Grant Seeking, Proposal Writing & Philanthropy

by Peg Elliott, Librarian

Visit the Nonprofit Resource Center at the Robert P. Kinchen Central Library to:

Locate potential funders for your nonprofit agency;

Find information on how to write grant proposals;

Research philanthropic giving trends;

Please choose from the following:
Directories
Books
Magazines
Databases
Websites

Directories

[Available only in the Central Library]

Foundation Directory

Contains:
Foundations with assets of $2 million or more or total grants of at least $200,000 (7,549 foundations).

Use for Finding:
Detailed information on giving interests and restrictions, application guidelines, names of officers and directors, and selected grants (when available)

Foundation Directory Part 2

Contains:
Foundations with assets between $1 million and $2 million or whose total giving is between $50,000 and $200,000 (5,075 foundations)

Use for Finding:
Detailed information on giving interests and restrictions, application guidelines, names of officers and directors, and selected grants (when available)

Foundation Directory Part 3

Contains:

A comprehensive listing of U.S. grantmaking independent, community and corporate foundations and grantmaking operating foundations; Appendix B lists foundations giving only to specified beneficiaries. Appendix C lists organizations that have not engaged in grantmaking activities during the most current fiscal year on record – many of these are newly establish. Part 3 is issued in two volumes.

Use for Finding:
Foundations in a particular state, in a certain giving range, or that have recently been established or terminated. Volume Two of Part 3 provides a comprehensive name index of trustees, officers and donors enabling grantseekers to determine if an individual has affiliations with one or more foundations.

National Directory Of Corporate Giving

Contains:
Corporate charitable activities, including direct corporate giving (non-foundation) programs approx. 669) and company-sponsored foundations (approx. 1,972)

Use for Finding:
Detailed information on companies and their giving interests and restrictions, application guidelines, and names of program administrators

Foundation Grants To Individuals

Contains:
Detailed descriptions of more than 6,000 foundation programs that fund students, artists, researchers, and other individual grantseekers.

Use for Finding:
Educational support – scholarships, fellowships, loans, and internships
Students and graduates of specific schools, arts and cultural support
Awards, prizes, and grants by nomination, research and professional support

Foundations Today Series

Contains:
Unique collection of facts and figures on private and community foundations and their giving contained within the following three individual titles:

Foundation Giving Trends: Update on Funding Priorities
Examines 2004 grantmaking patterns of a sample of more than 1,000 larger U.S. foundations, and compares current giving priorities with trends since 1990

Foundation Growth and Giving Estimates: Current Outlook
Provides a first look at estimates of foundation giving for 2005 and final statistics on actual giving and assets for 2004. It also presents new top 100 foundation lists.

Foundation Yearbook: Facts and Figures on Private and Community Foundations
Documents the growth in number, giving, and assets of all active U.S. foundations from 1975 through 2004.

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Books

‘Must reads’, published by the Foundation Center

Foundation Fundamentals: A Guide for Grantseekers
by Kief Schladweiler

Foundation Center's Guide to Proposal Writing
by Jane C. Geever

Foundation Center's Guide to Winning Proposals
by Sarah Collin

New books added recently to the OCPL collection

Magazines

The Central Library subscribes to the following print magazines. Some articles and e-newsletters can also be found on their websites.

Chronicle of Philanthropy
News and trends, legislation, meetings, seminars, workshops, new grants and classified employment advertising for fundraising executives, grantseekers and nonprofit leaders.

Council on Foundations
News and features dealing with all areas of philanthropy and the private sector.

Giving USA The mission of the American Association of Fundraising Counsel is to educate and engage members in the ethical delivery of counsel and related services to nonprofits through research, advocacy and best practices.

Grassroots Fundraising Journal
Practical tips and tools to help you raise money for your organization.

Nonprofit Times
The leading business publication for nonprofit management.

Philanthropy Annual
A yearly overview of the news, issues, people, organizations, and giving trends shaping the field. Contents are drawn in part from Philanthropy News Digest, the Foundation Center’s daily online news service, as well as from selected Center research findings. Available for free use at the Central Library or downloaded for $19.95 from the website.

Philanthropy News Digest

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Databases

For an index to more articles on grant seeking, see OCPL’s Online Databases. Here you can access magazine and journal articles, newspapers, and reference books 24 hours a day using your OCPL library card and PIN.

For in-library use of the online databases, please see a librarian.

Foundation Directory Online
[available only at the Central Library]

Find information on more than 90,000 U.S. foundations including direct corporate giving programs and company-sponsored foundations, 900,000 recent grants, and more than 400,000 key decision-makers.

Foundation Grants to Individuals
[available only at the Central Library]

Quickly search through detailed descriptions of more than 6,500 foundation and public charity programs that fund students, artists, researchers, and other individual grantseekers.

For articles about grant seeking, proposal writing or philanthropy, see OCPL’s Online Databases. Here you can access magazine and journal articles, newspapers, and reference books 24 hours a day using your OCPL library card and PIN.

Business & Company Resource Center
An online database linked from the Online Databases page, can provide you with access to thousands of magazine articles.

Newsbank
A database containing searchable full-text of all locally written articles from the Syracuse newspapers from December 1986 to the present.

Use for finding:

Articles about local foundations, local fundraising activities, giving trends and grants awarded in the greater Syracuse and Onondaga County community.
News announcements about upcoming information and training sessions on grantseeking and proposal writing.

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Websites

The Foundation Center

The Foundation Center's mission is to strengthen the nonprofit sector by advancing knowledge about U.S. philanthropy. Use the Find Funders section to look up basic information on grantmakers in the U.S.—including private foundations, community foundations, grantmaking public charities, and corporate giving programs. The 990-PF Search provides online access to IRS returns offering basic financial data, a complete grants list, the names of the foundation's trustees and officers, and other information on the foundation. The 990-PF may be the only source where grantseekers will find complete grants lists for smaller foundations. Use the Gain Knowledge section for access to free online proposal writing and budgeting basics short courses and tutorials.

Many more websites on these topics can be found on the Library’s Grants and Nonprofits Internet Links page.

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For More Pathfinder Resources...

Last updated: October 23, 2009

SEARCH TOOLS

Grant Seeking, Proposal Writing & Philanthropy

Directories

Books

New books added recently to the OCPL collection

Proposal Writing for Grants

Nonprofit Organizations

Fund Raising

Magazines

Databases

Websites