How to Learn to Do Grant Research
If you want to seek grant funding for yourself or a non-profit organization, knowing about the grant process can simplify the process and make it easier for you to grasp. Grants provide funding necessary for many non-profit organizations to keep their doors open and continue offering their programs. Knowing how to do grant research can help you focus your effort on finding the right funders to support your program.
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Instructions
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Familiarize yourself with grant terminology before you begin conducting a grant search. You should understand the types of grants available and what those types of grants will cover. For instance, core operating or general operating support provides funding for regular operations. This allows organizations to develop and implement solutions to solve problems. Program support provides funding for an organization to continue its projects and meet its goals and objectives within a specific timeline.
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Practice using grant databases so you may better understand how the databases work. If you search for foundation or corporate grant opportunities, you should know how to use a system like the Foundation Center. Government grant opportunities are usually posted through grants.gov. Databases provide you with an opportunity to search by the name of the foundation or government agency and implement a keyword search.
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Compile a list of potential foundations that seem like they may have an interest in supporting a cause similar to yours. You should carefully examine a potential funder's profile and their recent giving history when researching grants. Examine foundations that remain similar to yours, the type of support and the geographic area.
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Create a prospect worksheet that will help you focus on potential funders that will match your needs. This may include basic information, such as the name, address, and contact person for the funder. You may want to include financial data, including the total assets, number of grants paid, grant ranges and period of funding. You should include how the funder is a good match for your area of need, the geographic limits, type of support, population served, the number of officers or board members and board meeting dates. Outline what forms and applications are required, what guidelines you need to follow and grant deadlines.
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Gather information about the financial state of the funders you identify through your prospect worksheet. Research the foundation's giving patterns and examine annual reports, their 990 IRS return and printed guidelines.
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Tips & Warnings
Researching potential grants and determining the best prospects will require commitment, but it can prove well worth the investment.
Do not focus all of your efforts on what you believe is an ideal funder for your project. Any prospect list that you develop should have multiple funders that may donate to your organization.
