U.S.-based organizations have many grant sources to tap into, including government agencies, foundations, and corporations.
For U.S.-based organizations, there are numerous resources to identify funding opportunities.
If you are interested in government-funded grants, your best resource is grants.gov, which lists funding opportunities from 26 federal agencies. If you are interested in federal contracts, sam.gov is the site you should use for your research.
If you are interested in private, community, and corporate foundations, you have a few choices.
You can use a search engine such as Google to try to find foundations that fund the kind of work you do in the area of the country where you do it. This method may yield some leads, but it will be slow.
You can also uncover some leads by researching organizations similar to your own. Look at the organizations' websites, annual reports, and Form 990s (annual IRS filings) to see who funded them in the last year. This is also a slow process but can lead to more precise results than using Google.
If you have some ideas of potential funders--maybe you've heard the names of foundations that fund in the geographic area where you want to work--you can go to the foundation's or company's website. Read about the funder and the projects it has funded recently, look at current eligibility standards, and review the funder's Form 990 to see the list of its recent grantees.
Particularly if you are interested in identifying smaller, lesser-known family foundations, you'll want to subscribe to a donor database as many smaller foundations do not maintain a website. Subscriptions for databases range in price from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars a year. However, if you're serious about finding funding, you'll need a subscription to at least one database. Two options to consider include:
Foundation Center's Foundation Directory Online: One of the most well-known databases is the Foundation Directory Online, which is run by the Foundation Center. The Foundation Center offers monthly and annual subscriptions (annual subscriptions range from $1500 - $2000). If you cannot afford a subscription, you may be able to get free access to the database through your local library.
Grant Station: Grant Station is one of the more affordable grant databases. If you subscribe to the Chronicle of Philanthropy, as part of your subscription you will receive access to the Grant Station database. GrantStation has also offered our readers a major discount on an annual subscription. To access the discount, join our free member area and navigate to the discount section.
To view a list of funding databases and explore other proposal-related resources, visit General Resources and Grant Research.
U.S. Government
FEDERAL OPPORTUNITIES
STATE OPPORTUNITIES
For state opportunities:
Visit the website of the relevant state department (e.g. the department of environment and natural resources if your organization works on environmental issues) in to learn about grant programs and new calls for proposals; and
Consider subscribing to a funder search tool that includes state opportunities. Two funder databases that include state opportunities are Grant Gopher ($9/mo. or $99 annually) and GrantWatch ($45/mo. or $199/annually).
Application Guidance
Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration (ETA)
National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) three-part Grant Writing Webinar Series
Corporate Foundations and CSR Programs
Through their foundations and corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs, corporations generally limit their giving to the communities where they have a presence (headquarters, retail store, manufacturing facility, etc.). To identify grant opportunities offered by corporations:
Visit the websites of the companies with a presence in your geographic area. Search the websites using terms such as "corporate responsibility," "grants," and "local giving" to see if the company has a grant program through which it gives grants or in-kind donations.
Consider subscribing to a funder database to learn more about corporate giving programs. Funder databases usually include profiles of corporate giving programs in addition to profiles of private foundations. You can find a list of funder databases on the General Resources page.
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