The easy and free way to find foundations that will fund your organization.
Today I’m going to give you my super easy three step process for finding private grants for nonprofits. When you’ve finished this guide you will have three easy steps to kickstart your grant writing program and if you follow the steps will have at least a handful of relevant foundations to apply to for funding, all for free!.
Before you get started you might want to download the free pdf, with two simple worksheets, I’ve put together to help organize the process. Otherwise, let’s get into it!
Step 1 – Make A Simple List
Take out a piece of paper and make three columns on it or use Worksheet 1 from the download above. In the first column write Banks & Credit Unions, in the second column write Hospitals, and in the third column write Major Companies.
Now make a list of every Bank, Credit Union, Major Corporation, and Hospital in your area. If you’re familiar with your area you can probably come up with these off the top of your head, otherwise type it into Google. Almost every one of these businesses will have a foundation connected to them or a charitable program, and most will give to your local region some exclusively. Hospitals and Banks are even required to have community reinvestment programs. Once you’ve exhausted every organization you can think of move on to step two.
Step 2 – Find The Matching Missions
Now you’re going to narrow down the list by finding the foundations that might be a good match for your organization and writing this information down in a separate list or on worksheet two from the download. To do this you’ll need to search online for each organizations foundation or charitable giving arm. Often you can just type in the companies name + grants and Google will direct you to the appropriate page. Other times you have to search through their website. As you’re searching you’re looking for three specific things:
-
- Grant criteria and priorities, or what they fund. This will tell you if they fund the type of work you do at your organization. This is important. Applying to foundations that don’t fund you’re type of work is a big waste of both yours and their time. Often the foundation will list the category that they fund such as Education, Community Development, Youth Services, Hunger, etc… Sometimes, they fund more broadly based upon geography. Any that match with your organizations mission, write them down on worksheet 2.
- Deadline or Grant Cycle. This will tell you when to apply. Some foundations accept applications on an ongoing basis, others have two or three cycles per year, and others are just once per year. Write this down on the worksheet.
- Contact person. If you can find it be sure to note down the name, phone, and email of the contact person for the grant application process. This information isn’t always readily accessible, so you might have to do a little more research to find this info. Write this down on the worksheet
Research Tips: Here’s how I look for a companies foundation and grant page.
-
- Do a Google search for the company name + foundation or grant. For example if I’m searching for grant information for Golden One Credit Union I would search in Google “Golden One Credit Union Grant” and see what comes up.
- Go to the companies website and look for the navigation link that says something about philanthropy, foundation, grants, community investment, give back, etc… Often this can be found in the footer section on the very bottom of the page.
- Call the companies main office number and ask to speak with someone who handles their grant program or community reinvestment program.
Step 3 – Pick Up The Phone
Applying for grants is a human-to-human process. If you’ve done your research and found a foundation that has matching priorities with your organization, then the best thing to do is talk to them, preferably in person, but at least on the phone. This is your chance to inspire them with the amazing work you’re doing and get more details on what they are looking to fund. It’s a chance to start building a lasting relationship with the foundation. Taking this step drastically increases your chances of being awarded the grant funding you’re looking for now and long into the future.
And there you have it! You’re well on your way to running a successful grant program for your organization. Let me know how this method worked for you by leaving a comment below or shoot me an email at justin@nonprofit-success.com