The Foundation Center was started over 46 years ago in 1956. We are based in New York City, and we have field offices in Atlanta, Cleveland, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. Each of our offices has a library and training center, where people can come and learn about foundations and how to apply for grants. We also work with over 200 libraries around the country, where we make books and other materials available to the public for free. On the Web, our site currently serves over 30,000 visitors per day!

Most people who visit the Foundation Center and its Web site come from a nonprofit organization and they’re looking for information about foundations that might want to support their work. Other people who visit our Web site and our libraries include:

The Foundation Center’s database includes information on over 76,000 foundations, corporate giving programs, and grantmaking public charities. We use our database to publish books and CD-ROMs about foundations and to do research on who foundations are giving their money to. We also offer training programs and online access to our data through services like Foundation Finder, and the Foundation Directory Online.

If you’d like to learn more, click to see the Foundation Center’s Mission Statement.