Fundraising

General

The Chronicle of Philanthropy

Like its biweekly print analog, The Chronicle of Philanthropy's Web site is full of useful information for fundraisers, grantmakers, nonprofit managers, and others. The site is organized into broad topic areas-Gifts and Grants, Fund Raising, Managing Nonprofit Groups, Technology, and Jobs. It includes a summary of the contents of the Chronicle's current issue, with an archive of articles since 1987; a database of all corporate and foundation grants listed in the Chronicle since 1995; a listing of award and RFP deadlines; surveys conducted by the Chronicle and reports of other surveys conducted by other organizations; job opportunities in the nonprofit sector; a listing of upcoming conferences and workshops; and annotated links to other nonprofit resources on the Internet. In-depth information on nonprofit employers, technology companies, fundraising service companies, consultants, and direct-marketing service companies is also available. Visitors can also sign-up for free e-mail updates about changes to the site and breaking news stories. Some of the material is available only to Chronicle subscribers.

David Lamb's Prospect Research Page

Lamb, a former development officer at the University of Washington and Santa Clara University, has attempted to "separate the wheat from the chaff" in describing truly useful Internet sites for researching corporations, foundations, and individual donors. David Lamb's Prospect Research Page includes links to directories of doctors, judges, lawyers, and airplane owners; online news sources; and corporate and public records databases. What's nice about the Prospect Research Page is that Lamb has distilled the vast number of potential sources of information on the Internet into a relatively small selection of annotated sites.

FinAid

FinAid is a comprehensive collection of links to information about student financial aid on the Web. It includes links to and information on financial aid applications as well as links to the free FinAid newsletter, financial aid calculators, and FastWeb, a free scholarship search service.

Foundations On-Line

Foundations On-line, a service of the Northern California Community Foundation, contains a directory of links to various foundations and grantmakers, government grants, scholarship resources, fundraising software vendors and consultants, nonprofit attorneys, and related sites.

Free Management Library

The Free Management Library is a free community resource for nonprofit and for-profit organizations; and is contributed to by users and readers. The library is designed to be as user friendly as possible, with a focus on providing online management resources to organizations. Visitors to this well-organized Web site can conduct a category search of free, self-directed management courses in topics such as communications, finances, fundraising, program management, program evaluation, strategic planning, and consultants.

Fund-Raising.com

A service of NicheNET, Fund-Raising.com provides nonprofits with information about creative ways to generate contributions. Resources include fundraising-oriented products, a Web-based fundraising competition, related links, and an Idea Bank that features suggestions from site visitors.

Fund-Raising and Foundation Research

The Fund-raising and Foundation Research Web site is sponsored by the University of Southern California Development Research Department, as part of their selected sites for prospect research on the Web. The site features a list of links to Web sites that pertain to fundraising, foundation research, and philanthropy news.

Fundraising Forum

The Fundraising Forum contains information related to annual campaign fundraising and nonprofit organizations. The Web site features the Fundraising Forum Library, where fundraising information can be found under several categories: planning for fundraising, funding sources and prospects, organizing a campaign, managing a campaign, post campaign activity, and developing the development team.

Fundsnet Services Online

Fundsnet Services Online is a comprehensive and searchable directory of funders, funding resources, and scholarship opportunities on the World Wide Web. Most links are annotated, and the Web site also includes a section organized by subject area.

Getting Started On Your Own

The "Getting Started On Your Own" section of the Federman Consulting Web site provides "primers" on how to begin development work in the areas of research, strategy, program development, and grantwriting.

GrantsNet

Sponsored by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, GrantsNet is an online searchable database of funding opportunities in biomedical research and science education that is specifically geared towards scientists-in-training.

The Grantsmanship Center

The Grantsmanship Center (TGCI) is a clearinghouse of fundraising information and provides training in grantsmanship and proposal writing for nonprofit organizations and government agencies. In addition to training program and schedule information, the center's Web site offers grant source information on community foundations and federal, state, and international funding; current Federal Register grant funding information, including a daily summary; TGCI Magazine, an online publication; and a listing of publications for fundraisers, including TGCI proposal writing guides. The Web site also has a new resource, Winning Grant Proposals Online, with examples of effective proposal writing models for designing programs, consisting entirely of recent federally funded, top-ranked grant proposals in a wide variety of subject areas.

GrantsWeb

Aimed at the academic/scientific research community, the GrantsWeb section of the Society of Research Administrators' Web site contains a comprehensive links resource for locating government research grant opportunities, as well as some information related to private funding. The links are categorized by general resources, U.S. federal agencies, Canadian resources, and by international resources, which includes Australia, Europe, Great Britain, and Israel.

