"Against the backdrop of market failure, shrinking newsroom budgets, and increasing political pressure on the press, the Investigative Journalism for Europe (IJ4EU) program has emerged as a journalist-led, donor-funded initiative that supports collaborative investigative reporting across borders. Drawing on in-depth evaluations of IJ4EU’s three consecutive funding cycles (2020–2022), this article offers a critical assessment of the program, examining how it helps sustain public interest journalism through financial grants, editorial mentorship, legal support, and institutional safeguards for editorial independence. Through the support of more than 150 investigations published in over 700 media outlets, the program has catalyzed policy debates and civil society responses across the EU and beyond. Its governance model, characterized by a firewall between donors and editorial decision-making, is widely praised for its transparency and credibility. The program’s collaborative ethos has also engendered a pan-European community of practice, while its tailored capacity-building efforts have helped boost the resilience of precariously positioned journalists. The article situates IJ4EU within the broader academic debate on journalism funding, contributing empirical insight into the risks and rewards of hybrid models combining public and philanthropic support. It argues that IJ4EU offers a replicable blueprint for donor-funded journalism that preserves independence while enhancing systemic resilience." (Abstract)