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CREATIVE CITY NEWSLETTER: SEPTEMBER
2001
ISSUE 3: REGIONALISM
ISSUE IN FOCUS: Regionalism
NEWS YOU CAN USE: Finding Funding
on the Web
CREATIVE
CORNER: Golf with a Purpose
COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT:
Louisville, KY
Bi-State Initiative
in Kansas City, MO
Creative City
conference
NEWS YOU CAN USE: FINDING FUNDING ON
THE WEB
Finding Funding on the Web: Tips for Internet
Grantseeking
You sit down to your computer with a cup of coffee and open
up the internet browser, seeking funding for a new development
project. After about five minutes on a search engine, you
stumble upon on a relevant page. You browse it and flip to
its links section, which lists a few dozen relevant websites.
You follow the first link, explore the page, then flip back
to the list; when you follow the second link, you find 20
more links to explore. Then you realize you have a dilemma:
if you follow these links, you could get swept away on the
current and wash up far ashore of your original location;
but if you go back to the first page, you may be turning your
back on a goldmine of useful information just ahead. What
should you do?
Internet research is a tricky thing. But if done successfully,
it can yield a wealth of information and opportunities that
otherwise may have been lost to you. In the area of grants
and grantmaking, in particular, the web offers many rich resources:
information on funding offered by foundations, corporations,
and the government, tips for successful proposal writing,
and current reports on American philanthropy. It's all out
there-but how do you access it?
This article provides a good starting point for your quests
for funding on the internet. Fresh from my experiences scouring
the web for grants, I'll evaluate ten websites where you can
search for grant information that meets your needs. Also,
I'll offer tips for successfully navigating the websites of
potential funders.
With that, I wish you luck in your grantseeking! For further
specifics, check out our compilation of some of the most promising
funding in the fields of arts & culture and community
development.
WHERE TO SEARCH ONLINE FOR FUNDING
The Foundation
Center
Founded in 1956, the Foundation Center is a leading authority
on institutional philanthropy. The Center publishes guides
to foundation grants, pursues research on U.S. philanthropy,
and conducts trainings and workshops. In addition to its free
libraries open to the public in Washington, DC, New York,
San Francisco, Atlanta, and Cleveland, the Center hosts a
website with extensive information on grants and grantseeking,
as well as an online newsletter.
The
Foundation Finder contains annotated links for 61,000
private and community foundations. However, it is not so easy
to search. In the opening screen, you can search by name,
type, or location of foundation; but you cannot, for example,
search for foundations which support youth development. In
the Sector Search, you can input geographical or subject-related
keywords, but it is hard to further refine the search. (http://fdncenter.org/funders/grantmaker/index.html)
The Foundation Directory Online, a fully searchable compilation
of current foundation grants, is available for free in Foundation
Center libraries or for a subscription fee on the internet.
Prices start at $19.95 per month. This resource was very useful
for pinning down relevant grants, but it did take some wading
through. One problem I had was that although you could search
by state, you could not search by region or by county-when
I was looking for grants for Marquette, MI, for example, many
came up which were limited to Flint, Baraga, or other counties
in Michigan.
The
Philanthropy News Digest (PND) is the Foundation Center's
award-winning digest. You can subscribe to a free weekly email
on philanthropy-related news or just browse the site for news
articles and updates on philanthropy. Check out the listings
of grants with upcoming deadlines, organized by subject (arts,
education, health, etc.). This section, though not comprehensive,
is very useful because it allows you to find timely and relevant
grants, with links to their websites. A discussion board allows
you to post questions and respond to other people's queries.
When I posted a request for suggestions on where to find funding
for municipalities to participate in the Creative Cities initiative,
I got one response a few days later (which recommended trying
state departments of commerce).
Researching
Philanthropy provides excerpts of Foundation Center reports
on recent trends in grantmaking.
FC
Stats presents tables of top funders and recipients by
region, subject field, and population served. There are no
links, but you could look up specific funders on the Foundation
Finder.
The
Learning Lab offers online classes on grantseeking, proposal
writing, and related topics.
MoneyNet
Sponsored by the Enterprise Foundation, MoneyNet is a tool
for finding funding for community development.
The Donor Search function allows you to search for funding
sources for community development. You can input your area
of interest (youth, public health, substance abuse, economic
development, etc.) and geographic focus. The search engine
returns a list of funders, both government and foundation,
including contact information, website, fields of interest,
financial figures, limitations, and upcoming deadlines, if
known. The main drawback is that arts and culture are not
among the search criteria.
The Funding Deadlines function allows you to search for grants
by deadline. For example, you can search for a grant due in
September or October for neighborhood development in Kansas.
The engine returns a list of funders, most national, that
match these criteria. The listings link to descriptions of
the grants, which provide links to the websites of the funders.The
Fundraising Fundamentals guide takes you step by step through
the process of grantseeking.
The Catalogue
of Federal Domestic Assistance
The CFDA is a government-wide compendium of Federal programs,
projects, services, and activities which provide assistance
or benefits to the American public.
The
Grant Categories section lists all federal grants by subject
area (community development, cultural affairs, etc.). You
can find extensive information on the focus and limitations
of each grant, as well as internet addresses.
The website also contains information on non-grant assistance
programs. The database is organized by subject area, deadline,
eligibility, type of assistance, etc., but you cannot search
by multiple criteria at once.
The
Federal Register Online
This site, hosted by the US Government Printing Office, allows
you to search the Federal Register, the official listings
of federal Notices of Funding Available (NOFAs), by date and
search terms.
eCivis.com:
Solutions for Local Governments
Sponsored by the Ferguson Group, eCivis is a fairly new enterprise
that is developing a suite of management and information tools
for local governments.
The eCivis Grants Locator, available to municipalities and
other organizations for a fee, currently focuses on federal
grants and government grants in Florida, Texas, and California.
eCivis will be adding Illinois, North Carolina and foundation
grants in the fall of 2001.
The Grants Locator allows you to search by type of funder
(federal government, foundation, etc.), type of recipient
(local government, non-profit, etc.), fields of interest (community
development, arts, etc.), and several other areas. The search
yields a list of grants with details on focus, eligibility,
due date, and contact information. The listing often includes
downloadable guidelines and forms, which you would otherwise
have to request by phone or in writing (or in some cases find
on the internet). However, no link is provided to the department
or foundation which sponsors the grant. Also, most of the
grants that came up had due dates that had already past.
eCivis offers a two-week free trial with full access to the
database, then sends a price quote for ongoing service. The
price varies by type and size of organization. In our experience,
the price is exceedingly high. I would recommend trying out
the free trial if you are interested. This resource, though
not likely to be cost effective at the moment, has great potential
for the future, when it adds more regional funding sources.
Customer service was very responsive and concerned with our
experience of the product (and very eager to make a sell).
Our contact was Karl Rectanus at 202-261-6014.
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