Guides

How to find grants for your nonprofit

There is no single list of every grant. Funding lives in a handful of separate places, and finding it means checking the same ones on a rhythm. These are the sources that actually produce results for small US nonprofits, roughly in the order we would work them.

Grants.gov, for federal funding

Every federal grant opportunity is published on Grants.gov, free, with a search you can filter by eligibility category. Federal grants are the largest awards and the heaviest applications, so treat this as a source of a few carefully chosen applications a year, not a weekly pipeline. Your state and city publish their own grant portals too, usually under the department that matches your cause.

Community foundations near you

Community foundations exist to fund organizations in their own geography, which makes them the highest-percentage shot a small local nonprofit has. Search “community foundation” plus your county or metro area, read their grantmaking pages, and get on their mailing lists. Most run one or two open cycles a year with published deadlines.

The 990 trick: see who funds organizations like yours

Every private foundation files a public IRS Form 990-PF listing the grants it made, to whom, and for how much. Look up nonprofits doing similar work in your area on ProPublica’s Nonprofit Explorer or Candid, find their funders, then read those funders’ 990s to see their typical award size and whether they accept unsolicited applications. This is slow, and it is also how professional prospect researchers actually work.

Foundation directories and paid databases

Candid’s Foundation Directory is the standard reference for foundation funders, and many public libraries offer free access through Candid’s partner network, so check your library before paying for anything. Commercial grant-search databases bundle search and deadline tracking, typically for over $2,000 a year, and the writing is still entirely on you.

Before you apply: the fine print that disqualifies

Most wasted grant hours come from skipping this check. Confirm:

• Geography. Many funders only give within specific states, counties, or cities. This is the most common silent disqualifier.
• Organization type and size. 501(c)(3) status, years operating, and budget minimums or maximums.
• What they will not fund. Many foundations exclude religious activity, capital campaigns, or general operating costs.
• The process. Some funders are invitation-only or require a letter of intent first. An application sent outside the process is a no.

How Grant Current does this

This checking-the-same-sources-on-a-rhythm work is exactly what we automated. Every week Grant Current sweeps Grants.gov, a watchlist of funder pages for your area and cause, and the open web, then reads each opportunity’s eligibility rules against your organization’s profile and tells you which ones are worth your time, with the reasons shown. The ones that clear the bar arrive already drafted. If the drafting side is what interests you, see AI grant writing for nonprofits.