OVERVIEW: The Knight Foundation broadly funds community development initiatives across the United States. As part of its journalism program, the Knight Foundation awards grants for First Amendment rights in the digital age and the use of technology to advance journalistic excellence. This funder invests in journalism education and arts programs that aim to engage broad audiences.
IP TAKE: The Knight Foundation prioritizes grantmaking in select cities where the Knight brothers previously owned newspapers, so its grantmaking is geographically limited. Knight is one of the few major funders that prioritize journalism.
This is an open-minded funder that’s also very approachable and progressive. It is dedicated to seeing its grantees thrive in their endeavors. Note that grantseekers’ proposals should feature a strong technology component for an edge.
PROFILE: The Knight Foundation was established in 1950 by newspaper magnates John S. Knight and James L. Knight. Its giving is based on a strong faith in the importance of “informed and engaged” people and communities. Knight only operates in the 26 communities where the Knight brothers once operated newspapers. The foundation “supports transformational ideas that promote quality journalism, advance media innovation, engage communities and foster the arts.” Its three main funding areas are Journalism, Communities and Arts.
Grants for Journalism
The Journalism program seeks to advance journalistic excellence in the digital age. As one might expect, there is a strong digital and technological component to Knight’s grantmaking in this area. But beyond technology, Knight supports free expression and high-quality reporting that keeps communities informed. Another of the Journalism Program’s priorities is First Amendment funding. With a broad interpretation of this basic American right, Knight funds research, training, and litigation related to the right of free expression and public access to information. These grants also support the rights of journalists to report news and events. Grantees include the American Journalism Project, Asian American Journalists, Capital B News of Brooklyn and the Connecticut Public Broadcasting Network. The foundation also funds endowed chairs of journalism at top universities across the country.
Grants for Housing and Community Development
Knight’s Communities program, which supports “civic innovators who help cities attract and keep talented people, expand economic opportunity and create a culture of engagement,” has two national programs. Smart Cities works to “harness the growth of digital technology to improve how communities respond, connect to and engage with residents.” Public Spaces invests in “spaces such as parks, trails, libraries to engage and connect residents to each other and to the places where they live.” This program area includes the Knight Public Spaces Fellowship, which supports “exemplary leaders who transform the way we think about and use public spaces in the communities where we live,” as well as support for Reimagining the Civic Commons. Additionally, Knight has signature community programs in the eight cities where the Knight family’s newspapers were located, as well as a Community Foundations Program that works in partnership with local community foundations in 18 other U.S. cities. Grants stemming from the foundation’s communities program have recently gone to organizations including New York City’s Friends of the High Line, Habitat for Humanity of Greater Miami, Philadelphia’s Avenue North Renaissance and the Saint Paul Downtown Alliance.
Grants for K-12 Education and Higher Education
The Knight Foundation supports K-12 education through all three of its funding initiatives. Through its journalism program, the foundation defends “freedom of the press and freedom of expression in the face of both long-standing threats and unprecedented challenges emerging as technology changes the way we communicate.” Knight’s communities program seeks to develop talent, promote opportunity and increase civic engagement, and the foundation’s arts program works with both established cultural institutions and smaller arts initiatives toward “new approaches to connect with the public.” Past grantees in the area of K-12 education include the News Literacy Project, which provides professional development and curricula for teaching media literacy, and Read Charlotte, a literacy program for students and families.
The foundation supports higher education mainly through its journalism and arts initiatives. Its journalism program names talent and learning as a sub-initiative and invests in digital literacy programs, journalism education and named chairs at major U.S. universities. Knight’s arts program prioritizes the areas where Knight once published newspapers and invests in arts projects that “build stronger, better informed and more engaged communities.” Recent grants have focused on the use of technology in building arts audiences; the foundation awarded grants to Kent State University and MIT for the development of poetry and classical music apps.
Grants for Humanities Research
Knight’s support of humanities research stems from its arts program. This initiative’s goal is to support projects that contribute to “stronger, better informed and more engaged communities.” The foundation supports arts institutions, individual artists and projects that “leverage the potential of technology innovation to engage the public in new and powerful ways.” Colleges and universities with programs that align with these goals have received funding. Past grantees include the University of Denver’s Colorado Seminary, which used funding to establish the Clinic for Open Source Arts, and Kent State University, which developed touchscreen poetry installations in public locations.
Grants for Arts and Culture
The foundation’s arts program seeks to partner with those who create or present art that “engages, educates and delights residents in ways that reflect the rich diversity and identity of each community.” The foundation’s investments in the arts aim to fund anchor institutions seeking wider audiences” and by supporting grassroots initiatives of individual artists and organizations. According to its statement of strategy, the foundation has not necessarily changed the way in which it conducts its arts program, but now includes an explicit emphasis on “artistic excellence, authenticity and inclusion, and the integration of technology in all aspects of the creative process” While the foundation conducts grantmaking nationally, it prioritizes giving to organizations that are part of its Knight Communities, located across 26 cities where the Knight brothers once owned newspapers. Recent recipients include Philadelphia’s Blackstar Film Festival, Florida’s Coral Gables Museum, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Movimiento de Arte y Cultura Latino Americana de San Jose and the New Museum of Contemporary Art in New York City.
Important Grant Details:
The Knight Foundation made over $100 million in grants in a recent year. Grants generally range from $10,000 to $500,000 and have supported organizations of all sizes. To get a clearer sense of Knight’s funding tendencies, review the foundation’s searchable database. The foundation has offices in Akron, Ohio; Charlotte, North Carolina; Detroit, Michigan; Macon, Georgia; Miami, Florida; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; San Jose, California and St. Paul, Minnesota. This funder also works with partner organizations in eighteen other small towns.
Grantseekers start the Application Process by submitting an idea at any time through Knight’s application portal. Full proposals will be invited by the foundation. General inquiries may be submitted via the foundation’s contact page.
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