Determining the Funders

About

This phase involves identifying sources of government, foundation, corporate, and other support. From this information, an overall funding strategy is developed. Next, associations and funders are queried to determine their interest in funding the project. Activities that will occur are:

1. Identify general sources of funds
2. Become knowledgeable of funding trends
3. Develop a short-range and long-range funding strategy
4. Conduct a formal funding search using major resources on government, foundation, corporate, and other support
5. Query funders about their interest in receiving the proposal and their application procedures
6. Discover other methods of querying funders
7. Select priority funders who will receive the grant proposal

General Sources of Funding

• Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (2011). Washington, D.C.: Superintendant of Documents, United States Government Printing Office, 2011.
• Federal Funding Sources Available for Rural Areas (2011). This is a condensed version of the Catalog of Federal Government Assistance. It contains a listing of all federal grants for rural and frontier areas in the United States
• Federal Register. Washington, D.C.: Office of the Federal Register, United States Government Printing Office, published daily
• Local Sources: County, City, and Township

Foundation Sources

1. The Foundation Directory 2011. New York: The Foundation Center 2011 
2. The Foundation Center
   
3. Wyoming Foundations Directory
   
4. Wyoming Foundation Center Libraries - Natrona County Public Library (Casper), Laramie County Community College (Cheyenne), Campbell County Public Library (Gillette), Teton County Library (Jackson), and Rock Springs Public Library (Rock Springs).
5. FC Search
6. Annual Register of Grant Support: A Directory of Funding Sources, 2010. 45th Edition. New Providence, NG: R.R. Bowker, 2010.

Internet Grant Databases

There are thousands of sources. The following are a few sites. Surf the net and find out what kind of projects they fund.

• Federal Grants Databases: (will notify of specific grants available), this is a portal for retrieving applications and applying online
• RFP Bulletin 
• Other databases

Corporations & Small Businesses

1. Community Business Employers - look at employers located in industrial parks
2. National Directory of Corporate Giving, 2007. New York: The Foundation Center.
3. Retail - Albertson’s, Wal-Mart, K-Mart
4. Small Business - Cause matches with a specific interest.
5. Utility Companies - Qwest Foundation, Kinder Morgan Foundation, PacificCorp Foundation
6. Union Pacific Foundation

Associations

• Encyclopedia of Associations, 2010. Detroit, MI: Gale Research, Inc.
• International Organizations, 2004. Detroit, MI: Gale Research, Inc.

Specialized Funding Sources

• Locate funding sources that track with your interest.

Funding Trends Review

This includes publications that make you aware of funding trends and opportunities.

1. The Chronicle of Philanthropy- Published biweekly by The Chronicle of Philanthropy, 1255 Twenty-Third Street, NW, Suite 700, Washington, D.C. 20037. Telephone: 202-466-1200
2. Foundation News. Published by the Council on Foundations, with editorial offices at 1828 L Street, NW, Washington, D.C. 20036.
3. Local and State Funding Report. Published weekly by Thompson Publishing Group, Inc, 805 15th Street NW, 3rd Floor, Washington, D.C. Monthly Periodical.
4. Grants for Cities and Towns Hotline. Published biweekly by Quinlan Publishing of Thomson-West, 23 Drydock Avenue, Boston, MA 02210-2387. Current cost, 10/11, $251.04 
5. The Grantsmanship Center
6. The Non-Profit Times. Published 22 times per year. Free subscriptions are offered to full-time U.S. nonprofit executives.