Knight Foundation Grants 2026: Who Can Apply and Who Wins
Updated 4 official sources
Quick Answer: If you're an organization hoping to apply, no Knight Foundation grant is open to applications on November 9, 2026.
Full answer and how we checked it
Knight's Submittable portal (opens in a new tab) said "There are presently no open calls for applications" that day, and its How We Fund page says most grants are initiated by Knight. The last open call, the 2026 Knight Cities Challenge, took project ideas from April 1 to 30, 2026, paid up to $200,000 per project, and has named 29 recipients. According to the foundation's 2024 Form 990-PF (EIN 65-0464177), it paid $147.7 million in 513 grants; Grantsights' count of 511 grants after exclusions had a median of $82,500.
Who this is for: This guide is for nonprofits, newsrooms, arts groups, museums, libraries, universities and city agencies researching Knight Foundation grants, especially in the 26 Knight communities from Aberdeen, South Dakota to Wichita, Kansas. It answers four questions: is anything open, who's eligible, who actually got paid, and how to be ready for the next open call. Grantsights isn't affiliated with the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.
Data note: Grant figures come from the foundation's own 2024 Form 990-PF (calendar year 2024, EIN 65-0464177), read from the e-filed return on ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer on November 9, 2026. Grantsights' 990-PF snapshot pulled November 5, 2026 held 500 rows worth $144,462,903 for 2024, which covers 500 of the return's 513 paid grants and 97.8% of its line 3a total of $147,682,903. So Grantsights parsed the full return list instead, and its 513 lines add up exactly to line 3a. Grantsights set aside 2 lump-sum lines worth $1,390,818: "Various - matching gifts to public charities" ($984,240), which no organization can apply for, and "Various - charitable sponsorships" ($406,578), whose recipients the return doesn't name. One $80,000 grant to Friends of Rittenhouse Square "by providing a matching gift" stays in: it matched a park campaign, not an employee's gift. That leaves 511 grants worth $146,292,085, median $82,500.
Last updated: 2026-11-09.
In this guide
- Knight Foundation grants open now: 6 routes checked
- How the Knight Cities Challenge worked in 2026
- Who Knight Foundation grants actually fund
- How to approach Knight Foundation, step by step
- What Knight's Grant Pages Don't Tell You
- Plausible fit and poor fit
- Where to apply when Knight has no open call
- How Grantsights Checked This Guide
- Related Guides
- Sources
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Knight Foundation grants open now: 6 routes checked
Grantsights checked 6 routes on November 9, 2026, and none was taking applications. Knight's How We Fund page puts it plainly: rather than keeping an always-open process, its funding usually comes out of relationships, research and its own strategies, with occasional open calls for proposals.
| Knight route | Pays for | Who can apply | Published amount | Status on November 9, 2026 | Source page |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Knight open calls (Submittable portal) | Whatever each call targets | Set by each call | Set by each call | None open. Portal: "no open calls for applications" | Knight application portal (opens in a new tab) |
| Knight Cities Challenge | Community projects in local news, economic opportunity, and arts and public places, finished within 1 year | Individuals and organizations with projects serving the 26 Knight communities | Up to $200,000 per project; up to $5 million in round 1 | Closed. Round 1 ran April 1 to 30, 2026; 29 recipients named; second cohort not announced | Knight Cities Challenge page (opens in a new tab) |
| Strategic grants (journalism, arts, community impact, information and society) | Program, capital and field-building work tied to Knight's strategies | Organizations Knight identifies | Not published | Knight-initiated. No application form | How We Fund page (opens in a new tab) |
| Knight New Work (arts open call) | New artworks that use technology and premiere in a Knight community | Artists, collectives and arts organizations in the call's city | Not published on the page | No current round. Page shows 2024 grantees | Knight New Work page (opens in a new tab) |
| Creative Cities Initiative | Training and city arts strategies in 8 Knight communities | Run by Springboard for the Arts, not a Knight application | $3.5 million over 5 years to Springboard | Not an open grant. Announced May 19, 2026 | Creative Cities announcement (opens in a new tab) |
| Press Forward (local news funders' coalition Knight anchors) | Local news outlets and projects | Newsrooms, through national open calls or local chapters | Varies | No national open call listed. Chapters listed as accepting: Colorado and California | Press Forward funding page (opens in a new tab) |
Recently closed: the 2026 Knight Cities Challenge (April 1 to 30, 2026). The Knight Arts Challenge page now shows only an archive.
