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PITCH PORTAL

Welcome to EHRP’s pitch portal! The Economic Hardship Reporting Project is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that produces compelling journalism on economic inequality in America. We give grants to independent journalists reporting on issues related to poverty, economic class, workers’ rights, and income disparity in the U.S., and co-publish their work in partnership with major media outlets. Many of our contributors are journalists struggling to financially sustain themselves in the increasingly low-paying media industry. We encourage people from underrepresented backgrounds to apply.

Before applying for a grant, please read our Submission and Community Guidelines.

Please note: Your submission to EHRP must go through our Pitch Portal to be considered. Scroll down and click “Standard Grants” to submit your pitch via the portal.

Email submissions are rarely considered for those unable to use the pitch portal form, and submissions must include all requirements outlined in this document. Incomplete submissions will not be considered. Responses will be delayed as we are a small team and someone on our end will need to manually input your submission into the pitch portal for editors to consider.

Select this option if you are seeking grant funding for a news story, narrative feature, investigative report, documentary, nonfiction comic or illustrated work, photo essay, podcast or radio feature.

Grant size is determined by many factors including EHRP’s budget, outlet size, reporting difficulty, project size, quality, the journalist’s experience and their prior relationship with EHRP. Our grants are partial — they are catalytic or bridge funding and sometimes supplemental but are not intended to cover the full cost of a project. Typical amounts:

  • News stories, $750–1,500
  • Narrative features and personal essays, $0.40 –1.25/word, typically capped at $1,500
  • Investigative reports, $0.70 –1.25/word, typically capped at $1,700
  • Documentaries: Up to $5,000 for short docs; in some cases, in lieu of a grant, we contribute our resources and network.
  • Nonfiction comics & illustrated works: $500–1,000; larger projects are capped at $2,500.
  • Photo essays, $500/day, typically capped at five days.
  • Audio projects: $800–4,000; in some cases, in lieu of a grant, we contribute our resources and network.
Standard Grants

IMPORTANT: If you will be publishing a single story, please ask your freelance contributor to submit a pitch to EHRP using the Standard Grants option above.

Select this option only if you are an assigning editor for a publication that is interested in an ongoing editorial partnership, multi-part project or other large-scale collaboration with EHRP.

Before submitting, we encourage you to review the EHRP Partnership Overview so you understand our process and terms. Incomplete submissions will delay review. For all other inquiries, email info@economichardship.org

Partner Collaborations
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