative Fund: IRE’s efforts in training, research, publications regarding state open records laws and the Freedom of Information Act are supported by this fund.

Graduate students working at IRE headquarters

Brent Johnson Fund: In memory of Brent Johnson, who was an exceptional student at the Missouri School of Journalism and IRE, this fund was created to support a graduate research assistant for The IRE Journal.

Support journalists

All journalists

Eric Sager Endowed Fellowship Fund: Established through an estate gift by the late Eric B. Sager, an IRE member from West Virginia, who worked mainly in trade publications. It supports journalists attending the IRE conference.

Journalists of color

IRE Journalist of Color Fellowship: The program is intended to prepare and support journalists of color for a solid career in investigative reporting. The goal of the fellowship is to increase the range of backgrounds, experiences and interests within the field of investigative journalism, where diverse perspectives are critically important. The fellow continues to work in the newsroom and carry the regular workload while also working on this investigative reporting project.

IRE Diversity Endowed Development Fund: IRE is dedicated to increasing diversity in the investigative journalism community. Gifts to this fund go toward fellowships for journalists, educators and students of color, those who identify as part of the LGBTQ+ community, and/or with disabilities to attend IRE conferences, seminars and workshops.

Ottaway Family Endowed Fund: This fund, established by David Ottaway and Nicholas B. Ottaway Foundation, supports journalists to attend an IRE Data Journalism Bootcamp and is aimed at increasing the diversity of IRE’s membership.

Philip L. Graham Endowed Fund: The fund sends journalists of color to the IRE conference to support increasing the diversity of IRE’s membership.

Female journalists

Jennifer Leonard Endowed Scholarship Fund: Created by former IRE board president David Cay Johnston to honor his wife, the president of the Rochester Area Community Foundation and a national leader in promoting ethical standards for endowments. The scholarships are awarded to women of modest means who are journalism students, or have less than three years of work experience, allowing them to attend the IRE conferences or NICAR training seminars.

Small newspaper journalists

Godfrey Wells Stancill Endowed Fellowship Fund: In memory of Godfrey Wells Stancill, former editor and publisher of the Suffolk News-Herald and father of former IRE board member Nancy Stancill. The fund supports fellowships to IRE’s annual conference for a journalist from a small news organization.

Early career journalists

Jennifer Leonard Endowed Scholarship Fund: Created by former IRE board president David Cay Johnston of The New York Times to honor his wife, the president of the Rochester Area Community Foundation and a national leader in promoting ethical standards for endowments. The scholarships are awarded to women of modest means who are journalism students, or have less than three years of work experience, allowing them to attend the IRE conferences or NICAR training seminars.

Napoli Management Group Endowed Fund: The fund was established by the Napoli Management Group to help aspiring TV watchdog journalists, early in their careers, who otherwise would not have the financial means to attend the IRE conference.

Journalism educators

David Donald Endowed Fund: The fund is named for the late David Donald, a former IRE training director who spread the gospel of computer-assisted reporting to thousands of journalists, educators and students around the world. It is designed to support computer-assisted reporting training for university educators so that they can better equip their students to be effective watchdogs through the use of data.

Independent journalists

Freelance Journalists Endowed Fund: Donations to this fund support annual cash fellowships for freelance journalists working on investigative projects.

Business journalists

David Dietz Endowed Fund: This fund honors the memory of longtime member and former IRE board president David Dietz. It creates a fellowship to send a business reporter to the IRE conference.

Criminal justice journalists

Tom Renner Award Endowed Fund: This fund supports the Tom Renner Award, which honors outstanding crime reporting and is presented at the annual IRE awards event.

International journalists

Brant Houston International Journalism Endowed Fund: Created by the IRE board and staff to honor Houston’s many years of service to IRE, including his 10 years as executive director. The fund supports IRE’s efforts to foster excellence in global investigative reporting.

Torchlight Endowed Fund: Established in 2015 by the Data and Interactives Team at USA TODAY when they donated a large cash prize won for work on Behind the Bloodshed, a data-driven accounting of mass murders in America. It funds a fellowship for a journalist working outside the United States, under difficult conditions, to attend the IRE or NICAR conference.

Broadcast journalists

Holly Whisenhunt Stephen Endowed Fund: Established by IRE and WTHR-Indianapolis to honor Stephen, an award-winning journalist and longtime IRE member who died in November 2008 after a long battle with cancer. The fund establishes fellowships to send broadcast journalists to an IRE Data Journalism Bootcamp.

Student journalists

James Richard Bennett Endowed Scholarship Fund: The scholarships are made possible by a donation to IRE by Dr. James R. Bennett, professor emeritus of English, University of Arkansas. It supports college students in Arkansas, Mississippi, Oklahoma or Louisiana to attend the IRE conference.

Rick Gevers-Karen Burns Diversity Endowed Fund for College Journalists: This endowed fund established by longtime TV news leader Rick Gevers and his wife, Karen Burns, provides IRE training, resources and support annually at Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Hispanic Serving Institutions and on other campuses for the benefit of student journalists of color.

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