How to find foundation grants?

Finding foundation grants can transform your nonprofit’s funding landscape, but the process often feels overwhelming when you’re staring at thousands of potential funders. I’ve written this guide to walk you through exactly how to find foundation grants that align with your mission, maximize your chances of success, and build a sustainable pipeline of funding opportunities.

Understanding Foundation Grants: What You’re Really Looking For

Before you dive into databases and search engines, understand what makes foundation grants different from other funding sources. Foundation grants come from private, corporate, or community foundations that have been established specifically to distribute money to charitable causes. Unlike government grants with their extensive reporting requirements or individual donors who give smaller amounts, foundations typically offer substantial multi-year funding with more flexible terms.

Foundation grants range from a few thousand dollars to millions, depending on the foundation’s asset size and giving priorities. Most importantly, foundations want to fund organizations doing work that advances their mission. Your job is to find the foundations whose missions intersect with yours.

The Four Types of Foundations You Need to Know

Understanding foundation types helps you target your search effectively and set realistic expectations.

Independent or Private Foundations operate with endowments from individuals, families, or groups. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Ford Foundation fall into this category. These foundations typically have formal application processes, published guidelines, and professional staff. They’re often your best bet for larger grants if your work aligns with their priorities.

Family Foundations are established and controlled by family members. They may have less formal processes and sometimes prefer to fund organizations where family members have personal connections. Don’t overlook these smaller foundations—they can be more accessible and flexible than their larger counterparts.

Corporate Foundations are funded by corporations and often prioritize causes related to their business interests or geographic footprint. If your nonprofit works in communities where major corporations operate, research their foundations first. Corporate foundations may also offer in-kind donations, volunteer programs, and matching gifts alongside grant funding.

Community Foundations serve specific geographic areas and pool contributions from many donors. They’re excellent resources if you’re a locally focused nonprofit. Community foundations know the local landscape intimately and often provide technical assistance beyond funding.

Where to Find Foundation Grants: Your Essential Toolkit

Now let’s get practical. Here are the exact resources you should use to find foundation grants.

Foundation Directories and Databases

Start with Candid (formerly Foundation Center). Candid operates the most comprehensive foundation database in the United States. Their Foundation Directory Online subscription service gives you access to detailed information on over 140,000 foundations and their giving histories. Yes, it’s expensive (starting around $40 per month), but it’s worth every penny. You can search by location, subject area, types of support, and foundation size.

Use Candid’s advanced search features to narrow your results. Filter by foundations that accept unsolicited proposals (many don’t), foundations that have given to organizations similar to yours, and foundations making grants in your geographic area. Pay close attention to the “990 Finder” feature, which lets you access foundations’ tax returns where they list every grant they’ve made.

Check if your local library offers free access to Candid databases. Many public and university libraries provide free Foundation Directory Online access to cardholders. This single tip can save your nonprofit thousands of dollars in subscription fees.

Explore Instrumentl if you want AI-powered matching. This newer platform uses technology to match your nonprofit with relevant grants. It’s particularly useful for small teams that don’t have time to manually search through thousands of foundations. The downside is cost—Instrumentl starts at around $150 per month. However, it provides grant tracking and deadline management features that can streamline your entire grants program.

Use GrantStation for a budget-friendly option. At roughly $700 annually, GrantStation costs less than Candid but still provides access to thousands of funding opportunities. It’s particularly strong for state and local grants and offers helpful resources for grant writers.

Don’t ignore free resources. The Foundation Center’s 990 Finder is free and incredibly valuable. You can look up any foundation’s Form 990-PF to see exactly where they gave money, how much they gave, and to whom. This information is pure gold for prospect research.

Government and Public Records

The IRS requires private foundations to file Form 990-PF annually, making their giving history public. Use these tax returns strategically. When you identify a foundation that interests you, pull their last three years of 990s to spot giving patterns. Look at:

• Grant amounts (are they increasing or decreasing?)
• Types of organizations funded (do they favor certain structures?)
• Geographic focus (where do they give?)
• Subject matter trends (what causes are they prioritizing?)
• Relationship between grantees (do they fund the same organizations repeatedly?)

