Russell Sage Foundation

Quick Stats

Annual Giving: $6.3 million
Success Rate: 8-9% (Core Research Grants); 12-15% (Early-Career Grants)
Decision Time: 3-6 months from LOI to final decision
Grant Range: $10,000 - $200,000
Geographic Focus: United States
Total Assets: $412.7 million (2023)

Contact Details

Address: 112 East 64th Street, New York, NY 10021

Phone: (212) 750-6000

Pre-Application Support: Contact program staff at programs@rsage.org for questions about alignment with funding priorities

Overview

Founded in 1907 by Margaret Olivia Slocum Sage with a $10 million endowment, the Russell Sage Foundation is America's first general purpose foundation and the principal American foundation devoted exclusively to research in the social sciences. With net assets of $412.7 million as of 2023, RSF awarded $6.3 million in grants across 155 awards. The Foundation supports rigorous empirical social science research that addresses critical issues including inequality, work, immigration, and behavioral decision-making. Under the leadership of President Bruce Western, RSF emphasizes research that can inform public conversations and policy debates on significant national challenges. The Foundation employs a highly competitive, multi-disciplinary peer review process to identify research projects with significant potential for contributing to the field.

Funding Priorities

Grant Programs

Core Research Grants

Trustee Grants: Up to $200,000 over two years (including 15% indirect costs)
Presidential Grants: Up to $75,000 over two years (including 15% indirect costs)
Application method: Three annual cycles (deadlines in April, July, and October); Letter of Inquiry required before invitation to submit full proposal
Funding decisions made at Board of Trustees meetings in March, June, and November

Dissertation Research Grants

Up to $15,000 for early-career scholars completing doctoral dissertations
Application method: Annual competition with specific deadlines

Pipeline Grant Competition

Support for early career scholars
Application method: Annual competition; applications accepted or rejected with no negotiation

Special Initiative: Immigration and Immigrant Integration

Supports research on immigration-related topics
Same application process as Core Research Grants

Special Initiative: Post-2023 Supreme Court Decision on College Admissions

Research on promoting educational attainment and economic mobility among racially, ethnically, and economically diverse groups following the ban on race-conscious admissions
Same application process as Core Research Grants

Priority Areas

RSF currently supports four core research programs:

1. Behavioral Science and Decision Making in Context

Research on how people make decisions in real-world contexts
Novel uses of behavioral science to address social issues

2. Future of Work

Causes and consequences of deteriorating quality of low-wage jobs in the United States
Impact of outsourcing, workplace policies, and economic conditions on workers
Worker financial security and workplace attachment

3. Race, Ethnicity, and Immigration

Roles of race, ethnicity, nativity, and legal status in social, economic, and political outcomes
Immigration policy and immigrant integration
Racial disparities in criminal justice, housing, and other systems

4. Social, Political, and Economic Inequality

Measurement and causes of inequality
Electoral politics and how voters navigate complex political identities
Poverty measurement and anti-poverty policies

Cross-cutting priorities:

Projects using newly available data or demonstrating novel uses of existing data
Research with potential to inform public policy debates
Studies that strengthen the methods, data, and theoretical core of the social sciences

What They Don't Fund

Health or mental health outcomes or health behaviors (these are priorities for other funders)
Projects not well-aligned with the Foundation's four core programs and special initiatives
Research without fully-developed research designs, sample frameworks, and data access
Projects by investigators who have not completed preliminary work or instrument pre-testing
Research outside the social sciences
Projects focused on descriptive analysis without clear theoretical contribution

Governance and Leadership

Current Leadership:

Bruce Western, President: "I am deeply honored to be asked to lead the Russell Sage Foundation. Today, we face significant challenges, from economic inequality to immigration policy, from strengthening democracy to criminal justice reform. At a time like this, rigorous research is keenly needed in public conversations and policy debates."
Jennifer Lee, Chair of the Board of Trustees

Former Presidents:

Eric Wanner (served 26 years)
Sheldon Danziger (served over a decade): "I am honored to have the opportunity to lead the Russell Sage Foundation. My goal is to advance the Foundation's stellar accomplishments in the social sciences and continue to focus on the key economic, political, and social challenges facing the nation."

Board Philosophy: The Russell Sage Foundation Board of Trustees and senior staff are dedicated to strengthening the methods, data, and theoretical core of the social sciences as a means of diagnosing social problems and improving social policies.

Application Process & Timeline

How to Apply

RSF uses a two-stage application process for Core Research Grants:

Stage 1: Letter of Inquiry (LOI)

4 pages, single-spaced
Submitted through online portal
Three annual deadlines (typically in April, July, and October)
About 15% of LOI submitters receive invitation to submit full proposal
RSF aims to send LOI decisions no later than 1 month before corresponding proposal deadline

Stage 2: Full Proposal (by invitation only)

Invited after LOI review
Detailed proposal with budget, timeline, and research design
Undergoes rigorous multi-disciplinary peer review
Final funding decisions for Trustee Grants made by Board of Trustees at March, June, and November meetings

Application Readiness: RSF rarely considers projects for which investigators have not already fully-developed the research design, sample framework, and access to data. Investigators should submit LOIs after they have:

Developed and pre-tested survey instruments
Completed preliminary data analyses (if data are publicly available)
Conducted preliminary interviews (for qualitative studies)