The honest read: for most organizations, Knight money arrives one of two ways. Either Knight's program staff come to you, or you win an open call. Neither can be forced, but you can be ready when the next call opens.
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How the Knight Cities Challenge worked in 2026
The Knight Cities Challenge is the clearest open door Knight has offered in 2026. According to Knight's April 1, 2026 relaunch announcement (opens in a new tab), it's a $10 million initiative "awarded over two cohorts across three years," with up to $5 million in the first round and grants of up to $200,000 for projects completed within one year.
The 2026 call asked for ideas in 3 areas:
- local news and information, such as reliable civic information and local storytelling;
- economic opportunity, such as support for entrepreneurs and community economic plans;
- arts, culture and the shared places that bring residents together.
Knight's challenge page listed 29 recipients on November 9, 2026, tagged 19 Community Impact, 8 Arts, 4 Journalism and 3 Information and Society (some carry two tags). Recipients ranged from the K.O. Lee Aberdeen Public Library and the City of Akron to Detroit Hives, the Arts Council for Long Beach, NewTown Macon and the Neighborhood Development Center in St. Paul. Cities, universities, libraries and small nonprofits all won, which tells you the call wasn't limited to big institutions.
The original challenge, launched in 2015, drew more than 16,000 applications and funded 99 projects over three years, per the same announcement. That's roughly 1 winner for every 160 ideas, so treat any future round as a long shot that rewards a sharp, local, one-year project.
The challenge page invites visitors to sign up for email updates "about the next cohort." It gave no date on November 9, 2026, and this guide doesn't guess one.
Who Knight Foundation grants actually fund
According to Grantsights analysis of the foundation's 2024 return, 511 grants worth $146.3 million went to 409 differently named recipients in 32 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, Canada and Switzerland. The median grant was $82,500, and the middle half ran from about $18,400 to $374,200. The money is top-heavy: 40 grants of $1 million or more took nearly 45% of the dollars.
| 2024 grant size | Grants | Total paid | Share of analyzed dollars |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under $25,000 | 160 | $1,835,982 | 1.3% |
| $25,000 to $99,999 | 97 | $4,471,956 | 3.1% |
| $100,000 to $499,999 | 153 | $36,538,375 | 25.0% |
| $500,000 to $999,999 | 61 | $37,842,731 | 25.9% |
| $1 million or more | 40 | $65,603,041 | 44.8% |
| Analyzed grants | 511 | $146,292,085 | 100% |
For comparison, the 2023 return lists 416 grants and $120,142,770 paid. After the same two lump-sum lines are set aside, 414 grants worth $118.3 million had a median of $124,000.
Where the money went
Florida led with 182 grants and $38.8 million (26.5% of analyzed dollars), followed by New York ($16.4 million), Washington, D.C. ($14.2 million), California ($12.2 million), Michigan ($11.9 million), Pennsylvania ($11.3 million) and Ohio ($8.2 million). Those states line up with Knight's home in Miami, national journalism groups in New York and D.C., and its larger communities: Detroit, Philadelphia and Akron.
By recipient city, Miami drew 104 grants worth $27.9 million, Detroit 17 grants worth $10.3 million, Philadelphia 17 worth $9.7 million, Akron 18 worth $7.0 million and Charlotte 23 worth $2.6 million. Smaller Knight communities saw far less. Grantsights found no 2024 paid grant addressed to a recipient in 12 of the 26 communities, including Duluth, Gary, Fort Wayne, Lexington, Biloxi, Grand Forks and Milledgeville. National grants may still reach those places, and the 2026 Knight Cities Challenge named winners in several of them.
What it pays for
Journalism is the biggest single field. By a keyword read of the purpose lines, 140 grants worth $69.8 million (about 48% of analyzed dollars) mention news, journalism, reporting, the press or media. Arts and culture purposes (museums, orchestras, theaters, artists, cultural plans) show up on about 174 grants worth $40.2 million. The two groups overlap a little.
