Ways To Identify Foundational Grants For Your Your Nonprofit
How To Find Aligned Funders
Sometimes a foundation can appear to be the ideal match for your grantseeking needs but turn out to be quite the opposite.
The foundation’s website mentions your cause of interest.
The foundation gives grants in your state.
The foundation holds millions of dollars in assets.
Perhaps another nonprofit even listed the foundation in a “top foundations to apply to” list.
Nothing in the above proves that the foundation has any real interest in your organization’s, program’s or funding request’s mission.
This calls for another level of research.
Foundations that are most aligned with your nonprofit tend to share common characteristics such as funding similar causes, making grants in your geographic area, giving amounts within realistic range and having a giving history that allows believing that your nonprofit fits into their priorities.
This is called foundation alignment and it can help your nonprofit save precious time spent on applying for grants which in reality are never going to provide a match.
In this guide, we’ll cover how to identify foundation grants for nonprofits, researching private foundations, evaluating their giving history and creating a list of promising potential funders.
What is Foundation Alignment?
Foundation alignment means that the interests, funding priorities, past grants, geographical location and the amount of grants given by a funder match the goals of your nonprofit organization.
This does not mean that the foundation is going to fund your nonprofit.
What it does mean is that there is a proof that pursuing this foundation makes sense.
For instance, if your nonprofit offers mental health services to teens in Michigan and requires $25,000 for expanding a counselling program, a prospective foundation could:
- have provided funding for youth mental health services before;
- make grants in Michigan;
- offer support to community-based nonprofits;
- regularly provide grants of $10,000-$50,000;
- have made grants recently to counselling projects or mental health programs.
Contrast this example with a foundation that only mentions “health” as its general funding area and gives grants exclusively to universities in another state.
They both fund “health”.
But one clearly is more promising than the other.
And this contrast explains what grant research is all about.
Why a Larger Foundation Prospects List is Not Necessarily a Better Foundation Prospects List
The temptation to quantify grant research is strong. We found 200 foundations. That sounds productive. But how many of those 200 will you actually contact?
If 150 foundations don’t fund your geography, 25 mainly fund programs unrelated to yours, and 15 typically make grants far above the amount you need, you didn’t find 200 prospects. You found 10.
That’s why a shorter and better researched funding pipeline is more useful than a large foundation spreadsheet full of names.
Every bad prospect makes you work extra – more research, more emails, more Letters of Inquiry, more proposals, more attachments, more deadline reminders in your CRM system. Your staff will do something anyway. But the goal is for them to spend more of their time on foundations that offer a genuine reason to contact them.
National Council of Nonprofits makes a similar point regarding grant research: organizations need tools to identify grants for which they are eligible while excluding opportunities they have no hope of winning. National Council of Nonprofits: Grant Research Tools
The Five Things I Would Check Before Calling a Foundation a Prospect
There is no need for a foundation to completely match your organization. But here are five areas that can help you determine whether it is a worthwhile target.
1. What Programs Does This Foundation Fund?
Begin with the very basic question. Does this foundation support what your organization is doing? Not just broadly. The actual programs.
An education funder may support scholarships, early childhood education, charter schools, literacy, STEM, higher education, or teacher training.
If a foundation allocates millions to universities, it’s not necessarily a strong prospect for a neighborhood literacy nonprofit. An environmental foundation may focus on land conservation while your organization manages a wildlife rehabilitation hospital. A human services funder may almost exclusively address homelessness issues while your organization helps people to find jobs.
So you go deeper than that. Instead of does this foundation fund education, ask has this foundation funded programs similar to our programs?
2. To Whom Has This Foundation Given Grants In The Past?
Mission statement will tell you how the foundation describes itself. Granting history will show you where the money was allocated.
Look at historical grantees, purposes of the grants, grant amounts, locations of grantees, types of organizations receiving grants, recurring grantees, and changes in funding priorities.
