Databases for Grants to Organizations
Nonprofit organizations and sponsored individuals should find the following databases helpful for locating grants for programs and projects in all areas of endeavor. Databases for academic institutions are included. Other funding databases for individuals are listed at Grants for Individuals - Databases.
For help with searching, see Funding Databases Search Features Chart - or watch these helpful videos online: Too Many Search Results 
and Too Few Search Results .
Grants and Grantmakers | 990 Tax Returns
Grantmaking Organizations, Foundations
Community of Science 
[Choose Find Funding Opportunities; then select Search COS Funding Opportunities.]
Offers several databases for approximately 23,000 private and federal funding sources. Grants in the non-science areas are included. Other features contained here are a newsletter, Funding News and a Funding Alert email update announcement services. (Note: You must set up a personal login account - free to UW-Madison clientele - through the COS Workbench feature for some of the COS services.)
For more on federal grants, this web server provides special access to the Federal Register, whereby one can by date, agency, and other options. Searching the section, Funded Research, will provide summaries of research grants and projects from five agencies: National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Small Business Innovation Research awards from the Small Business Administration, and the Medical Research Council, UK
Foundation Directory Online (Professional) 
FDO Intro Video
A web-based database from the Foundation Center, a foundation-supported clearinghouse of information on private funding sources.
Provides information on over 90,000 independent and company-sponsored foundations, corporate givers, and grantmaking public charities. Records include each foundation's address, telephone number, statement of purpose and activities, fields of interest, financial data (total assets and grant expenditures), application information, and more. Foreign foundations and nonprofit organizations other than foundations are excluded. Also provides information on over 500,000 grants of $10,000 or more that have been awarded worldwide to nonprofit organizations by the largest philanthropic foundations listed in the database. This version also includes RFP's, news, grantmaker publications, grant distribution charts, and access to 250,000 searchable 990's.
Foundations in Wisconsin: a Directory
This database, based on the printed title, Foundations in Wisconsin, will allow one to search Wisconsin foundations by name, officer/director, donor, city, county, area of interest, and more. Financial data such as total assets, grants paid and grant range can be searched and sorted as well. There are 1160 active foundations profiled in the 2005 edition, covering nearly $386 million in grants awarded and over $4.6 billion represented in total Wisconsin foundation assets. Produced by the staff of the Funding Information Center, Marquette University Memorial Library.
Grantsnet: Funding Opportunities for Training in the Biological and Medical Sciences 
A currently free internet-based database of hundreds of programs. Also includes funding news and an email update service. A site of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Quite a bit of funding information for international applicants.
Grantselect [Choose Search in the left-hand column.]
The GrantSelect provides information on over 10,000 grants available to both individuals and organizations from 4,000 federal, state, and local governments, commercial organizations, associations, and private foundations. It's online description states that its focus is on "pure research grants to arts programs, biomedical and health care research, community services programs, children and youth programs, and K-12 education funding." Emphasis is on U.S. programs, yet some foreign programs are included as well. Grants can be searched by type, subject, geographic area, sponsor, population groups, and more.
Information has been compiled from the following titles by the editorial staff of the Oryx Press: Directory of Research Grants, Directory of Grants in the Humanities, Directory of Biomedical and Health Care Grants, Funding Sources for Community and Economic Development, Funding Sources for K-12 Education and Operating Grants for Nonprofit Organizations.
IRIS: Illinois Researcher Information Service [Choose IRIS Database in the upper left-hand corner.]
This database includes over 8,000 federal and private funding programs for researchers, scholars, faculty and graduate students. Funding organizations include foundations, professional associations, corporate sources, and others. Grant programs for institutions are included as well. Types of funding support include research, educational and professional activities, travel, exhibitions, publishing, seminars, equipment acquisitions, and more. Searchable by subject, type of support, population group, sponsor type, citizenship, application deadlines, and more.
Features a funding Alert Service, an Upcoming Deadlines section in 25 areas, and numerous links to other research funding sites and services. Compiled at the University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign. Updated daily.
SPIN: Sponsored
Programs Information Network
Provides access to funding information for research, development activities, international projects, collaborative programs, fellowships, academic exchange programs, and more. Searchable by citizenship, geographic areas and restrictions, deadlines, subjects, and more. Offers access to New Funding Opportunities and the Federal Register. Updated daily.
990-PF Tax Returns, Nonprofit Organizations
Tax returns for private and corporate-sponsored foundations can be useful in a variety of ways in determining the suitability of a funding match. For more information on how they can be used, check the tutorial, Demystifying the 990-P, by the staff of the Foundation Center or De-myth-ifying IRS Form 990 at Guidestar.org
Economic Research Institute's Nonprofit Organization Search
ERI is the "leader in compensation information, providing salary survey and cost-of-living research reports and software." This free 990 Search links to pdfs of 990 and 990PF forms - sometimes going back further in time than what the Foundation Center makes available.
Foundation Center 990-PF Search
This Foundation Center site permits searching for 990-PF returns by name, zip code, and/or EIN number.
Grantsmart.org
This database is no longer in existence.
Guidestar and [See below for details.]
Contains descriptions of and financial data on over 860,000 nonprofit organization. Information is compiled from tax returns filed with the Internal Revenue Service, and includes each charity's assets, liabilities, revenue, and expenditures. Provides access to 990-PF tax returns, which itemize grants given by private foundations. Maintained by Philanthropic Research, a nonprofit group in Williamsburg, Virginia.
Access: Internet-based, free for 990 searching and basic profiles.. Some extra features available only through subscription.
Provides detailed descriptions of more than 154,000 nonprofit membership organizations of international and U.S. national, regional, state, or local scope of interest, including professional societies, trade associations, and more. If searched skillfully, this database can sometimes be effective for locating funding for diverse types of projects and interests. Also provides separate search engine for finding IRS data for organizations. Produced by Gale Research.
Open to everyone
Only available in Memorial Library
Licensed access for UW-Madison students, faculty, staff, and in-person library visitors