Named examples from the 2024 return
The biggest checks went to national news and research groups. For example, The Associated Press received $5,000,000 in 2024 to keep state-based public-service journalism available in all 50 states, and Georgetown University received $4,000,000. Other large 2024 grants:
- GroundTruth Project, Boston: $3,000,000 to recruit, train and place reporters in local newsrooms
- The Pew Charitable Trusts, Philadelphia: $2,500,000 for a five-year partnership with the Pew Research Center
- The Lenfest Institute for Journalism, Philadelphia: $2,249,500 for a technology accelerator for publishers
- American Journalism Project: $2,000,000
- Develop Detroit: $1,250,000 to build eight single-family homes in the North End
- Akron Art Museum and Motown Historical Museum: $1,000,000 each
National newsrooms that partner with local outlets show up too. For example, ProPublica received $1,095,232 in 2024 for the next phase of its Local Reporting Network, which backs reporting by newsrooms in communities around the country.
Local grants are smaller. For example, Reconnect Rondo in St. Paul received $340,000, the Long Beach Journalism Initiative received $125,000, the Wichita Foundation received $50,000 for local news, and Wesleyan College in Macon received $150,000, all in 2024.
92 small grants for Florida groups
One line item stands out for small arts groups. The 2024 return lists 92 grants "to support organizations in Knight Florida communities with general program support in the 2024-25 fiscal year," worth $2,182,367 in total. They ran from $5,337 (Lake Worth Cultural Renaissance Foundation) to $45,649 (Miami Light Project), with a median of $20,174. Forty-two went to Miami addresses and 14 to Tallahassee, with the rest in Palm Beach County, Bradenton and nearby cities. Knight's site didn't describe this round on November 9, 2026, and the return doesn't say how groups were chosen, so don't assume it repeats.
How to approach Knight Foundation, step by step
Knight names no year-round application, so these 6 steps are about getting ready for an open call and being visible to program staff.
- Check your community. Knight's Our Communities page (opens in a new tab) lists the 26 places it invests in: Aberdeen, SD; Akron, OH; Biloxi, MS; Boulder, CO; Bradenton, FL; Charlotte, NC; Columbia, SC; Columbus, GA; Detroit, MI; Duluth, MN; Fort Wayne, IN; Gary, IN; Grand Forks, ND; Lexington, KY; Long Beach, CA; Macon, GA; Miami, FL; Milledgeville, GA; Myrtle Beach, SC; Palm Beach County, FL; Philadelphia, PA; San Jose, CA; St. Paul, MN; State College, PA; Tallahassee, FL; and Wichita, KS. Outside them, Knight's national fields (mostly journalism and information research) are the only realistic fit.
- Confirm your status. Knight is a 501(c)(3) private foundation. Most grantees on its return are public charities, though the 2024 list also includes city governments, universities and a few for-profit news companies. A group still waiting on its exemption can check the IRS page on 501(c)(3) exemption requirements (opens in a new tab) before any Knight call opens.
- Check the exclusions. The How We Fund page says Knight generally won't fund fundraising events, operating deficits, service-club charities, medical research or disease-specific groups, most hospital requests, religious activities, memorials, international programs, conferences and travel outside its own initiatives, or scholarships for individuals.
- Sign up for the newsletter. Knight says it posts open calls on its website and shares them in its newsletter. Pick your topic and your Knight community in the sign-up form so the right notice reaches you.
- Make a Submittable account early. Open calls run through the Knight application portal (opens in a new tab), which says applications can't be edited once submitted. Draft offline, then paste.
- Shape a one-year project. The 2026 Knight Cities Challenge funded projects of up to $200,000 finished within a year. A tight scope, a clear local result and named partners match what Knight says it looks for: alignment with its focus areas, measurable outcomes, community relevance and capacity to deliver.
For general questions, Knight lists its Miami office (2850 Tigertail Avenue, Suite 600, Miami, FL 33133, 305-908-2600) and a contact form on its site.
Common mistake: sending Knight a cold proposal by email or mail. The How We Fund page says most grants start with Knight, and its 2024 return tells applicants to watch for open challenges or calls. An unsolicited packet has no process to land in.
What Knight's Grant Pages Don't Tell You
Grantsights checked Knight's program, funding and open-call pages against its 2023 and 2024 returns, and 5 things stood out.