Suppose a foundation says it cares about youth development. Then you look at its grants and realize that it funded three youth mentoring organizations, two after-school programs, a summer employment initiative and a youth mental health nonprofit. Your youth program may become worthy of further investigation.
But historical giving doesn’t guarantee future grants. Priorities change. Leadership changes. Budgets change. Organizations build relationships with donors. Historical grants simply provide you with more data.
Discover Grant Advance Foundation Profile Pages
Want to Research Grants History? Look into the 990-PF
For U.S.-based private foundations one of the most helpful public research documents is Form 990-PF. Generally, private foundations are required to file Form 990-PF annually. The IRS allows Form 990-series filings to be searched through its Tax Exempt Organization Search database.
IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search
As per IRS instructions, Form 990-PF requires foundations to provide information regarding their grant programs and, where applicable, any restrictions relating to geography, charitable fields, types of organizations and grant award limitations. Foundations also disclose their grants paid during the year. IRS
In simple terms, Form 990-PF research helps to answer such questions as who got grants, how much they received, what was the purpose of the grant, does the foundation accept unsolicited applications, are there any geographical restrictions, are there any recurring recipients.
Form 990-PF is not the light reading. But the data contained in it is more useful than a generic “Apply now” list. We have a great guide on how to read a From 990-PF.
3. Are the Grant Amounts Realistic for Your Request?
What if you need $100,000? What if you found a foundation that is highly compatible with your organizational goals? And when you explore its giving history, most relevant grants amount to $5,000 to $15,000? It does not necessarily render the foundation useless. However, it does call for reconsideration of the $100,000 request.
It happens the other way around as well. Your organization plans to submit a request for a $5,000 grant, and the foundation is known to make six-figure grants to organizations like yours. Maybe your request is too modest.
Do not take the largest grant that a funder made into account when assessing its potential contribution. Study the median and average grant size, the recent awards, grants in your program area, grants to similar organizations and grants in your geographic location.
It is not about theoretical possibility of making such a large grant. It is about what historical information allows you to expect from the funder in your particular case.
4. Where Does the Foundation Give?
Geography can eliminate a good-looking funder from the very beginning. Private and family foundations may have interests in cities, counties, states, several states, provinces, regions, nationwide and international activities.
Sometimes their preferences are stated openly. Sometimes you will need to uncover them from their giving history.
For instance, a foundation supports education and officially works nationwide. After analyzing its five-year giving history, you will see that 85% of its donations to educational causes went to organizations from one metropolitan area. This information deserves attention. See where previous grantees are located and consider whether your service area corresponds to the funder’s giving patterns.
5. Can You Actually Approach the Foundation?
A good match is not always an open application process. A foundation may accept applications all year round, follow strict deadlines, ask for a Letter of Inquiry, extend invitations to some organizations to apply, allow the first contacts by email, prefer personal talks, make grants only through personal connections or provide little information about its process.
According to the IRS, there is a field on Form 990-PF that lets a foundation say that it makes donations only to preselected organizations and does not accept unsolicited applications. IRS
“None” in the field of applications does not mean absence of any opportunity. But it does not mean that you should send your proposal anyway. Study how the funder works. If the application process is invitation-only, your approach may be different and consist in developing relations. If the funder requires Letter of Inquiry, begin with it. If the funder says that it does not accept unsolicited applications, take its words seriously.
Where Nonprofits Lose Time During Foundation Research
Inefficient grant research is not about insufficient efforts. It is about misallocation of these efforts.
Searching Only for “Open Grants”
Open grants are characterized by deadlines, application forms and instructions. So nonprofits usually search “open grants for nonprofits 2026,” “grants accepting applications” and “current nonprofit grants.” There is nothing wrong with applying for suitable open opportunities. However, private foundations may have established relations, require inquiries only on certain occasions or have other peculiarities of the grant application process. It limits your possibilities if you only search for open application forms.
