Invitation-Only Grants for Nonprofits: How Do You Get Invited to Apply? 

You find a foundation that looks almost perfect. 

They support your cause. 

They give to your area. 

Their previous grants are in the range your nonprofit needs. 

Then you find the sentence: 

Applications are by invitation only. 

Now what? 

An invitation-only grant means the funder selects organizations it wants to consider and invites those nonprofits to submit a proposal or application. You cannot simply submit an application if you meet the criteria. 

But this doesn’t necessarily mean that the foundation always funds the same organizations. 

The real question is: 

How does your nonprofit become an organization the foundation wants to know more about? 

Usually, it happens well before the application. 

Research the foundation. Study its giving history. Identify past recipients. Find connections. Increase visibility around your work. And when appropriate, introduce your nonprofit without ignoring the foundation’s process. 

What Is an Invitation-Only Grant? 

An invitation-only grant is a grant opportunity where the funder selects organizations and invites them to apply. 

The nonprofit does not initiate the formal application process on its own. 

Invitation-only grants are common among some private and family foundations, which prefer to identify potential grant recipients through their own research, connections, referrals, community engagement, or giving history. 

For U.S. private foundations, this type of grant opportunity may also be reflected in Form 990-PF. The IRS provides an option for private foundations that only contribute to selected charitable organizations and do not accept unsolicited applications. 

That is why it is important to understand the actual process of the funder before reaching out. 

Invitation-Only vs. Open Grant Applications 

Open Grant Opportunity	Invitation-Only Grant
Nonprofits can generally apply if eligible	Foundation selects organizations it wants to consider
Application instructions are usually published	Formal application is provided after invitation
May have public deadlines	Timing depends on the funder’s internal process
Applicant initiates the application	Foundation initiates the formal application
Competition may involve many applicants	Potential applicants are preselected
Guidelines may be publicly available	Public information may be limited
Nonprofit focuses on meeting application requirements	Nonprofit must first understand how organizations become eligible for an invitation

Neither of the options automatically makes the grant easier or more difficult to obtain. 

They require different approaches from the nonprofit side. 

In the case of an open grant, the initial question is: 

How do we submit a strong application? 

With an invitation-only funder, the earlier question is: 

Why would this foundation be interested in us? 

Why Do Foundations Use Invitation-Only Grantmaking? 

There are many reasons why foundations use this approach. 

A foundation may: 

• Have a small staff or board 
• Receive more requests than it can reasonably evaluate 
• Have very specific grant priorities 
• Want to conduct research itself 
• Work mostly through its existing community connections 
• Work geographically narrowly 
• Have a list of nonprofit partners 
• Rely on its trustees and/or advisors to find grantees 

Invitation-only grants may help a funder limit the number of applications to review. 

However, for nonprofits, it means that traditional grant searching is only a part of the process. 

Your nonprofit should understand how this foundation finds and considers potential recipients. 

How Do You Get Invited to Apply for a Grant? 

There is no magic formula guaranteeing an invitation. 

But there are several things that can help your nonprofit become a more aligned recipient for a foundation. 

1. Start With Giving History 

Before trying to contact an invitation-only foundation, understand whether it even belongs to its radar. 

Take a look at their previous grants. 

Ask yourself: 

• What types of organizations receive funding? 
• What causes does the foundation support? 
• In what geography does it give money? 
• What are typical grant amounts? 
• Are grants for programs or operating support? 
• Does the foundation repeatedly fund the same organizations? 
• Do new organizations appear in its recent history? 
• Are there any organizations like ours in its giving history? 

For U.S. private foundations, Form 990-PF is a great source of information on grantmaking. These foundations have to file this return annually, and the instructions require them to provide grant information, recipients, and purposes. 

What we see in foundation research: Mission of a foundation is the starting point, but its grants can help you find out who the funder really supports, where it gives money, what amounts it provides, and whether there are organizations like yours in its giving history. 

This becomes particularly important with invitation-only foundations as there may be no public application page for research. 

If you would like to learn more about this process, read our guide on how to qualify foundations for nonprofit grants. 

2. Identify New Recipients 

One of the best questions you can ask is: 

Does this foundation fund organizations they have not funded before? 

Imagine that you are analyzing five years of the foundation’s history. 

If there are essentially the same organizations every year, the foundation has a rather stable circle of recipients. 

If there are some new recipients every year, it tells you something else. 

It doesn’t mean that you know how the foundation introduces these organizations and doesn’t guarantee that the foundation is looking for new grantees. 

But it means that its funding relationships are not static. 

Check several years of the foundation’s history. A great place to start is our grant search engines!

They can tell you a lot of information that a single filing cannot reveal. 

3. Research Similar Nonprofits 

If the foundation funds organizations similar to yours, research them as well. 

Look at: 

• Their mission 
• Programs 
• Geography 
• Population served 
• Size 
• Leadership 
• Community connections 
• Other funders 

And then ask: 

What do these organizations have in common with us? 

You may understand that the foundation gives money to nonprofits concentrating in a certain community, serving a certain population, or running a certain program. 

This will give you a more realistic understanding of whether your nonprofit may fit. 

It may also reveal legitimate connections between your organization and organizations already known to the foundation. 

4. Identify Connections 

Connections may be important. 

It doesn’t mean that you should know a billionaire or somehow personally contact the foundation. 

Use your professional network to identify legitimate professional and community connections to the foundation, its trustees, or recipients. 

Consider: 

• Board members 
• Staff 
• Donors 
• Volunteers 
• Community partners 
• Other nonprofit leaders 
• Advisors 
• Local business people 

See whether anyone of them has a legitimate professional or community connection to the foundation, its trustees, or recipients. 

