Various, Sundry & Solid Funding Research Sources
For Your Eyes And Pursuits
Before trotting out the items that follow, I feel compelled to suggest that, if there is a problem to befall your intrepid pursuit of resources, it is likely to be the overwhelming volume of data that can spill out when you get going ‚ especially if you’re concentrating on what the Internet has to present. As you know or will know, the immense power of the net is embodied in its linking capacity. One click becomes fifty. As far as this goes, you could begin with either of the first two entries and be information-rich, not necessarily grants-rich, but information-rich. So, this compendium represents my bobbing and weaving idiosyncrasies on the ocean of information. Climb aboard.
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Might as well start with Google, or your preferred search engine. Every other site to follow would show up somehow on this one. Typing in a term as general as “nonprofit funding sources” leads to 14.9 million prospective hits.
One-of-a-kind Funding Source Research
Michigan State University Library
A site orchestrated by one Jon Harrison, this is my absolute favorite one-stop shop for funding research. There may be equally good library sites, but I stopped when I got to this one. Reference to 41 categories under the heading, Grants & Related Resources, and these include grants for nonprofits & individuals and funding for economic development among them.
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Healthy Nonprofit Organizations
Discover Total Resources
This is a study in common sense because it emphasizes the concept of diversified resources, the pursuit of which would mark the work of a healthy nonprofit, or one seeking to build up a healthy existence. (link connects to downloadable pdf file)
The Finance Project
Some years ago, I stumbled upon the web site for the Welfare Information Network, now folded into the site for The Finance Project. The value of this location is the scope of subjects it covers, all concentrating on information & tools to improve resources for children, families & communities. Plenty of funding-directed resources included.
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Nonprofit Management
Nonprofit Resource Center
This is a superior organization with which I have had a longstanding & mutually beneficial relationship. As a Management Support Organization, it facilitates training and consulting services, usually among nonprofits. It also offers a wealth of information about the nonprofit realm, including grant makers and how to access them. This comes in the form of print materials, electronic access, and a sharp, engaging staff.
Idealist.org
I’ve recently checked back at Idealist.org, a web site originally found when I went looking for the Frequently Asked Questions formerly published by The Internet Nonprofit Center. Idealist now houses the FAQs. It’s a useful site, as should be evident when you consider that there are 20 categories to research under the heading of development.
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Federal Government Funding
The U.S. National Archives & Records Administration
No I’m not nuts. It’s here because it handles information about the Federal Register very well (Why should I read it? Who uses it? Where is it available? How do I find the information I need?) The answers to those questions will confirm why you need to consult the register in the first place – it is the fundamental source of information about federal grants. I also like the way the archives’ gremlins handle the U. S. Government Manual, the annual publication that lays out for the reader our gummint in all its splendor – the legislative, judicial, and executive branches; along with other related orgs, such a quasi-official agencies. For agency entries you will discover organizational charts & who runs major units by name. Also, if you want to locate your local federal depository library, where you can walk through building portals to get federal funding research, this site’ll give you the address. Sweet.
Grants.gov
FirstGov.Gov, the original site for much of the voluminous data that emanates from the feds has morphed into USA.Gov. When you sign on @ USA.Gov, one of the first categories your eyes will capture is Benefits & Grants, and shortly thereafter you will secure access to Grants.Gov. While I suspect that you may find some of the other categories on USA.Gov valuable, you can go directly to Grants.Gov.
Catalog Of Federal Domestic Assistance
What has 2200 + pages, displaying detailed information on the grant making programs of 26 federal agencies, identified by a five digit number known as the CFDA or Catalog Number? (CFDA Number 19.409 identifies the Creative Arts Program at The State Department. Who knew?) All this & more will be found in the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance, that’s what. This standard reference has been around since the late War on Poverty (RIP), and it’s always been a good piece of work – if you know, or want to know, that federal resources might be worth pursuing for your organization. ______________________________________
State Government Funding
Grants - State Of California
When I went to check out triple w getgrants dot CA dot Gov, a site with a checkered past, I found a couple of politicians overlaying it as if it were theirs. This once valuable web site (two administrations ago) has now moved on. What you now get is a sub-set of the mother State of California Government web site, and it looks like it is useful, listing state-based funding opportunities under nine categories.
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Private Sector Funding
The Foundation Center
Maintains a useful web site. It covers lots of ground on which some 73,000 grant making foundations sit. If you know the name of a particular private or community foundation, grant making public charity, or corporate giving program, this site will give you rudimentary information and, often access to several years’ worth of 990 PF info. The high quality, detailed stuff about these grant makers on the formidable data base the center operates ain’t for free. The web site will detail cost plans for print materials or electronic access if you want to do this on your own. Another option for you and virtue of this web site is that it will direct you to the nearest Cooperating Collection, usually a library that houses reference print materials & sit-down electronic access to the center’s data base. You will get access to 990 PFs at many of these places also.
California Office of the Attorney General
As for 990 PFs just named, these are the annual tax returns of private foundations. A reader can learn a given foundation’s “managers” (which might include some board members), financial information, and grants made for the year of record along with the organizations receiving them. You will find them accessible, as just described, or you can check in at the State Attorney General’s web site here in CA to get into them. (See Guidestar, next.) Guidestar
Guide Star
I’m sticking with Guidestar simply because it purports to include information on more nonprofits than any other outfit – current stats indicate a data base that holds information on 1.8 million IRS recognized organizations. The emphasis is on allowing a prospective donor to assess the financial credibility of a listed organization considered for funding. What makes the data base more intriguing from a grant seeking perspective is that 990s for grant making foundations are accessible.
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Program Evaluation
CDC Evaluation Working Group
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A few of our Mendocino Coast Neighbors
La Petite Maison: A Mendocino vacation rental cottage.
A lovely cottage in the forest near Mendocino Village. Site orchestrated by one Jon Harrison, this is my absolute favorite one-stop shop for funding research. There may be equally good library sites, but I stopped when I got to this one. Reference to 41 categories under the heading, Grants & Related Resources, and these include grants for nonprofits & individuals and funding for economic development among them.
Cynthia Myers Art Glass
Sand carved art glass from Cynthia Myers.
Digging Dog Nursery
A dazzling variety of perenials, grasses, trees and vines for your garden.
Bored Feet Press
Books and maps to help you explore Mendocino, California, and the rest of the west.
Hands On Leather
Hand crafted leather bags, belts, and headbands from the Greene Sisters.
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