Relying Only on Google
Google is useful for finding things, but it cannot replace the whole process of foundation research. The National Council of Nonprofits mentions databases, regional associations of grantmakers and IRS documents among the sources of information along with internet research.
It is easy to find a foundation with a nice website. Small family foundation with little information may be harder to find. However, it does not necessarily make it less relevant.
Chasing the Famous Foundations First
A nationally famous foundation with large assets looks irresistible. However, prestige is not alignment. A lesser-known family foundation that provided grants to five organizations in your city working in a similar field looks more promising.
Ignoring the Purpose of the Grant
You found an animal shelter in the foundation’s giving history, but the grant it received was related to the arts program the shelter organized. If you need veterinary services, the grant serves different purposes than you expected. Recipient names attract attention; grant purposes explain why money was given.
Treating Every Match as an Application
Research gives you leads, not applications. Categorize each funder as a high priority (apply now), promising (research further), relationship prospect (not yet ready to apply), future opportunity (timing is not yet right) or poor match (exclude). Treating every funder the same way defeats the purpose of qualifying them.
Private & Family Foundations Should Get More Attention
Private and family foundations can sometimes be particularly fascinating due to their unique philanthropic activities. A family might have close ties to a certain community, disease, university, cultural center, religious organization, animal rights, programs for youth, medical research or geographic region. This would lead to a more specific pattern of giving than the publicly available mission statement of the foundation.
The problem is that the relevant information can be scattered. It might take you combining tax records, historic grants, grantees, foundation’s website, contacts and geographic focus.
For U.S. private foundations, there is a publicly available form called the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search, which provides access to the 990-series return information, including 990-PF filings. That becomes significantly more valuable when analyzed with the help of patterns recognition.
Finding Foundation Grants for Your Nonprofit
It doesn’t have to begin with a list of the names of the foundations. Start with your own organization.
Step 1: Develop Your Search Criteria
Before you start your search, write down what kind of cause, program, population, geographic area, amount of money you require, type of funding, timeline and organizational structure.
Instead of Education nonprofit looking for grants, you would probably get After-school literacy program for elementary schoolchildren in rural Ohio looking for grants in $25,000–$50,000 for program expansion. Now you’ve got something that you can research. Our search engines can also help you identify grants for churches and religious organizations, human services grants and health and health care grants.
Step 2: Research Organizations Similar to Yours
One of the most effective methods of finding the funders is Who funds organizations like us?
If you have an animal rescue, look at the humane societies, animal shelters, rescue centers, veterinary charities and other similar organizations around you. If you run youth employment programs, find other nonprofits serving the same population. Then, look at their funders.
You do not have to copy the strategy of someone else. You need to identify foundations that showed their interest in your kind of work.
Step 3: Open Foundation and Investigate
When you find a foundation that fits, you shouldn’t add it right away to your application calendar. You should research the mission alignment, past giving history, geographic focus, grant size, recipient type, purposes of grants, repeat giving, application process and recent activity.
Search Foundations in Grant Advance
Step 4: Prioritize the Founders
Not all funders deserve the same amount of your attention. You can use the simple ranking system:
| Priority | Meaning |
| A | High mission, geography, grant size and giving history alignment |
| B | Good potential fit, but needs further research/cultivation |
| C | Some alignment, but some questions are left |
| Remove | Obvious misalignment of mission, geography, amount or eligibility |
You don’t have to develop some sophisticated scoring algorithm. All you need is a consistent approach to prioritization of foundations to apply to.
Step 5: Define What the Next Step Would Be
For some foundations, it will be the letter of intent. For others, the email. For some, it will be just the call. And for those that only give by invitation, your immediate goal will be to learn more about them and develop proper relationship.
How Do You Know When You’ve Found a Good Foundation Prospect?
Complete this sentence: This foundation is worth approaching because…
If your answer is: They provide grants to nonprofits. Keep searching.