Access these forms through Candid’s 990 Finder, the foundation’s website (many post them directly), or GuideStar (now part of Candid).

Foundation Websites and Annual Reports

Once you’ve identified promising foundations through databases or 990s, go directly to their websites. Foundation websites reveal crucial information that databases might miss, including recent strategic shifts, new program areas, and application deadlines.

Download and read the foundation’s annual report. These reports showcase the foundation’s proudest achievements and strategic direction. Notice the language they use to describe their work—these exact phrases should appear in your grant proposal. Pay attention to which organizations they feature prominently. Are they highlighting multi-year partnerships? Collaborative initiatives? Innovative approaches? This tells you what they value.

Professional Networks and Associations

Your professional network is one of the most underutilized tools for finding foundation grants. Join the Grant Professionals Association (GPA) and participate in local chapters. Attend conferences where you’ll hear which foundations are actively seeking new grantees. Many foundations present at nonprofit conferences specifically to recruit applicants.

Connect with program officers at other nonprofits doing similar work. These relationships aren’t competitive—they’re collaborative. A program officer at an environmental nonprofit might know that a family foundation in your region loves funding youth programs, even though they’ve never applied themselves. Share intelligence freely, and it will come back to you.

Reach out to your board members and ask them to leverage their networks. Board members often have professional or personal connections to foundation trustees or corporate giving officers. These warm introductions dramatically increase your chances of securing a meeting.

Community Intelligence

Talk to your local United Way, community foundation, or association of grantmakers. These organizations exist to strengthen the nonprofit sector and typically offer prospect research assistance, sometimes for free. Community foundation staff know which foundations are actively looking for new grantees in specific program areas.

Attend foundation information sessions when they’re offered. Some foundations host open houses or application workshops. These events provide direct access to program officers and demonstrate your organization’s serious interest in partnership.

Research Foundations Strategically: Beyond the Basic Search

Finding foundation names is just the beginning. Now you need to research whether each foundation is truly a good fit for your organization.

Evaluate Mission Alignment

Read the foundation’s mission statement carefully. Does it align with your work, or are you stretching to make a connection? Foundations can spot mission drift from a mile away. If a foundation focuses on K-12 education and you run an adult literacy program, you’re wasting everyone’s time—no matter how cleverly you frame the connection.

Look for foundations that explicitly state they fund organizations like yours. If you’re a small community-based organization, don’t waste time pursuing foundations that only fund organizations with budgets over $5 million. If you’re a national organization, skip foundations that specifically support grassroots groups.

Analyze Giving Patterns

Study the foundation’s grant history to understand their giving patterns. Pull their 990s for the past three to five years and create a spreadsheet tracking:

• Average grant size
• Range of grant sizes (smallest to largest)
• Types of support (program, general operating, capital, capacity building)
• Geographic distribution of grants
• Types of organizations funded (size, mission, structure)
• Multi-year commitments versus one-time grants

This analysis reveals the foundation’s true priorities versus their stated priorities. A foundation might say they support innovative approaches, but if they’ve funded the same ten organizations for fifteen years, they clearly prefer established relationships over innovation.

Identify the Decision Makers

Foundations are run by people, and people make subjective decisions. Learn who sits on the board of trustees. Are they active in your community? Do they have backgrounds in your field? Have they ever been quoted in the media about issues related to your work?

If the foundation employs program officers, find out who manages your program area. Follow them on LinkedIn and Twitter. Read articles they’ve written or presentations they’ve given. Understanding their perspective helps you craft proposals that resonate with their worldview.

Understand Application Processes and Requirements

Foundations vary wildly in their application processes. Some accept proposals year-round, while others have specific deadlines. Some require letters of inquiry before full proposals, while others want you to jump straight to the full application. Some accept only invited proposals.

Note these details carefully:

• Application timeline (when can you apply?)
• Required forms or formats (do they use an online portal or accept email submissions?)
• Page limits and formatting requirements
• Required attachments (financial documents, letters of support, board lists)
• Decision timeline (when will you hear back?)
• Restrictions (do they have geographic limitations? Do they fund existing deficits? Do they require matching funds?)

Never ignore stated restrictions. If a foundation says they don’t fund capital campaigns, don’t apply for capital funding. You’ll waste your time and damage your credibility.

