Tips, Links, and Templates
We encourage you to contact us if you are considering seeking foundation support for your research or project. Our office can guide you to resources and may be able to help identify potential funders. If you would first like to learn more about foundation grantmaking or research funding opportunities on your own, this page lists some sources of information that may be helpful.
Many foundations make their interests and guidelines widely available on the Internet. This is now the best way to determine, prior to any conversation with us or with the funder, whether your project might be a match with the foundation's interests.
Resource Links:
Although there are over 70,000 private foundations in the US, most fund only in a very specific geographic area, to a very specific type of organization, for a very specific activity based on a very specific interest. How do you find the relatively few who might come close to being a good match for your needs and then the one or two who might be the best fit?
The Foundation Center maintains the most comprehensive information about all types of foundations in the US. It maintains a useful and up-to-date site with many useful links. It includes information from its directories, news, and an online library.
Its Foundation Finder is a free service of the Foundation Center that will search by name for basic information about specific foundations, such as mailing addresses.
Foundation Websites:
In general, the most up-to-date information about any foundation will be found on its own website. Most medium and large foundations have websites, on which they post their guidelines, contact names and phone numbers, deadlines, lists of past grants, annual reports, etc. We recommend checking the results of your directory searches against the foundations' sites.
The Foundation Center also posts worksheets to use while doing prospect research.
Search Engines:
The Foundation Center's search feature allows you to search either its site or the web using key words for subject area and type of funder.
Proposal-Writing Resources:
Philanthrophy News Digest
A weekly service of the Foundation Center that collects news and information about the philanthropic world; its search page is useful for tracking down recent news about individual foundations.
"The newspaper of the nonprofit world;" some portions of the web site available only to subscribers.
The major news service in the United States academic world. Presents news and information for college and university faculty members and administration.
Offers detailed information on fellowship programs and how-to information on research proposals. The GrantDoctor answers readers' questions online.
A site for gaining free access to the annual tax returns of foundations (990PF's) and public charities (990s), which include a list of the foundation's grants for the year; the grants list is usually near the end of the 990.
Private foundations often issue Requests for Proposals (RFPs) with specific program parameters and invitations to submit proposals by a specified date. The RFP Bulletin, published by the Foundation Center, lists recently posted RFPs in 12 subject areas by funder and submission deadline.
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