About the Library
Welcome to the Foundation Center.
The Foundation Center's mission is to strengthen the nonprofit sector by advancing knowledge about U.S. philanthropy.
To achieve our mission, we:
- Collect, organize, and communicate information on U.S. philanthropy
- Conduct and facilitate research on trends in the field
- Provide education and training on the grantseeking process
- Ensure public access to information and services through our World Wide Web
site, print and electronic publications, five library/learning centers, and
a national network of cooperating collections.
Founded in 1956, the Center is the nation's leading authority on institutional
philanthropy and is dedicated to serving grantseekers, grantmakers, researchers,
policymakers, the media, and the general public.
As a vital component of the Foundation Center's mission,
we offer free information to the public at five Foundation
Center libraries across the country: at our headquarters
in New York, and at our field offices in Washington,
D.C., Atlanta,
Cleveland,
and San Francisco.
And through a program of free
training sessions and educational
seminars, each year we introduce thousands of
grantseekers to the funding research process.
One of the most difficult aspects of the grantseeking process is selecting prospective funders who might be interested in your project from the nearly 80,000 grantmakers in the U.S. At Foundation Center libraries
we make the best and most comprehensive information available
to grantseekers so that they can identify appropriate funders
and develop targeted proposals.
Foundation Center librarians
assist you with your research strategy but cannot do
your research for you. They can help 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 librarians
cannot write or review proposals for you. They will
direct you to resources that help with this endeavor,
especially the Center's own Guide
to Proposal Writing and our full-day proposal
writing seminar.
History
The Center opened its doors
in New York in 1956 as the Foundation Library Center.
The vision of the Center's founders was of a "convenient
center where any person who had a desire for information
about foundations might hope to find accessible and
accurate answers." The Center began with a small office
in New York City. It assembled a collection of books
and other materials about foundations and made these
available in the library. In the first full year of
operation, 1,400 visitors came to the Foundation Library
Center seeking information. Today nearly 35,000 people
visit the New York Library each year, and many more
are served though offsite programs and workshops.
Cooperating Collections
The Foundation Center library
staff works closely with the Center's coordinator of
Cooperating Collections
at the Center's headquarters to ensure that the information
needs of the Cooperating Collections in the tri-state
area are met. Cooperating Collections maintain core
collections of Foundation Center publications (most
have FC Search available for public use) along
with a variety of supplementary materials useful to
grantseekers. They are housed in libraries, community
foundations, and other nonprofit organizations. Cooperating
Collections that the staff of the New York library work
closely with include:
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