Most money goes back to the same grantees. Of 409 named recipients in 2024, 172 also appear on the 2023 return, and they took 70.2% of 2024's analyzed dollars. Don't underestimate how relationship-driven this foundation is: a new group's best entry point is an open call, not a cold ask.
A lot of money is already promised. The 2024 return lists $211,686,575 in grants approved for future payment, more than the $147.7 million it paid that year. Multi-year commitments soak up much of the budget before any new idea arrives.
Knight's own open calls run through The Miami Foundation. The 2024 return shows 24 grants worth $17.95 million to The Miami Foundation, including money "to support the winners of Knight New Work" in Miami, Akron and Detroit and the Knight Art + Tech Expansion Fund. If you see a Knight program administered by a community foundation, that's normal. It's a red flag only when someone asks you to pay to be considered.
The small Knight communities get little directly. Twelve of the 26 communities had no 2024 paid grant addressed to them. For groups in places like Gary, Duluth or Grand Forks, the Knight Cities Challenge is the main route, which makes its next cohort date the number to watch.
Size bands are lopsided. The 160 grants under $25,000 add up to just 1.3% of the money. A median of $82,500 sounds generous, but it describes a list where the typical grantee is an established newsroom, university or cultural anchor. A first-time applicant should budget for the open call's cap, not the median.
Plausible fit and poor fit
Two quick examples show how Knight's rules play out. A Fort Wayne library with a one-year plan to turn an empty downtown room into a civic news and events space fits the Knight Cities Challenge model when the next cohort opens. A Phoenix food pantry doesn't: Phoenix isn't a Knight community, and food aid isn't one of Knight's fields.
A local nonprofit newsroom anywhere in the U.S. sits in between. Knight's journalism strategy is national, but its money mostly flows through intermediaries and coalitions. That newsroom should watch Press Forward, the local news coalition Knight anchors. Knight's Journalism page says Knight announced a $150 million commitment as part of Press Forward in 2023. On November 9, 2026, Press Forward's funding page listed no national open call and named 2 chapters accepting applications: Colorado and California.
The California route is a state program. According to California's Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development, the California Civic Media Program (opens in a new tab) is funded equally by the state and Google, announced its 2026 awards in November 2026, and expects its 2027 round to run in summer 2027. Check the program's own page before planning around Press Forward's listing.
Where to apply when Knight has no open call
Knight's only 2026 open call was 30 days long. These routes keep their own schedules.
Arts groups: the National Endowment for the Arts' Grants for Arts Projects (opens in a new tab) lets organizations with 5 years of arts programming request $10,000 to $100,000, with a 1:1 cost share, according to NEA guidelines posted on that page. Its listed deadlines (February 12 and July 9, 2026) have passed, so watch for the next guidelines. For private funders, see grants for arts organizations, best grants for arts nonprofits, the museum grants guide and the Mellon Foundation grants guide, which funds the arts and humanities nationally.
Newsrooms: the local news nonprofit grants guide lists funders beyond Knight and Press Forward.
Knight communities: start with the local community foundation, which often holds Knight-backed funds; see the community foundation grants guide. City guides cover more local money: the Detroit grants guide, the Philadelphia grants guide, the Charlotte grants guide, Florida nonprofit grants for Miami, Palm Beach, Bradenton and Tallahassee, and Ohio nonprofit grants for Akron.
Grantsights tools: the Knight Foundation funder page summarizes its 990-PF filings. Grantsights' arts funder lists sort private foundations by cause and state using the grants on their own 990-PF returns, with a free look at your state. The Grantsights grant database lists programs taking applications now.
How Grantsights Checked This Guide
Grantsights checked 13 Knight and partner pages and 2 Knight returns on November 9, 2026. ProPublica's record shows EIN 65-0464177 for the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation in Miami, Florida.
