Resources for SW 560: Finding Funding Sources
Scope note: This web page supplements an instructional session for SW 560 facilitated by Social Work Library Staff. Within the structured approach of information literacy competencies taught at the School of Social Work, this session represents the 4th Change Agent skill level. It is not meant to be comprehensive. Please contact Library Staff at social.work.library@umich.edu or Karen E. Downing, Foundation and Grants Librarian, at the Hatcher Graduate Library for related information. Karen maintains a subject guide Resources on Foundations and Grants. The Graduate Library houses a Foundation Center Cooperating Collection devoted to foundations and grant-seeking resources. The collection is located in the Reference Reading Room on the second floor of Hatcher North. This collection is open to the public as well as to the University community.
Subject guide
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| Resources on Foundations and Grants
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"In this assignment, you are developing a concept or pre-proposal paper for program innovation/ development to be submitted to a foundation or funding organization. You may select to use your community profile to support the development of this proposal. Identify a target population for the project. The paper may not exceed 5 pages. The concept/ pre-proposal paper needs to contain the following:
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A brief description of the problem you propose and why it is important
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State the project's goals and major objectives
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Discuss principal components for the project and expected measurable outcomes
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Estimate project cost
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Provide a "timeline"
[Click here to see a sample concept paper.]
There are four types of foundations:
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Independent Foundations established by a person or family of wealth (this comprises the largest group);
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Company-Sponsored Foundations (also called corporate foundations) created and funded by business corporations;
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Operating Foundations established to operate research, social welfare, or other charitable programs deemed worthwhile by the donor or governing body; and
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Community Foundations supported by and operated for the benefit of a specific community or region.
| Finding Private Grants: (funds awarded by a sponsor to achieve a specific goal) |
Foundation Directory (FC Search)
University of Michigan staff and students now have access to the Foundation Center's database online. More detailed and comprehensive than the Foundation Finder, the Foundation Directory is a fully searchable database, including keyword searching in Foundation City, Fields of Interest and Geographic Focus , covering over 74,000 US foundations, corporate givers, and grant making public charities - and over 250,000 grant records.
- To find a potential funder, use Search Grantmakers
- To find all Grantmakers in a city, only use the fields State and City
- This sort of research may indicate strengths and weaknesses of a particular city. It’s a good way to find out which organizations in your community are funded by United Way, local company-sponsored foundations, and local area foundations.
- See Annual Form 990s that the foundation submits
to the IRS for a list of organizations funded by
a particular foundation
- You can narrow search by Fields of Interests such
as “domestic violence” or “homeless” or
more broadly: “human services or community development”.
- Beware of limitations such as “Applications not
accepted” as found with some family foundations.
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GuideStar Premium
GuideStar offers financial data for over 1.5 million nonprofit organizations in the United States. Data includes revenue tables, expense tables, and balance sheets; organization overview (mission, audience, etc.); annual reports, lists of officers and other key personnel, and access to IRS 990 Forms. Users can search this database by keyword and by information such as geographic location, type of nonprofit, IRS Subsection (501(c)3, etc.), and NTEE (National Taxonomy of Exempt Entities) codes.
GuideStar (free public version)
The most detailed information on giving patterns is on the IRS Foundation Annual Return or 990 tax forms. Search GuideStar's database of more than 850,000 US nonprofit organizations. |
Foundation Finder
The Foundation Center's free database on the Web. Use the Foundation Finder to search by name for basic information about foundations within the universe of on approximately 74,000 private and community foundations in the U.S (or grant makers that give grant money to non-profit entities and sometimes individuals). You (the grant seeker) can search by keyword and narrow the search to a particular city or state. |
Grants.gov
Grants.gov allows organizations to electronically find and apply for competitive grant opportunities from all Federal grant-making agencies. Grants.gov is THE single access point for over 1000 grant programs offered by the 26 Federal grant-making agencies. |
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance
The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance is a government-wide compendium of Federal financial and non-financial grants, programs, projects, services, and activities which provide assistance or benefits to the American public. The Catalog lists information regarding federal programs that distribute funds in the form of grants and loans to states, local governments, organizations, and individuals. It provides program descriptions indexed by several program components. Each entry of the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance includes an authorization field. This field lists the program's establishing law and in some cases amendments to it. |
Directory of State-Administered Grant$ (MSU)
This annual Michigan House Fiscal Agency publication describes and categorizes reported grants-in-aid which are available to local governments, private organizations, nonprofit organizations, educational institutions, and individuals.
Capital Improvement Program (State of Michigan)
Supports capital improvement projects through municipalities for arts and cultural facilities.
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| A Few Selected Foundations: |
| Other Sources for Grant Writers and Non-Profits Organizations: |
- Grants, Etc. (by Professor Armand Lauffer, hosted by the University of Michigan School of Social Work)
A. Finding funding and non-cash resources
- Government, foundation, corporate & voluntary sector funding sources
- In-kind contribution
- NPO-donor matching services
- International funding and philanthropy
B. Locating learning resources to improve fundraising and nonprofit management.
- Courses and Workshops (many online)
- Professional and Advocacy Associations
- Journals, Newsletters and Listservs
- Tax and Legal Issues
- Libraries and Data Bases
- Nonprofit Management
These sections include thousands of links to articles, professional position papers, detailed instructions on the use of management tools, etc.
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Community of Science (COS) |
| Spin (government and foundations) |
GAO Reports (good source for program evaluations) |
990-PF Search (Foundation Center)
The most detailed information on giving patterns is on 990 tax forms. These can be viewed with Adobe Acrobat Reader by simply clicking on the PDF link provided in the search results of 990-PF Search. |
Nonprofit and Public Management Center
NPM is a collaboration of the University of Michigan Schools of Business, Public Policy, and Social Work to advance and promote understanding of the contributions of nonprofit and public organizations and the challenges of leading them successfully. |
= University of Michigan Licensed Database -- Accessible from campus workstations and from remote locations to valid U-M community members with signon or with valid IP address.
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