Build a Qualified Prospect List

You can’t apply to every foundation you discover. Build a prospect list that prioritizes your best opportunities.

Create a Rating System

Develop criteria for rating each foundation prospect. I recommend a simple ABC rating system:

A prospects meet most or all of these criteria:

• Strong mission alignment with your work
• History of funding organizations similar to yours in size and scope
• Geographic focus that includes your service area
• Grant sizes that match your funding needs
• Accept unsolicited proposals
• No personal connection required (though helpful)

B prospects meet some but not all criteria. Perhaps the mission alignment is strong but they’re at the edge of their geographic focus. Or they’ve funded similar organizations but tend to give smaller grants than you’re seeking. These are solid opportunities but require more research or relationship building.

C prospects are long shots. Maybe they’re new foundations without clear giving patterns, or they’re slightly outside your mission area but have shown flexibility. Keep these on your radar but don’t prioritize them.

Focus 80 percent of your effort on A prospects, 15 percent on B prospects, and 5 percent on C prospects.

Track Everything Systematically

Create a prospect tracking spreadsheet with these essential fields:

• Foundation name and contact information
• Mission and priorities
• Giving range and average grant size
• Application deadlines
• Previous contact with your organization (if any)
• Connection to your board or staff
• Rating (A, B, or C)
• Status (researching, cultivating, applied, funded, declined)
• Notes on strategy

Update this spreadsheet regularly. When you attend a conference and hear a program officer speak, add notes to that foundation’s record. When a board member mentions a connection, document it immediately.

Develop a Cultivation Strategy

The best foundation relationships start long before you submit a proposal. For your A-list prospects, develop cultivation strategies:

Invite program officers to visit your organization. Offer to give them a tour, introduce them to program participants, and show them your work in action. Many program officers welcome site visits because it helps them understand organizations beyond paper applications.

Attend events the foundation hosts. If a foundation sponsors a conference or community forum, show up. Introduce yourself to staff. Demonstrate that you’re engaged in the issues they care about.

Send relevant updates without asking for anything. If your organization releases a report on an issue the foundation cares about, send it to the program officer with a brief note. If you win an award or achieve a significant milestone, share the news. This keeps your organization top of mind without being pushy.

Request informational meetings. Many foundations allow potential grantees to schedule brief calls or meetings to discuss funding priorities before submitting proposals. Use these meetings to ask smart questions, not to pitch. Ask about their strategic direction, what they’re learning from current grantees, and what they wish more organizations understood about their funding process.

Search Smarter: Advanced Techniques to Find Foundation Grants

Once you’ve mastered the basics, use these advanced techniques to uncover hidden opportunities.

Follow the Money

Look at who funds organizations similar to yours. Visit their websites and check their acknowledgment pages, annual reports, and Form 990s (Schedule B lists contributors over $5,000). Any foundation funding your peer organizations should go on your prospect list immediately.

This strategy works because foundations often fund multiple organizations in the same field. If the XYZ Foundation gave grants to three environmental education nonprofits in your region, they’re likely to fund a fourth if you present a compelling case.

Use Geographic Targeting

Foundations are much more likely to fund organizations in their own backyard. Prioritize foundations located in or focused on your geographic area. Even if their stated program areas seem tangential to your work, local foundations often support locally important organizations.

Use Candid’s geographic search filters to find all foundations in your city, county, or state. Then research corporate foundations headquartered in your area—they frequently prioritize local giving.

Look for Program-Specific Searches

Rather than searching broadly for “youth development” or “environmental conservation,” get specific. Search for the exact programs or approaches you use. If you run a mentoring program, search for foundations interested in mentoring. If you use a particular curriculum or evidence-based model, search for foundations funding that approach.

Also search for foundations addressing the problems you solve rather than just the populations you serve. If you’re a homeless services organization, search for foundations interested in affordable housing, poverty alleviation, mental health services, and substance abuse treatment—not just homelessness.

Monitor New Foundations and Strategic Shifts

New foundations represent fresh opportunities because they’re building their portfolios and actively seeking grantees. Use Candid’s database to identify recently established foundations. Reach out early before they develop preferred relationships.

