The Foundation Center strengthens the nonprofit sector by advancing knowledge about U.S. philanthropy. The Center collects, organizes, and communicates information on U.S. philanthropy; conducts and facilitates research on trends in the field; provides education and training on the grantseeking process; and ensures public access to information and services through its Web site (http://foundationcenter.org), print and electronic publications, five library/learning centers, and a national network of more than 200 Cooperating Collections. Founded in 1956, the Center is the nation’s leading authority on philanthropy and is dedicated to serving grantseekers, grantmakers, researchers, policymakers, the media, and the general public.
The Foundation Center accomplishes its mission in the following ways:
Electronic Database
The Foundation Center maintains a database on nearly 80,000 currently active grantmakers and on millions of grants. The Center makes the grantmaker and grants information in its databases available to the public electronically and in printed format. The Foundation Center's database is available online through The Foundation Directory Online Subscription Services, where you can search nearly 80,000 grantmaker records and more than half a million records of grants awarded by the nation’s top funders. FC Search: The Foundation Center's Database on CD-ROM provides the Center's database in a CD-ROM format. For a comparison of the two databases, see our product comparison chart. The Foundation Directory Online and FC Search are searchable by subject, type of support, geographic focus, and many other categories. They are both available for purchase through our publications catalog and for free use at all Center libraries and Cooperating Collections.
Publisher
The Center annually publishes dozens of directories, guides, research reports, and books on nonprofit management. The online Marketplace has descriptions of all Foundation Center print and electronic publications, as well as some of the Center's other services. The Marketplace also gives visitors a choice between a downloadable order form that can be faxed in and a secure online form for ordering on the spot.
Libraries
We provide free access to our print and electronic publications in five professionally staffed Center-run libraries/learning centers
and in more than 200 Cooperating
Collections throughout the United States. All five Center libraries have staff trained to help you. Whether you are seeking $1,000 or $100,000 for your nonprofit organization or project, someone is available to answer your questions and to point you in the right direction.
Free orientations on how to use the Center's resources are available at our libraries and at many of our Cooperating Collections. Online courses are also available in our Virtual Classroom.
All Center libraries and Cooperating Collections maintain a selection of books and periodicals relating to fundraising and philanthropy. Catalog of Nonprofit Literature, a Web-based version of the Center's bibliographic database, lists and abstracts many of these resources.
The Foundation Center offers online access to thousands of Forms 990-PF from approximately 80,000 foundations in Adobe® Portable Document Format (PDF). You will need to download the free Adobe Acrobat reader in order to view the returns. The most recent returns can be found using 990 Finder, Foundation Finder, The Foundation Directory Online Subscription Services, and FC Search. Multiple years are provided where available. The Foundation Center also maintains a historical collection of 990-PFs in electronic form, since it is recommended that you look at several years' worth of returns to identify the giving trends of a particular foundation. This historical collection dates back three to four years, depending on the foundation.
Training
The Foundation Center offers a variety of training and educational seminars. For more information on Center training programs, see our FAQ "Where can I find information on in-person training opportunities related to fundraising?"
World Wide Web
The Center is providing an ever-increasing amount of information at its Web site, including The Foundation Directory Online Subscription Services. The site is divided into several main directories to assist a variety of audiences with different needs: Get Started, Find Funders, Gain Knowledge, View Events, and the Shop. For philanthropy news, requests for proposals, and job opportunities, visit Philanthropy News Digest,
Research
The Center conducts original research on foundations and their giving. You can find key findings and excerpts from the Center's research at the Research Studies section of our site. FC Stats, a free online resource, offers more than 2,800 data tables covering foundations and their giving, that are available only through the Foundation Center.
There are a few things the Center cannot do for you:
As an independent information clearinghouse, the Center does not make grants. Our librarians cannot do your research for you. They can assist you in locating appropriate print and electronic resources, but they are not permitted to serve as consultants on funding for your project, or to make referrals, or arrange for introductions to specific grantmakers. Our staff cannot write or review grant proposals. However, they will direct you to resources that will help you in this endeavor, in particular the Foundation Center's Guide to Proposal Writing; the online version of the same, A Proposal Writing Short Course (also available in Spanish, French, and Russian); our full-day Proposal Writing Seminar; our full-day Proposal Writing Seminar II: Tailoring Your Proposals to Maximize Success;
the free one-hour Proposal Writing Basics; the Spanish-language version of the same, Proposal Writing Basics in Spanish: Principios de la escritura de propuestas; our full-day Proposal Budgeting Workshop; the free one-hour Proposal Budgeting Basics; or the online budgeting tutorial, Proposal Budgeting Basics.
Can't find the answer you're looking for in our FAQs? Ask our Online Librarian.