Decision Timeline

LOI to decision: Approximately 1 month before next proposal deadline
Total timeline: 3-6 months from LOI submission to final funding decision
Review process: Multi-disciplinary review by program staff, external reviewers from multiple disciplines, and Advisory Committee members
Notification: Via email

Success Rates

Core Research Grants: 8-9% funding rate
Early-Career Grants (Pipeline and Dissertation): 12-15% funding rate
Visiting Scholar Fellowship: Approximately 20% acceptance rate
LOI to proposal invitation: About 15% of LOI submitters receive invitation
Overall competitiveness: RSF receives hundreds of LOIs per funding cycle and many more high-quality proposals than it can fund

Reapplication Policy

Unsuccessful applicants may revise and resubmit during a subsequent funding round. However, the application will be processed as a new submission, not as a revision. There is no specified waiting period between applications, though applicants should meaningfully address previous concerns before resubmitting.

Feedback:

Declined LOIs receive limited individual feedback due to high volume
Invited proposals that are ultimately declined receive more detailed reviewer comments that can inform reapplications
For Pipeline Grant Competition: Applications are accepted or rejected with no possibility of negotiation, but applicants may apply again in future competitions

Application Success Factors

The Russell Sage Foundation has provided extensive guidance on what makes applications successful:

Alignment with Priorities The most common reason for rejection is not being well-aligned with the Foundation's funding priorities. RSF is looking for projects and questions that are most closely aligned with its funding priorities and have significant potential for contributing to the field.

Data and Methods

RSF is particularly interested in analyses that make use of newly available data or demonstrate novel uses of existing data
Lack of sufficient detail on research design, data, and methods is a common reason for rejection
The bulk of the LOI (50-75%) should be devoted to explaining how and why the data and methods will help answer the questions of interest
No more than 1.5 pages should be devoted to outlining the problem, stating questions, and reviewing literature

Research Design Development

LOIs are expected to have well-developed conceptual frameworks and research designs
Analytical models must be specified
Research questions and hypotheses (where applicable) must be clearly stated
Focus the project on a small number of key research questions or hypotheses

Clear Contribution Investigators should be clear about what they think their project will contribute: "What will we know that we don't already know?" The foundation wants to understand the likely contribution of the project to the field.

Writing Quality Being poorly framed or written is one of the three most common reasons for rejection. LOIs must be 4 pages, single-spaced—treat it as a mini-proposal and use all 4 pages in describing the project.

Examples of Recently Funded Projects (2023-2024):

Delia Baldassarri (NYU) examining how voters with mixed liberal/conservative positions navigate elections
Hector Blanco Fernandez (Rutgers) investigating impact of moving low-income households to high-opportunity areas on housing stability and health outcomes
Jon Gould (UC Irvine) examining how reform-minded prosecutors affect defendant outcomes and racial disparities
John Ahlquist (UC San Diego) studying how Employee Hardship Funds affect workers' financial security and workplace attachment
Christopher Wimer (Columbia) creating a childcare-inclusive poverty measure
Steven Dandaneau (Colorado State) exploring how the Students for Fair Admissions Supreme Court case impacted college diversity

Key Takeaways for Grant Writers

Competition is intense: With 8-9% success rate for core grants, only the most rigorously designed research aligned with RSF priorities will be funded
Do your homework first: RSF expects fully-developed research designs with preliminary work completed before LOI submission—this is not funding for exploratory research
Data novelty matters: Projects using newly available data or novel uses of existing data have an advantage
Use all 4 pages strategically: Spend 50-75% of your LOI on methods and data, not literature review—show exactly how you'll answer your research questions
Be precise about contribution: Clearly articulate what new knowledge your project will generate that doesn't already exist
Only 15% get to proposal stage: The LOI is highly competitive; those invited to submit full proposals have already passed a significant hurdle
Resubmission is possible: Unsuccessful applicants can reapply in future cycles, though each submission is treated as new
Avoid health outcomes: RSF explicitly excludes health and mental health outcomes—focus on social science questions

References

Cause IQ - Russell Sage Foundation Profile: https://www.causeiq.com/organizations/russell-sage-foundation,131635303/
Russell Sage Foundation - Core Research Grants: http://www.russellsage.org/grants/core-research-grants
Russell Sage Foundation - Information for Grant Seekers: https://www.russellsage.org/apply/grants
Russell Sage Foundation - Application Deadlines: https://www.russellsage.org/apply/application-deadlines
Russell Sage Foundation - Tips for Research Grant Writing Success: https://www.russellsage.org/apply/grants/core/tips
Russell Sage Foundation - Frequently Asked Questions: https://www.russellsage.org/apply/faq
Russell Sage Foundation - Research Priorities: https://www.russellsage.org/research/priorities
Russell Sage Foundation - Who We Are: https://www.russellsage.org/about/who-we-are
Russell Sage Foundation - Contact Information: https://www.russellsage.org/about/contact-us
Russell Sage Foundation - New Research Grants Approved: https://www.russellsage.org/news/new-research-grants-approved-4
Inside Philanthropy - Russell Sage Foundation: https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/find-a-grant/grants-s/russell-sage-foundation
Fluxx Blog - How the Russell Sage Foundation Grants Drive Impact: https://www.fluxx.io/blog/how-the-russell-sage-foundation-grants-drive-impact

All sources accessed December 25, 2025.