Similarly, watch for announcements about foundations launching new initiatives or strategic directions. When established foundations enter new program areas, they need to find organizations doing work in those areas. Position yourself as a potential partner.

Leverage Matching Grant Opportunities

Some foundations offer matching grants that require you to raise additional funds from other sources. While these grants require more work, they’re often less competitive because many organizations avoid them. If you have strong individual donor or corporate giving programs, matching grants can be excellent opportunities.

Additionally, successfully securing matching grants strengthens future applications by demonstrating community support and fundraising capacity.

Avoid These Common Mistakes When Searching for Foundation Grants

Even experienced grant writers make these mistakes. Don’t let them derail your success.

Mistake 1: Prioritizing Grant Size Over Fit

The biggest grant isn’t always the best grant. Pursuing a million-dollar opportunity with a five percent chance of success wastes more time than pursuing a $50,000 opportunity with an 80 percent chance of success. Focus on fit first, grant size second.

Smaller foundations are often overlooked by larger nonprofits, making them less competitive. Several $25,000 grants can be just as valuable as one $100,000 grant, and they diversify your funding base.

Mistake 2: Ignoring Restrictions

When a foundation says they don’t fund operating expenses, they mean it. When they say they only accept applications during a specific two-week window, they mean it. When they say they don’t accept unsolicited proposals, they mean it.

Ignoring stated restrictions brands you as careless or desperate. Program officers remember organizations that waste their time with ineligible applications.

Mistake 3: Applying Too Broadly

New grant writers often think they should apply to every foundation that seems remotely related to their work. This shotgun approach produces terrible results. You’ll write weak proposals because you’re stretched too thin, and you’ll apply to poorly matched foundations that are unlikely to fund you anyway.

Quality beats quantity in grant writing. Ten carefully researched, thoughtfully written proposals to perfectly matched foundations will generate more funding than fifty generic proposals to loosely matched foundations.

Mistake 4: Overlooking Local and Small Foundations

Everyone wants funding from the Gates Foundation, but thousands of smaller foundations collectively give billions of dollars annually. Small family foundations often have simpler applications, faster decisions, and more flexible requirements. They’re also more likely to take a chance on newer organizations.

Community foundations are particularly underutilized. They have deep local knowledge, accessible staff, and often offer donor-advised funds focused on specific issues. Build strong relationships with your community foundation—they can become strategic partners beyond single grants.

Mistake 5: Failing to Track and Learn

Every foundation search, every application, and every outcome provides valuable data. If you don’t track what you’re learning, you’ll repeat mistakes and miss patterns.

Record why you were funded or declined when foundations share feedback. Note which approaches worked in which situations. Track your success rates by foundation type, grant size, and program area. This data helps you refine your strategy over time.

Build Systems That Sustain Your Foundation Grant Search

Finding foundation grants isn’t a one-time project—it’s an ongoing practice that requires systems and discipline.

Schedule Regular Prospect Research Time

Block dedicated time in your calendar for prospect research. Treat it like any other important meeting. I recommend spending at least two to four hours monthly on prospect research, depending on your organization’s size and grant writing volume.

During this time, update your prospect list, research new foundations, track deadlines, and analyze giving patterns. Regular research prevents last-minute scrambles and helps you spot emerging opportunities early.

Create a Grants Calendar

Maintain a calendar with all application deadlines, reporting requirements, and cultivation activities. This should include:

• Foundation application deadlines
• Letter of inquiry deadlines (if different from full proposals)
• Site visit opportunities
• Grant report due dates
• Stewardship activities (thank you calls, impact updates)
• Foundation events you plan to attend

Review this calendar weekly and monthly to ensure nothing falls through the cracks.

Develop Standard Research Protocols

Create a checklist for researching each new foundation prospect. This ensures you gather the same information consistently and can compare prospects objectively. Your protocol might include:

1. Review foundation website and mission statement
2. Download and read most recent annual report
3. Access last three years of Form 990-PF
4. Analyze giving patterns (create spreadsheet of grants)
5. Identify decision makers and research their backgrounds
6. Check for board or staff connections to your organization
7. Review application requirements and restrictions
8. Assign rating (A, B, or C)
9. Determine cultivation strategy

Having a standard protocol also makes it easier to delegate research to staff or volunteers.

