Grants with Fiscal Sponsorship

The Hartley Film Foundation provides support through seed grants for documentaries that the Foundation fiscally sponsors. The Foundation does not provide production, finishing or outreach grants. 

Hartley awards grants for documentaries in the areas of world religions and spirituality. In conjunction with its grants, Hartley also provides filmmakers with fiscal sponsorship services and in return the fiscal sponsees agree to pay Hartley a small percentage of any net profits derived from the film project.

Hartley recoups funding of documentaries in proportion to its pro rata share of the approved production budget. That is, if Hartley contributes 15% of the approved budget, then Hartley is entitled to receive 15% of all net receipts until it has been reimbursed for the full amount of its contribution.

In determining the percentage of Hartley's contribution to the approved budget, the filmmaker and/or producer’s time invested are given full credit. It has been our experience that filmmakers/producers too frequently place too low a value on the time contributed to a project. After Hartley has recouped the full amount of its grant, the percentage that Hartley would be entitled to receive from net receipts would be reduced by 50%.

The Foundation recognizes that a number of the documentaries that the Foundation funds might not be in a position to return in full the amount of Hartley’s investment in a film.

Please peruse the In Development section of our Web site for a roster of Hartley's fiscal sponsees.

To apply for a grant, please send a proposal that includes descriptions of the following:

• Project narrative
• Project style
• Target audience and distribution strategy
• Advisory board, if applicable
• Bios of key crew
• Budget
• Fundraising strategy

Please also enclose a trailer for or cut of the proposed film if you have one, and a work sample, which must be a documentary. Hartley works on a rolling submission basis, so there are no deadlines.

Send your proposal to: