Find and keep funding
See who a foundation really funds before you write
A private foundation's 990-PF lists the grants it paid. Grantkeeper finds the latest filings, reads the grant list and tells you how much you look like the groups it already supports.
Fictional example.
Text it like this
Fictional example.
What a 990-PF shows
Private foundations file Form 990-PF with the IRS every year, and the returns are public. Part XIV lists grants and contributions paid during the year and those approved for future payment, with the recipient, the purpose and the amount. Line 2 of that part has a box the foundation checks when it gives only to organizations it picks in advance and does not accept unsolicited applications. The same part asks how to apply: the form, deadlines and any limits on what it funds.
ProPublica's Nonprofit Explorer makes these returns searchable and links the filings, which is usually where Grantkeeper starts.
How Grantkeeper reads one
Give it the name and city, or the EIN if you have it. It finds the foundation, opens the two most recent filings it can read, and pulls the grant list into a short summary: total paid, the typical grant, the smallest and largest, where recipients are, how many look like you, and what the return says about applying. Every number names the filing year and the part it came from.
Some filings are scanned pages with no text to read. Grantkeeper says which ones. If you open one and send photos of the grant pages, it can read those instead. Because returns lag, a new program officer or a new strategy will not show yet.
What "fit" means here
The summary is a reading of past giving, not a forecast. A foundation that funded six youth programs in your county last year is worth a call; one that checks the preselected box probably is not worth a cold letter. Grantkeeper says which way the record points and why, and the decision stays with you.
Ready to write? The letter of inquiry recipe picks up from this summary.
Sources: IRS Instructions for Form 990-PF, ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer
What you send
The foundation's name and city, or its EIN, plus one line on the program you want funded.
What Grantkeeper prepares
A one-page summary: total grants, typical size, where the money went, groups like yours, what the return says about applying, and which filing years it read.
What to keep in mind
Tax returns run a year or two behind. Some filings are scanned images with no text, and Grantkeeper names the ones it could not read.