Engage Your Entire Team

Foundation grant searching shouldn’t fall solely on the grant writer or development director. Engage program staff, board members, and even clients in the process.

Program staff often know which foundations fund specific methodologies or populations. Board members can identify corporate foundations connected to their employers. Clients and community members can point out locally focused foundations.

Create a simple form that anyone on your team can use to suggest foundation prospects. Include fields for foundation name, why they think it’s a good fit, and any personal connections. Review these suggestions during regular prospect research sessions.

What to Do Once You’ve Found Promising Foundation Grants

You’ve built your prospect list—now what?

Prioritize Your Prospects

You can’t apply to everyone at once. Prioritize based on:

• Application deadlines (what’s coming up first?)
• Funding urgency (what programs need funding most urgently?)
• Relationship status (where do you have warm introductions or existing relationships?)
• Likelihood of success (where is fit strongest?)

Create a realistic timeline for applications. Most grants take 20 to 40 hours to write, including research, drafting, review, and revision. Don’t overcommit.

Start Relationship Building Immediately

For A-list prospects, begin cultivation now even if the application deadline is months away. Send a brief introductory email to the program officer. Mention why you think your work aligns with their priorities and ask if they’d be open to a brief conversation or site visit.

Keep these initial outreach messages short and focused on their interests, not your needs. You’re beginning a relationship, not making an immediate ask.

Prepare Your Application Materials

Before you start writing proposals, ensure you have current versions of standard attachments:

• IRS determination letter
• Most recent audited financial statements (or Form 990)
• Current organizational budget
• Board of directors list with affiliations
• Letters of support from partners or community members
• Organizational timeline or history
• Staff bios or organizational chart

Having these materials ready prevents last-minute scrambles when deadlines approach.

Write Proposals That Reflect Your Research

Every proposal should reflect the research you’ve done on that specific foundation. Use language from their mission statement and annual report. Reference their previous grants if relevant. Demonstrate that you understand their priorities and explain clearly how your project advances their goals.

Generic proposals fail. Customized proposals that show you’ve done your homework succeed.

Continue Learning: Resources to Sharpen Your Foundation Grant Search Skills

The foundation landscape constantly evolves. Stay current with these resources:

Chronicle of Philanthropy tracks major gifts, foundation announcements, and sector trends. Read it regularly to spot new opportunities and understand where philanthropy is heading.

Grant Professionals Association offers training, certification, and networking opportunities. Their competencies framework can guide your professional development, and local chapters provide peer support.

Candid’s Learning Resources include webinars, podcasts, and articles on foundation research and grant writing. Many are free.

Foundation staff and trustees often publish articles or give interviews about their grantmaking philosophy. Set up Google Alerts for foundations on your prospect list to catch these insights.

Attend professional conferences like GPA’s annual conference or regional association gatherings. You’ll hear directly from foundation representatives and learn what’s working for other nonprofits.

Your Next Steps: Take Action Today

You now have a comprehensive roadmap for finding foundation grants. Don’t let this information sit idle. Take these immediate actions:

This week:

• Determine whether your organization can access Candid’s Foundation Directory Online (through a library or paid subscription)
• Create a basic prospect tracking spreadsheet with fields for rating prospects and tracking deadlines
• Pull the 990s for three foundations you’ve heard of and analyze their giving patterns

This month:

• Search databases for 20 to 30 foundation prospects using your organization’s mission, geography, and programs as search terms
• Research your top ten prospects thoroughly and assign ratings
• Reach out to at least one program officer to introduce your organization or request an informational meeting

This quarter:

• Attend one foundation information session or professional development workshop
• Build cultivation strategies for your five best prospects
• Submit proposals to three well-matched foundations
• Create a grants calendar for the next twelve months

Finding foundation grants requires patience, research skills, and relationship building. It’s not magic—it’s methodical work that pays off when you approach it systematically. Start with the strategies in this guide, track what works for your organization, and refine your approach over time.

The foundations are out there, looking for organizations like yours to fund. Your job is to find them, show them your value, and build partnerships that advance your shared missions. Start searching today.