Explore Grants for Nonprofits

Our goal is to provide carefully curated information and analysis about every significant institutional grantmaker that is active in the U.S., as well as most top individual donors. To be included in GrantFinder, a foundation or donor must engage in ongoing giving, with at least $50,000 in annual grantmaking. We do not include foundations and donors that only engage in sporadic giving, or have a pattern of unrelated one-off gifts—as such funders are less likely to be strong prospects for cultivation. With each research guide, whether focused on an issue or place, our goal is to include all of the funders—but only the funders—that are worth knowing about and possibly approaching. PinkElephant.

Our research team mines a variety of sources to identify significant funders in a given space and craft informative, accurate profiles. We study 990 tax forms, scour foundation websites, read annual reports, review articles and social media posts, and review media coverage. In the case of living donors and family foundations, we pay keen attention to biographical information that offers insights into the backgrounds of funders and their motivations for giving. Additionally, we are constantly learning new things about funders through our ongoing reporting that appears in our news sections, and that information is integrated into funder profiles in an ongoing way.

All profiles are written by academically trained researchers and updated regularly as grantmaking strategies and programs change. Funder profiles are fact-checked annually, but also may be revised throughout the year to include new information as it becomes available. Because 990 tax forms often are not available until long after grants have been made, we pay close attention to news sections and social media feeds of grantmakers to learn about recent developments. We encourage users to contact us with new information about funders that should be included in our profiles, or anything that needs to be corrected or improved.

If a significant foundation or major donor isn’t showing up in search results using the database tool, and can’t be found by browsing the issue guides, make sure to use the general search box (found on the front page and in the right sidebar on most pages) that allows you to search all of Inside Philanthropy, including news articles. We encourage users to contact us with suggestions of funders we should include in GrantFinder.