Quick Guide to Identifying Potential Funders

A Complete Picture

Regularly search for funding opportunities from federal, state and private funders.  You want a complete picture of available funding.  Some of our clients have requested that we focus searches on specific projects; however, we recommend expanding searches to include undeveloped programming as well. 

Online Searches

In your search for grant funding, you'll need to reference multiple comprehensive grant databases.  You can use websites like cfda.gov and grants.gov to track federal funding opportunities.  Check your State website for public notices about state funding opportunities.  Private funding databases typically charge a monthly or annual fee and can be really expensive.  Try not to spend a lot of money and try finding a funder database specific to your region. 

Also, consider resources that might be available through your local library or University.  For example, Foundation Directory Online is available for free at most public libraries.  Take a day to do a broad search and save as many prospect profiles as you can to a flash drive.  You can always reference these files later from your own office.  A database like FDO doesn't receive too many significant updates, so you won't have to do this comprehensive search more than a couple of times each year.  If it's been a while and you feel that information about a funder has been updated, check their website first. 

Keep Track

Prepare short weekly updates on your progress.  When you do find a prospect, prepare a comprehensive prospect profile for further review and future reference.  Foundation Center has a great template for noting relevant information, but be sure to revise it for your own purposes.  If you do contact a funder, make sure to keep track of interactions in your prospect profile. 

Private Funders

When preparing summaries, you obviously want to note grant amounts awarded and guideline summaries, but especially with private funders, try to go a little further than that.  Try to understand how you and the funder fit beyond a single project.  Do you share similar philosophies?  How does your organization as a whole fulfill the funder’s goals?  Aside from finances, how can the funder serve as a resource for you in the future?  Create your own list of relevant questions and track related information in your prospect profiles.