Hoover's Online

Hoover's Online, the Austin, Texas-based publisher of corporate information, may not be the "Ultimate Source for Company Information," as it bills itself, but it sure is a good one. The Web site's free offerings center around Hoover's Company Capsules, which provide news and information-company profile, key personnel, full stock quote, selected press coverage-on thousands of public and private enterprises. Paying subscribers get the same, in much greater depth and detail.

Internet Nonprofit Center's "How Can We Use the Internet for Fundraising?"

The Internet Nonprofit Center's "How Can We Use the Internet for Fundraising?" is a comprehensive 1998 report by Eric Mercer designed to provide "an introduction and a classification scheme to help readers learn to effectively evaluate alternative methods of online fundraising."

Internet Prospector

Internet Prospector is a nonprofit service to the prospect research community, produced by volunteers nationwide who "mine" the Web for prospect research "nuggets." Although designed for nonprofit fundraisers, anyone seeking tools for accessing corporate, foundation, biographical, international, and online news sources will find this Web site useful. You'll find an online newsletter and an archive of past issues. A search engine is also provided, allowing you to quickly search for information from back issues located on the site. An option to subscribe to the free monthly newsletter is also available.

Michigan State University Grants and Related Resources

The amount of information available through the Michigan State University Grants and Related Resources site is nearly overwhelming, but Jon Harrison of the Michigan State University Library System has created a site that is well organized and cleanly designed. Start by clicking Grants for Nonprofits. Most valuable here are the annotated lists of resources (print, electronic, and online) for grant information in particular subject areas, from Arts and Cultural Activities to Religion and Social Change. For each subject area, Harrison provides abstracts of useful print resources, descriptions of databases, and links to online information. There is also a substantial section on grants to individuals, including financial aid. Harrison has even assembled an impressive bibliography, with links, on grantsmanship techniques, including lots of information on fundraising research and proposal writing.

Michigan State University Grants and Related Resources-Grants for Individuals

The Michigan State University Grants and Related Resources Web site includes a separate section for individuals that covers Web sites, databases, and print resources, including links to many federal, state, and university-based funding sources. Resource listings are organized by academic type, population group, and subject.

Nonprofits and the Internet (DMA Nonprofit Federation)

The Nonprofits and the Internet Web site provides links to several full-text reports covering online fundraising regulation, creating and designing charity Web sites, and related issues facing every charity that has a Web site on the Internet. The site also has a set of links to related Web sites.

Nonprofit Charitable Organizations

Nonprofit Charitable Organizations is a mini-Web site within the comprehensive About.com site that serves as a useful guide to resources and information about nonprofit organizations, foundations, fundraising, technology, educational opportunities, jobs, and more. Visitors to the Web site can search feature archives as well as the entire About.com site, participate in chats, post a resume, and register to receive newsletters via e-mail.

Nonprofit Coordinating Committee of New York

The Nonprofit Coordinating Committee of New York (NPCC) is a membership organization dedicated to protecting and helping the nonprofit community of the New York metropolitan area. The committee's Web site provides Peter Swords' "How to Read the IRS Form 990 & Find Out What It Means," an employee benefits survey, and Who Does What?, a searchable database of nonprofits that offer technical assistance to other nonprofits. A listing of government grants; programs; New York Nonprofits, an online newsletter; and workshop calendars are available online.

Online Fundraising Resources Center

The Online Fundraising Resources Center is a collection of online fundraising resources from the book Fundraising and Friend-raising on the Web. The Web site includes excerpts from the book, with updates, and a good set of successful Web site examples. The site also has a list of links that include some general nonprofit, fundraising, and charity review sites; essays and published articles related to "cyber fundraising"; and teaching materials from Internet fundraising classes.

Peninsula Community Foundation's Philanthropy Center

The Peninsula Community Foundation created the Philanthropy Center Web site to serve as a gateway for local community investors who want to educate themselves about the charitable sector in San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties, California. Private nonprofit organizations are represented in listings that include budget and funding information, number of staff or volunteers, a statement on immediate needs, scope and purpose of the agencies' services, and a vignette about the clients served.

Polaris

Polaris is a grant support organization dedicated to providing resources for educational institutions, governmental agencies, healthcare services, and nonprofit organizations. The Web site offers a wealth of grants-related information and links, including grant workshops across the country, links to resources for grantseekers, publications, news and events, information on scholarships, grantwriting tips, new ideas and organizations, and an online question and answer service.

