The process of finding grants typically begins with prospect research. Foundation Directory Online is the Foundation Center's searchable database that provides an unsurpassed level of comprehensive and accurate information on U.S. grantmakers and their grants.

To use it from your own computer, you can choose from five subscription plans that you can renew by the month or year. You can also use it for free at our locations nationwide.

New to finding funders? Start learning now with our free class, Introduction to Finding Funders, available as an online webinar or as an in-person class.

We also offer these free online resources for finding grants:

• Requests for Proposals (RFPs): Announcements of funding opportunities. Also available as an RSS feed or free weekly e-newsletter.
• Foundation Finder: Search by name, city, state, ZIP, or EIN to get contact details and links to recent 990s.
• Map of International Grants: Click on a country to see a list of recipients and their funders for recent years. Provides basic contact details for funders.
• Foundations Respond to the Economic Crisis: Click on a state, then continue drilling down by county, city, ZIP, or Congressional district to see grant recipients and details, which include links to basic funder profiles.

See also our related Knowledge Base articles on:

- Government funding
- Foundations
- Corporations
- Writing grant proposals

Please note that foundations generally give to nonprofits with 501(c)(3) status. If you don’t have exempt status, you might consider finding a nonprofit to work with or act as your fiscal sponsor. These might help you qualify for more funding. To learn more, please see our articles on fiscal sponsorship.

Selected resources below may also be helpful.