| Source checked | What it shows | What to do with it |
|---|---|---|
| How We Fund page | Most grants Knight-initiated; open calls posted on the site and newsletter; exclusion list | Sign up; don't cold-pitch |
| Submittable portal | "No open calls for applications" | Check again when the newsletter announces a call |
| Knight Cities Challenge page and April 1, 2026 announcement | $10 million over 2 cohorts; up to $200,000; April 1 to 30, 2026; 29 recipients | Prepare a one-year local project |
| Our Communities page | 26 communities | Confirm your place |
| Arts, Journalism and Community Impact pages | Strategy-led funding; Creative Cities Initiative; Press Forward commitment | Match your work to a strategy |
| 2024 Form 990-PF (calendar 2024) | 513 grants, $147,682,903 paid; $211,686,575 approved for future payment | Find peers and realistic amounts |
| 2023 Form 990-PF (calendar 2023) | 416 grants, $120,142,770 paid | Spot repeat grantees |
Knight's grant list is public because the law requires it. According to IRS rules on the annual return for private foundations (opens in a new tab), all private foundations file Form 990-PF, due by the 15th day of the 5th month after their year ends. Knight also posts its own copy of the 2024 return on its Financial Resources page. To find peers on Knight's list yourself, use the guide on how to read a 990-PF. If you do get invited to submit, the letter of inquiry guide helps with the first page.
Related Guides
- Grants for local news nonprofits
- Grants for arts organizations
- Community foundation grants guide
- Florida nonprofit grants
Sources
- Knight Foundation: How We Fund (opens in a new tab)
- Knight Foundation: Our Communities (opens in a new tab)
- Knight Foundation: Knight Cities Challenge (opens in a new tab)
- Knight Foundation: Knight Foundation relaunches $10 million initiative in 26 cities (April 1, 2026) (opens in a new tab)
- Knight Foundation: Arts (opens in a new tab)
- Knight Foundation: Journalism (opens in a new tab)
- Knight Foundation: Community Impact (opens in a new tab)
- Knight Foundation: Creative Cities Initiative launches with $3.5 million (May 19, 2026) (opens in a new tab)
- Knight Foundation: Knight New Work (opens in a new tab)
- Knight Foundation Application Manager (Submittable) (opens in a new tab)
- Press Forward: Funding Opportunities (opens in a new tab)
- ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer: John S. and James L. Knight Foundation filings (2023 and 2024 Form 990-PF) (opens in a new tab)
- IRS: Private Foundation Annual Return (opens in a new tab)
- IRS: Exemption Requirements, 501(c)(3) Organizations (opens in a new tab)
- National Endowment for the Arts: Grants for Arts Projects (opens in a new tab)
- California GO-Biz: California Civic Media Program (opens in a new tab)
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Knight Foundation accepting grant applications right now?
No, as checked November 9, 2026. Knight's Submittable application portal said there were no open calls for applications that day. Knight's How We Fund page says most grants are initiated by Knight through its strategies and partnerships, and that open calls are posted on its website and newsletter when they happen.
How much does a Knight Foundation grant pay?
It varies widely. Grantsights analysis of the foundation's 2024 Form 990-PF found 511 grants worth $146.3 million after two lump-sum lines were set aside, with a median of $82,500. Forty grants were $1 million or more, and 160 were under $25,000. The 2026 Knight Cities Challenge offered grants of up to $200,000.
Who is eligible for Knight Foundation grants?
Knight mainly funds U.S. organizations working in its 26 Knight communities or in its national fields: journalism, arts, community impact, and information and society. It generally won't fund fundraising events, operating deficits, medical research, religious activities, memorials, international programs or scholarships for individuals, per its How We Fund page.
What is the Knight Cities Challenge?
A Knight open call for project ideas in its 26 communities. Knight relaunched it on April 1, 2026 as a $10 million initiative over two cohorts and three years, with up to $5 million in the first round and grants of up to $200,000. Applications ran April 1 to 30, 2026, and Knight has named 29 recipients. No date for the second cohort was posted on November 9, 2026.
Does the Knight Arts Challenge still exist?
Not as a current program on Knight's site. On November 9, 2026, the Knight Arts Challenge page showed only an archive, and the Arts page described strategy work in the 26 communities with no open call. Knight New Work, a related arts open call, showed 2024 grantees and no later round.
Is the Knight Foundation the same as other Knight foundations?
No. This guide covers the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation in Miami, EIN 65-0464177. Other foundations with Knight in the name, such as family foundations in other states, are separate funders with their own rules.
Last updated November 9, 2026. Published by Grantsights from public sources. See our editorial policy, how we build and check guides, corrections and how we make money.
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