If your nonprofit struggles to find sufficient funding to support your programs and operations, you are not alone. The terrain is challenging, but understanding where and how to sow seeds can help your nonprofit uncover potential opportunities and grow some of them into meaningful sources of support. If carefully cultivated, foundation and corporate grants can be the fertile ground where your mission takes firm root and your impact blossoms.

Understanding the Foundation Grant Landscape

What is a foundation grant?

Nonprofits can receive grants from several different types of foundations. Here are the primary varieties:

• Private Foundations: Established by individuals or families, focused on specific charitable initiatives
• Private Operating Foundations: Also established by individuals or families, these foundations both make grants and conduct some programs of their own
• Community Foundations: Pool donations from multiple sources to support local projects
• Corporate Foundations: These grants offer a chance to align your nonprofit mission with a corporate donor’s values and products. Some corporate funders are more interested in visibility than charity.
• Donor Advised Funds (DAFs): Technically not foundations, these funds are set up by donors who receive an immediate tax deduction and can recommend grants to nonprofits in the future.

Next, we’ll consider the steps we need to take to identify actionable funding opportunities.

Strategies for Finding the Right Grants

There are tens of thousands of foundations in the United States, so you’ll need to delimit your search to identify ones that are a good match. You can do this by conducting research online.

Online Databases

A great way to find relevant funding opportunities is by searching online databases. There are many out there, and it’s worth comparison shopping to find the one that’s best for your nonprofit. Some databases have expensive subscriptions, others are cheaper, and yet others are completely free. Similarly, some databases are larger than others, but size doesn’t always guarantee success. You’ll want to pick the database that has the best list of funders for your nonprofit’s specific sector, offers detailed information on funding initiatives and deadlines–and ideally is also updated often. Here are some sample options:

• Foundation Directory: This free database offered by Candid/Guidestar is enormous and free but provides less detailed information on grant makers and their grants.
• GrantStation: A smaller but very rich database where you can search for grants by geographical area, audience or cause or even keywords, with both free and paid options available.
• Grantmakers.io: A robust database that shows where foundations have made their grants, useful for identifying potential funders.
• Grant Gopher: A website offering free searches for up-to-date grants by geographical area.
• Instrumentl. One of the pricier databases, it offers detailed profiles of funders and is updated frequently.

Use community resources like your local public and institutional libraries for resources. Many public libraries offer grant-related information and resources. Some provide free on-site access to subscription databases such as the Foundation Directory Professional and Candid. Additionally, research librarians can assist your search for grants and donors by helping you navigate the dozens or hundreds of potential resources your search turns up.

Need other options that are completely free? Many people report successful outcomes simply by conducting web searches in their browser or asking a generative AI system to help them identify appropriate funders.

Search Techniques

Apply effective techniques as you begin your search:

First, create a funder criteria list to focus your search efforts

• Align your nonprofit organization’s mission with the funder’s giving history and funding capacity
• Determine if the funder’s geographical priorities match your nonprofit service area

Then, use advanced search options and filters to narrow results

• Employ relevant keywords related to your organization’s mission and needs
• Set up alerts for new grants matching your criteria
• Sign up for the newsletters many foundations offer

While using filters, remember to search both broadly and narrowly. Let’s say your organization is seeking a cure for a specific rare disease. If you perform a keyword search only using the name of that one specific disease, you may not turn up any funders. Look more broadly for foundations and corporate donors supporting medical research in general.

Network and Outreach

• Ask your nonprofit’s board members for ideas; they often have connections that can be leveraged for better results
• Attend industry conferences and workshops
• Engage with grant makers on social media
• Connect with local nonprofit leaders and ask them for funding tips
• Take advantage of other community resources and associations

Whatever the source of your information, you never want to make your initial contact with a foundation an “ask”. Instead, use the letter of introduction to underscore the alignment you see between the funder’s priorities and your programming strengths and simply request a meeting. Your chances are always better when the funder can meet its own strategic goals by making a grant to your organization!

A useful tip is to do your homework once you have identified a potential grant. If you write to a foundation that states it does not invest in your sector or isn’t accepting applications, you’re simply wasting your—and their—time. Preparing an application can take a lot of time, so it’s always best to limit your applications to those few potential funders that appear to offer the best alignment with your mission.

Another tip relates to corporate foundations. Corporate donors, in many (but not all) cases, make funding decisions based on the visibility they will get from sponsoring your organization. Be sure you understand what criteria and restrictions the corporate donor or foundation will use before requesting a grant. Searching for and managing restricted vs. unrestricted grants requires planning and a strategic approach.

Crafting a Winning Grant Proposal

To make the time you invest in preparing an application pay off, follow these tips:

• Include a clear statement of need that explains why your organization wants a grant
• Define the project’s objectives clearly. Don’t exaggerate them, and be prepared to answer questions about why your organization is a good choice for such a grant
• Detail your project and evidence-based impact metrics
• Provide a comprehensive budget and consider using graphics to convey complex data. But most of all, ensure your budget request ties out to your narrative request. Unexplained or contradictory numbers will weaken your case.
• Tailor each proposal to specific funders. Don’t just send a boilerplate seeking funds.
• Demonstrate the direct alignment of your programs and expertise with the funder’s mission

No matter how carefully you craft and support your argument, the vast majority of applications will end up being rejected. Express gratitude regardless of outcome, and request frank and detailed feedback as it can help you with future applications. You can also ask the funder if they know of others that might view your request more favorably.

Was your application approved? Congratulations! Using your established policies, now you’ll want to be prepared to manage your grant awards efficiently with accounting and grant management software and systems. You will achieve superior results by setting up your internal controls and knowing what you need to track before you start spending money.

Ready to Grow Your Funding Potential?

Securing grants can be complex, but you don’t have to navigate this landscape alone. At YPTC our expert team specializes in guiding organizations through the intricate landscape of foundation and corporate grants.

Don’t let funding challenges hold your mission back. Contact us today for a free consultation and take the first step towards transforming your organization’s future!