Portico

Portico is a collection of Web sites, containing publicly available information, compiled for the use of the advancement and fundraising communities. The Portico Web site has a comprehensive set of links to sites that provide information on biographies of individuals, occupations, personal property, salaries, stocks, businesses, media, nonprofits, international, and other resources. The site also has resources for and about the nonprofit community, nonprofit and philanthropy news, state and regional resources and databases, science and medical-related funding opportunities, and sources related to the international philanthropic community. The Other Resources section has links to prospect research pages, professional organizations, electronic libraries, and periodicals.

Quality 990

Quality 990 was created to serve organizations and individuals concerned with improving the quality of financial reporting in the nonprofit sector. It is dedicated to improving the quality of IRS Forms 990 filed by nonprofit organizations. With new regulations and wider, simpler access to a nonprofit's tax form, this site offers many resources to assist the community involved in filing this form. There is information on forming or joining a Nonprofit Accountability Collaborative (990 NAC), which are forums consisting of accountants, nonprofit managers, regulators, and the general public. Local 990 NAC activities fall under two main categories: education and recommendations. Comprehensive guides to the form are available, along with links to information that help in understanding the form itself and the rules to its disclosure.

SEC Filings & Forms (EDGAR)

The Securities and Exchange Commission's EDGAR (Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis, and Retrieval system) is a goldmine of basic but often-hard-to-find corporate information (e.g., fiscal data, officers, subsidiaries, and recent mergers and acquisitions activity). EDGAR on the Web allows visitors to retrieve publicly-available filings submitted to the SEC from January 1994 to the present.

Seliger & Associates – Free Grant Information

Seliger & Associates, a grantwriting consulting firm, provides access to available federal, state, local, foundation, and corporate giving grant opportunities via e-mail grant alerts. Registration is required.

UK Fundraising

UK Fundraising is a comprehensive resource for charities and nonprofit fundraisers in the UK and internationally. The Web site has a fundraising bookshop, lists of consultants, e-mail discussion lists, events, funding, grants, magazines, nonprofit resources, products, professional organizations, research papers, services, software, job opportunities, and an extensive collection of links to examples of online fundraising activities.

Virtual Foundation

The Virtual Foundation is an online program, founded in 1996 by ECOLOGIA, that supports grassroots initiatives and community improvement projects around the world. The foundation screens and posts small-scale proposals that are initiated by non-governmental organizations in the fields of the environment, health, and sustainable economic activity to its Web site, where they can be read by potential donors.

Charity-Monitoring Organizations

BBB Wise Giving Alliance-Give.org

The BBB (Better Business Bureau) Wise Giving Alliance collects and distributes information about the programs, governance, fundraising practices, and finances of hundreds of charitable organizations that solicit nationally and are the subject of donor inquiries. Besides reports on specific charities, the Give.org Web site has news and alerts, and several "Tips On..." publications, including one on standards for charitable solicitations and used car donations. The site also offers an area where you can inquire or complain about a charity.

Charity Fraud

The Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) Web site provides information to help donors give wisely. Included on the site are a list of cases filed by the FTC, a set of links to other charity-monitoring organizations, and the FTC's brochure "Charitable Donation$ Give or Take," which provides a charity checklist to use in order to avoid making contributions to fraudulent charities.

Charity Navigator

Charity Navigator works to help charitable givers make intelligent giving decisions by providing information on more than 1,100 charities and by evaluating the financial health of each of these charities. The Web site has an area for tips and resources, as well as articles.

Charities Review Council of Minnesota

The Charities Review Council of Minnesota is an independent nonprofit organization that develops accountability standards for charities that solicit funds in Minnesota and conducts reviews based on those standards. The review information is provided to the potential donors and to the charitable organization, without charge. The Web site includes the council's accountability standards, organized by public disclosure, governance, financial activity, and fundraising, and a Giving Guide that contains the list of charities that have been reviewed, with information on ordering a full report. The site also has information for donors, resources for nonprofits, and a good set of annotated links to charity-monitoring related Web sites.

Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability

Comprised of charitable, religious, missionary, social, and educational organizations, the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability serves as a "Christian Better Business Bureau" by making appropriate public disclosure of its more than 1,000 members' financial practices and accomplishments, and by developing and maintaining standards of accountability. The Web site has a directory of council members that can be searched by name, state, or ministry type. The site also has a statement of responsible stewardship for charities to follow and a "bill of rights" for donors.

National Association of State Charity Officials

This Web site of the National Association of State Charity Officials is designed to allow regulators and enforcers of state charity laws in the United States of America to engage in ongoing dialogue with nonprofit leaders in the U.S. and around the world about current issues facing the nonprofit sector.

