How to Find Grants for Your Nonprofit

Your nonprofit is doing great work, and you need funding to keep it going – or to scale up. Inside Philanthropy can help. 

Nonprofits are funded mostly by contributed income in the form of grants and donations. Nonprofits can get grants from many different types of grantmakers, including large private foundations, family foundations, community foundations, donor-advised funds and corporate foundations. 

Every funder has its own priorities and processes. To find grants for your nonprofit, it helps to research funders and prioritize approaching those that are a likely fit for your organization. There are several websites that provide information about grants based on publicly available data drawn from 990s, a form that nonprofit organizations must file with the IRS. 

Inside Philanthropy goes beyond 990 data to provide insider analysis from expert researchers that will help you hone in on top funder prospects for your nonprofit. IP’s funder profiles offer insights that will help you identify strong funder prospects and get your foot through the funding door. 

What are best practices for applying for grants?

Be sure to deeply research each funder, find funders that align closely with your nonprofit, and follow application guidelines, whether that is starting with an LOI, contacting a funder, or writing a grant proposal. 

1. Before you apply for a grant, make sure you are ready to do so. Fundraisers should conduct research to:
   • Find grants that are a good fit for your nonprofit. 
   • Understand each funder’s grant guidelines and priorities. 

2. To apply for grants for a nonprofit, you need to be able to answer questions such as: 
   • What is your nonprofit’s mission and history? 
   • Is your nonprofit a 501c3 or do you have a fiscal sponsor? 
   • What is the project budget? What is the organization’s annual budget?
   • What other funding have you secured for the project or organization? 

3. In applying for grants, it helps to have clear text explaining 
   • The project for which you are seeking funding.
   • The projected impact of the project – grantmakers like to see measurable goals and outcomes.
   • The organization’s track record of successful projects.

4. Grant applications often require attachments, such as:
   • IRS letter confirming nonprofit status.
   • Project budget and annual organizational budget.
   • Audited financials. 
   • List of other funders.

Many grant research management tools can identify funders by focus area, average grant amount, or another piece of publicly available information, but are unable to give more nuanced insights into funding priorities and how to stand out with your grant application. 

The IP Takes section of Inside Philanthropy’s Grant Finder profiles offers insights such as how approachable a funder is, and important things to keep in mind about a funder if you’re considering reaching out.

How to Research Grants for Nonprofits

The first step in finding a grant for your nonprofit is to conduct prospect research to identify grant opportunities. Searching by grant ranges, geographic and focus areas is not enough. How do you get through the funding door? Is this funder the right fit for you? When researching prospective funders, you’ll want to find out:

• What is the funder’s mission? 
• What are the funder’s grantmaking priorities?
• What kinds of support do they offer? 
• What size grants do they make for new grantees? Is this a multi-year funder?
• Does the funder accept unsolicited grant proposals or LOIs? 
• If they don’t accept unsolicited applications, how can you get on their funding radar?
• What are the grant eligibility requirements? 
• What is the best way to contact the foundation?
• Is there a particular funding lens through which this funder conducts giving?
• To which geographical areas does a funder limit giving?
• How competitive are grants from this funder? 
• What unique giving information should a grantseeker keep in mind before applying?
• Is this a transparent or approachable funder? 
• Is this a trust-based funder?

Many online platforms offer some answers to these questions in the form of data culled from 990 reports. Inside Philanthropy goes beyond 990 data to help you narrow down the list of funder prospects with several tools that give the inside scoop into which funders might be right for your nonprofit: 

• Grant Finder leads you to in-depth profiles of thousands of funders in more than 100 grantmaking areas. The profiles are written by expert researchers – not AI regurgitating other websites or simply scraping 990 data. Grant Finder includes all of the key funders in every focus area and state that conduct at least $250,000 in grants a year. 
• IP Takes set our funder profiles apart from other fundraising websites. At the top of each funder profile, our IP Take pulls back the curtain on a foundation’s giving priorities with an insider’s analysis of their funding habits and history – going far beyond publicly available data, RFPs, grant guidelines, and information you could find on a funder’s website. Tips for grantseekers will give you ideas about how to position your grant proposal to stand out for this particular funder in a competitive space. 
• 1-on-1 research support helps you make the most of Grant Finder. If you find that you need further help narrowing your search or you’re just not finding what you’re looking for, Inside Philanthropy provides individualized support for your search. No other grant management tool provides live support.

How to Search for Grants Using Inside Philanthropy’s Grant Finder

To find funders who make grants in your geographic or issue area, use the Find a Grant search. You can search by foundation name, keywords, and state. The broader your search terms, the more funders you’ll find.

How to Tell If a Grant Is a Good Fit for My Nonprofit

Your time is limited. You can’t apply for every grant, and you want to spend your fundraising time wisely. Inside Philanthropy can help save you time and maximize your  success with getting grants. 

Effective fundraisers and grantseekers research funders and grant opportunities and then thoughtfully prioritize which ones to apply for. As you read funder profiles, consider:

• How good a fit is this foundation for my nonprofit’s grant needs? 
• How likely is my nonprofit to get a grant from this funder? 
• Is the time we will spend applying for this grant worth it for the amount we are likely to receive? 
• What are Inside Philanthropy’s suggestions to make our grant proposal more competitive?

How can I learn more about grants for nonprofits and different funding landscapes?

The more you know about philanthropy and funders, the better you’ll be at fundraising. Beyond thousands of funder profiles, Inside Philanthropy offers context, news, and analysis to help you learn more about philanthropy.

Funding guides

In addition to researching grantmakers one by one, it’s helpful to understand the philanthropic landscape in which you are seeking funding. To learn more about the funding landscape in which you will be applying for grants, browse Inside Philanthropy’s curated funding guides, which offer an at-a-glance view of 100+ funding categories, and read our State of American Philanthropy reports on dozens of funding areas. 

Here you can learn about funding trends in different geographic areas and philanthropic spaces. This information provides helpful context as you are researching grants. Inside Philanthropy’s funding guides are updated annually so that you can learn about the latest dynamics shaping different funding landscapes.

Philanthropy 101

Learn more about how philanthropy works with IP Explainers. You’ll find:

• Definitions of key terms such as What is a philanthropic intermediary? and What is impact investing? 
• How-to guides on topics such as How to write a grant report. 
• Technical explanations such as What’s the difference between a 501c3 and a 501c4?
• Summaries of key debates within philanthropy such as Who should decide what gets funded? 

Philanthropy news and analysis

A great way to learn about funders and grant opportunities is to stay informed about what’s going on in philanthropy. Inside Philanthropy’s team of journalists offer daily reporting and analysis of philanthropy.  

• The latest news in philanthropy. 
• Searchable archive of thousands of articles.
• Newsletters on trends in philanthropy. 
• Exclusive interviews with foundation leaders and philanthropists.

Find your next grant for your nonprofit with Inside Philanthropy’s Grant Finder, which identifies key analysis that 990s don’t provide. Subscribe today to become a member. 

You might also want to check out:

Grant Finder: Find Grants for Your Nonprofit. Data and analysis beyond 990s.