A connection will help you to attract the foundation’s attention when there is alignment. 

But connections shouldn’t substitute research. 

Even if you contact a trustee, it won’t make an organization a good prospect if the foundation doesn’t have a history of supporting your cause and community. 

5. Establish Visibility in Your Community 

Foundations cannot consider organizations that never contact them. 

For locally focused foundations in particular, visibility in your nonprofit’s community can be crucial. 

This may be done through: 

• Good community partnerships 
• Collaborative programs 
• Community events 
• Community networks 
• Community leadership 
• Public impact reporting 
• Connections with other nonprofit organizations 
• Thought leadership in your field 

6. Respect “No Unsolicited Proposals” 

If a foundation doesn’t accept unsolicited proposals, do not send a grant proposal anyway. 

Do not think that finding an email address of a foundation’s trustee gives you the right to ignore the official process. 

Research the foundation first. 

Find information about: 

• Contacting the foundation 
• General inquiries 
• Letters of Inquiry 
• Introductions 
• Eligibility questions 
• Grant guidelines 
• Funding process 

If a foundation explicitly states that it doesn’t accept inquiries or unsolicited contact, respect that. 

You can still research the foundation, follow its giving history, find relevant connections, and understand whether the foundation is worth monitoring. 

7. Send a Brief Introduction When Appropriate 

There is a difference between introduction of your organization and unsolicited grant proposal. 

If the foundation provides the method of contacting it and doesn’t prohibit introducing communications, it may sometimes be appropriate to introduce your organization. 

Keep it short. 

Let the foundation know: 

• Who your nonprofit serves 
• What work you do 
• Why you think there may be alignment 
• Specific information that made you think about contacting the foundation 

For example, your reason for contacting the foundation may be the fact that it repeatedly supports organizations providing mental health services for youth in your county. 

It is better than: 

“We are looking for funding and would like to apply for a grant.” 

You prove that there is a reason for further communication. 

Then let the foundation decide whether it would like to continue. 

Should You Send an LOI to an Invitation-Only Foundation? 

Not necessarily. 

A Letter of Inquiry may be a great tool to introduce an organization if a foundation accepts such letters. 

But if a foundation explicitly doesn’t accept unsolicited requests, sending an LOI may still violate its process. 

First, research the funder’s instructions. 

Just the fact that a letter of inquiry is shorter than a proposal doesn’t automatically make it acceptable. 

What If There Is No Application Information Available? 

This may happen with small private and family foundations. 

A foundation may have: 

• No website 
• No application portal 
• No public deadline 
• No guidelines 

Do not rush to think that this means the foundation needs a grant proposal. 

For U.S. private foundations, research may continue through: 

• Form 990-PF filings 
• Grants 
• Previous recipients 
• Geographic giving 
• Typical grant amounts 
• Directors and trustees 
• Professional connections 

Grant Advance Foundation Profile Pages can also help nonprofits to research foundation information and giving history and to understand whether this funder is worth pursuing. 

Signals that an Invitation-Only Foundation Is Worth Pursuing 

A foundation becomes more interesting when there are several pieces of evidence. 

Signal	What to Look For
Mission alignment	The foundation regularly funds work related to your cause
Geographic alignment	The foundation funds organizations where you operate
Similar recipients	Similar organizations are present in its giving history
Realistic grant amounts	Typical awards fit your funding needs
Active now	The foundation is currently giving in your area
New recipients	New organizations join its grant portfolio every year
Relevant connections	Legitimate professional or community connections exist

Single evidence alone is rarely enough. 

Several signals of alignment will be a stronger reason to monitor a foundation as a potential grant funder. 

Things Not To Do with Invitation-Only Foundations 

Do not: 

• Submit a full application despite restrictions 
• Mass-email trustees 
• Treat every connection as an introduction opportunity 
• Ask a person you don’t know to “get you a grant” 
• Contact a foundation again and again 
• Think that a large asset balance makes the foundation a good prospect 
• Ignore giving history 
• Try to disguise funding request as a casual conversation 

Foundation fundraising is a long-term process. 

Thoughtful and researched introduction may give you an opportunity. 

How Grant Advance Helps Research Invitation-Only Foundations 

Invitation-only grants are one of the reasons nonprofit grant research should go beyond looking for open grant opportunities. 

If you look only for foundations that currently post applications, you will never see foundations that have a different grant process. 

Grant Advance helps nonprofits to research private foundations through funder and historical grant data. 

Using our grant search engines for nonprofits, organizations can research: 

• Private and family foundations 
• Grants 
• Previous recipients 
• Giving interests 
• Geographic giving 
• Typical grant amounts 
• Funder information 
• Contacts 

Invitation Only Does Not Mean You Stop Researching 

Stumbling across the phrase “invitations only” might lead you to believe that your journey has ended. 

But it does not. 

It tells you that your approach must change. 

Do not submit an unsolicited proposal to a foundation that never asked for one. 

Instead: 

Research → Qualify → Seek connections → Gain visibility → Introduce yourself appropriately → Develop a relationship 

Learn what foundations do with their money. 

Find out who the current grantee organizations are. 

See if there are any new grantee organizations joining the list. 

Evaluate whether your organization is a good fit. 

Since the key to invitation-only grants is to become an organization worthy of an invitation. 

Looking for Compatible Private Foundations for Your Nonprofit? 

Grant Advance provides research into private foundations, historic grants, giving trends, grantee organizations, and possible funding matches for nonprofits. 

Schedule a free consultation with Grant Advance to learn how your nonprofit can refine its private foundation research efforts. 

Frequently Asked Questions About Invitation-Only Grants