Research InfoGuide for Grants and Grant Writing
Various programs exist to provide financial assistance for specific purposes. Identifying funding sources and planning and writing grant proposals can be challenging. This info guide is designed to help identify sources of aid and to assist in the grant writing process.
Library Catalog
- The Foundation Directory
- Arranged alphabetically by the state of foundation headquarters, each entry in the Foundation Directory contains the legal name of the foundation, the street address and phone numbers, the contact person, the foundation type, assets and expenditures, the grants funded, the fields of interest, the limitations, and application procedures. The directory provides the most comprehensive coverage of foundations that provide support to nongovernmental, nonprofit organizations.
- The Grants Register
- “The most authoritative and comprehensive guide available to postgraduate grants and professional funding worldwide. For over twenty years The Grants Register has been the leading source for up-to-date information on the availability of, and eligibility for, postgraduate and professional awards. With details of over 3,500 awards, The Grants Register is more extensive than any comparable publication. Each entry has been verified by the awarding bodies concerned ensuring that every piece of information is accurate. As all information is updated annually, each edition also provides the most current details available today.”
- Proposal Planning and Writing
- Specific examples, models, and step-by-step instructions guide readers through the maze of grantseeking for all kinds of grants. The guide offers step-by-step instructions for developing ideas, finding potential funding sources, creating procedures and systems for current and future grant applications, budget forecasting, submission procedures, and following up. The reference is general enough to apply to grants in a variety of areas, from education and philanthropy to health care and performing arts.
When searching for books in the PINES online catalog, the best way to find good sources of information is to perform a subject search. Subject searches look for the Library of Congress Subject Headings assigned to a particular book. These headings help you find books which are specifically about your topic.
Examples of useful subject headings for grant information include:
General
Grant Writing
Foundations
Web Sites
- Foundation Finder
- Maintained by The Foundation Center, Foundation Finder is a free lookup tool that provides basic facts on more than 70,000 private and community foundations in the United States. Foundation Finder is designed for those seeking quick access to core information about a foundation, possibly as a starting point for more in-depth research.
- FastWeb
- Search over 180,000 scholarships, grants, loans and fellowships via FastWeb. You can set up a personal profile to search against, and fastWEB can notify you of new sources that match your profile when they are added to the database. Registration is required.
- Foundation Center
- The Foundation Center is a non-profit organization devoted to serving the information needs of grantmakers and grantseekers. The Website's Reference Desk has a FAQ page organized by topic, a long list of annotated links for finding online sites related to non-profits, and an online reference librarian who takes questions by e-mail. There are also informational materials, including “A Proposal Writing Short Course.” The site includes free and fee-based information.
Federal Resources
- Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance
- The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance provides access to a database of all Federal programs available to State and local governments; federally-recognized Indian tribal governments; Territories (and possessions) of the United States; domestic public, quasi-public, and private profit and nonprofit organizations and institutions; specialized groups; and individuals.
- 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 900 grant programs offered by the 26 Federal grant-making agencies.”