If your answer is: They have provided three grants to youth mental health organizations in our state during the last four years, their related grants are usually in the range of $15,000 to $40,000, and our program works with the same audience. This looks like a strong start.
A prospect should typically give you several good reasons to approach it. You should be able to justify the alignment without stretching.
How Grant Advance Helps Nonprofits Find Better-Fit Foundations
The toughest challenge in finding foundation grants is not knowing what to look for. It is gathering all that information together. One piece of information may be on the foundation’s website. Another is in its tax filing. Grant history may uncover something that the mission statement doesn’t reveal. And the contact information will be located elsewhere.
Grant Advance brings the research on foundations to one platform so that nonprofits can search and organize potential funders.
You can use Grant Advance for:
- Searching foundation profiles
- Discovering private and family foundations
- Analyzing the historical grants
- Searching funding interests and keywords
- Researching geographic giving
- Finding previous grantees
- Comparing grant amounts
- Finding contacts
- Saving prospective foundations
- Organizing the funding pipeline
- Tracking outreach and opportunities
Grant Advance features over 225,000 foundation profiles and more than 12 million historical grants, making it one more way for nonprofits to research the funding patterns apart from the public grant application lists.
Discover Search Tools for Foundation Research
Frequently Asked Questions on Foundation Grants for Nonprofits
How do nonprofits find foundation grants?
Nonprofits can discover foundation grants via foundation research platforms, tax filings of the funders, foundation websites, regional grantmaker organizations and research into funders that support organizations similar to yours. Usually, the best prospects match multiple criteria such as mission, geography, grant amount and giving history.
What is foundation alignment?
Foundation alignment implies a good match between a nonprofit’s activities and a funder’s giving. It may involve shared cause areas, geographic alignment, similar previous recipients, proper grant size and compatible funding priorities.
Why is the giving history of a foundation important?
The giving history reveals the actual giving of a foundation. The previous grants may uncover various patterns related to causes, recipient types, geographic areas, award sizes and repeated funding not revealed in the mission statement of a foundation.
Where can I find the previous grants of a private foundation?
For US-based private foundations, Form 990-PF is a valuable source. You can find Form 990-series tax filings in the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search. Foundation research platforms like Grant Advance can make the historical grant information easier to research and compare.
What should I pay attention to in Form 990-PF?
Previous grants and recipients, grant amounts, grant purposes, application information and any geographic, charitable field or recipient type restrictions. According to IRS regulations, certain grant-making information is required to appear in the return.
Are private family foundations good prospects for nonprofits?
They can be. But the important factor is not just whether a funder is a family foundation but whether its giving history, geography, typical awards and funding priorities match your organization.
Should I apply to every foundation that funds my sector?
No. Sector-wide matching is just the start. Study the grants that the foundation actually provides within your sector, where it gives, how much it awards and to what type of organizations.
Is it better to apply to more foundations?
Not really. Applying to more foundations increases the workload. Instead, try to gather a sufficiently large list of well-qualified prospects.
What if a foundation does not provide any grant application on its website?
Study the current process of its funding before making any assumptions. Some foundations have LOI process, invitation-only process or some other process. Form 990-PF may also indicate when a U.S. private foundation makes grants to pre-selected organizations only and does not accept unsolicited proposals.
How much should we ask a foundation for?
Calculate based on your funding needs and giving history of the foundation. Look at grants to organizations/projects similar to yours instead of taking the largest grant the foundation has provided in history as a benchmark.
Prospective List of Foundations That Change Everything Afterward
Grant writing is highly appreciated. Prospect research is not. While a very good proposal cannot create any alignment that doesn’t exist in reality.
Instead of wondering how you can make your proposal better, try to understand why you send it to this foundation. If you can justify it using data from the mission, geography, grant amount and giving history of the foundation, your outreach efforts will start from a more solid position.
The point is not to find all existing foundations. It is to find enough foundations with good alignment.
