Pipeline Grant Tips & Resources

We are particularly interested in analyses that make use of newly available data or demonstrate novel uses of existing data, to answer emerging or long-standing questions of interest in the foundation’s program areas and special initiatives. We also support original data collection. Proposals to conduct field experiments, in-depth qualitative interviews, and ethnographies are also encouraged.

RSF receives so many applications for its limited funding that it no longer considers submissions that solely make routine use of publicly-available data, such as the Current Population Survey, American Community Survey, Panel Study of Income Dynamics, National Longitudinal survey of Youth, etc. Only novel uses of these data sets, particularly ones that link publicly-available data to new data sets or ones that use the restricted versions of these data will be considered.

RSF rarely considers projects for which the investigators have not already fully-developed the research design, the sample framework, access to data, etc. Investigators are encouraged to submit an LOI after they have developed and pre-tested survey instruments, completed preliminary data analyses if the data are publicly-available or conducted some preliminary interviews for qualitative studies.

Applicants must hold a doctorate, or must demonstrate a long career trajectory that supports the ability to carry-out high-level research. Our guidelines restrict us from funding pre-doctoral study or research, and we do not give scholarships or other types of grants for support of college funding. As a general rule, we do not provide tuition reimbursements. We do not fund residential fellowships elsewhere (See information about the Russell Sage Foundation Visiting Scholar Program, Visiting Journalist Program and Visiting Researcher Program). We do not make general support grants to other institutions; only specific research project grants that further our declared program goals are permitted.

The organization confirmation letter is a letter from the university/institution/organization in which the principal investigator is affiliated that states that the organization will act as the grantee for the project, that is, it will manage the funds for the project should a grant be made. The organization confirmation letter should be included in your submission whenever possible and it must be received by the foundation before a grant can be processed.

Yes. All applications and reports must be submitted through Fluxx. New registrations are processed during business hours on the east coast (9 am - 5 pm EST), so if you apply at night or on a weekend it will take until the next business day for your account to be activated. Please contact us at programs@rsage.org if you are having difficulties with the system.

The foundation does not typically provide support for conferences and workshops independent of a specific project and affiliated grant. In some rare cases, we will consider providing partial support for a specific research conference that furthers the goals of the foundation. Open-ended conferences will not be considered.

The foundation’s limited budget means that it can only fund a small number of projects each year. All applications go through a rigorous peer-review process. Because the foundation receives many more high-quality proposals than it can fund, it is frequently unable to support worthy projects in its priority areas. Based on our recent funding cycles, investigators can expect that of every 100 letters of inquiry we receive, approximately 16 will result in an invited proposal, of which 4-5 are likely to be funded.

RSF currently has four core research programs and several special initiatives under which it considers projects. All current funding opportunities can be found here.

No. We do not support projects where the proposed research has already been circulated as a working paper or submitted for publication.

We require annual financial reports from the organization and narrative reports every 6 months from the PI(s). All reports must be submitted through our grants management system, Fluxx.