Online Giving

CharityWave

CharityWave provides an online donation service for selected charities. The selection criteria include nonprofit status, a Web site that lists the organization's program and budget, a readily-available IRS Form 990, and recommendation by CharityWave's board of advisors. Organizations are listed alphabetically and by category. Profiles of the organizations are also available to help the donor make informed decisions. An annual audit is conducted to ensure that 100 percent of every donation goes to the charity for which it was intended.

e-Philanthropy

e-Philanthropy is the Web site for the W.K. Kellogg Foundation report, "e-Philanthropy v.2.001," which documents the phenomenon of interactive online services for philanthropy and voluntarism. This site allows you to access the report and a database of information related to e-philanthropy, which can be browsed by name or primary focus (shopping and profit sharing, fundraising services, knowledge and capacity building, donor services, auctions/events, advocacy, giving time/volunteering, and full service portals) or searched by name keyword.

Groundspring.org

Created in 1999 by the Tides Foundation as eGrants.org, Groundspring.org is a forward-looking nonprofit that works to help progressive nonprofits increase their financial support through online fundraising. Groundspring.org's tool DonateNow allows organizations to accept credit card donations through online transactions. EmailNow gives nonprofits an affordable, ad-free tool to send e-newsletters, raise money online, and communicate with supporters. Groundspring.org also recently acquired ebase, a free community relationship management database developed by TechRocks. A workshop calendar is also available.

Independent Charities of America

Independent Charities of America is a nonprofit organization that pre-screens and certifies the charities it presents to potential donors via Web-based giving, workplace giving programs, and other low-cost fundraising methods. Charities are reviewed and certified annually.

Independent Givers of America

The Independent Givers of America (IGA) is a "nonprofit tax-exempt charitable organization whose mission is to bring together generous people and deserving causes, principally but not exclusively by developing Internet-based systems that reduce the cost and increase the productivity of charitable solicitation." Its Web site gives philanthropists the opportunity to set up a personal, private, online foundation; accept e-mail proposals at any time; find an IGA-recommended charity; and contribute to any IRS-recognized charity, church, or school.

Local Independent Charities of America

Local Independent Charities of America is a federation of more than 600 local nonprofit organizations. The Web site provides an online giving service, and potential donors can conduct a key word search to access information on member charitable organizations. Information provided includes mission statements, programs offered, and links to the Web sites of various nonprofit charitable organizations.

Resources for Fundraising Online

Part of the Internet Nonprofit Center Web site, Resources for Fundraising Online lists information and services provided by organizations related to online fundraising.

Professional Associations

American Association of FundRaising Counsel

The American Association of Fundraising Counsel is a membership organization composed of consulting firms that advise nonprofits on fundraising matters. The association's Web site has useful data regarding trends in philanthropy, including sources and distribution of funding. A particularly helpful feature on the site is the How to Choose Counsel area, which elucidates various factors to consider in selecting the right firm.

American Association of Grant Professionals

The American Association of Grant Professionals serves grant developers who work for public or private organizations. The Web site has information about the organization, including a code of ethics and credentialing; useful articles about grantseeking; and links to Web sites that contain information related to educational grant writing.

Association of Fundraising Professionals

The Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) consists of 26,000 individual members in 169 chapters throughout the United States, Canada, and Mexico, working to advance philanthropy through advocacy, research, education, and certification programs. Visitors to AFP's Web site will find extensive information on nonprofit philanthropy and AFP activities and publications, AFP's professional advancement programs and course information, and the full text of its Code of Ethical Principles and Standards of Professional Practice and the principles of an E-Donor Bill of Rights, created to address concerns and challenges arising from Internet charitable giving. In addition, job opportunity and member services modules are made available to AFP members. You can sign up for free e-mail updates on professional advancement and public policy.

Association of Professional Researchers for Advancement

The Association of Professional Researchers for Advancement (APRA) is an international organization for fundraisers who specialize in research and information management. The Web site has information about membership, links to Web sites about advancement research, and APRA publications and conference information.

Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action

The Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action is an international, interdisciplinary network of scholars and nonprofit leaders working to foster the creation, application, and dissemination of research on voluntary action, nonprofit organizations, philanthropy, and civil society. Included in the Web site is information on the Association conferences, publications, and a listserve.

National Committee on Planned Giving

The National Committee on Planned Giving is the association for planned giving professionals. The Web site includes the LEAVE A LEGACY program, created by the Central Ohio Planned Giving Council and distributed nationally, in order to encourage estate gifts to local charities. The site also includes information regarding education and training programs, planned giving conferences, and information on purchasing committee publications and products.