FOUNDATIONS/GRANTS

FOUNDATION SEARCH TOOLS
Chances are, if you're researching a foundation, you
typically want to discover, at the very least: one, a
primary information source such as the foundation Web site,
which often serves as (or contains) the annual report; and
two, news about the foundation, recent gifts or personnel
changes.

To save time, my advice is to first check the Foundation
Center's offerings. "Why?" you ask. Simple: efficiency. The
Center cuts through the 'Net clutter by focusing on just
one thing: foundations. The Foundation Finder and search
engine for the Philanthropy News Digest both tap into their
in-house databases.  This means they're not "true" Internet
search engines, but who cares!

"Foundation Finder" offers a very nice, easy-to-use search
engine interface to its foundation database. According to
the blurb, the Finder has 50,000 foundations (both private
and community). A search form helps you filter your queries
by foundation name, city and state. Results give contact
information, assets and a link to the foundation's Web site
(when available).  Try it out at:
http://lnp.fdncenter.org/finder.html

Philanthropy News Digest (PND):
The Foundation Center also does a top-notch job of keeping
abreast of breaking news in the foundation world through
the Philanthropy News Digest. They graciously date articles
(which doesn't always happen on the 'Net), so you know if
you're looking at yesterday's or today's news. PND has
another tremendous feature; it provides references to other
news sources and press releases on the topic. Ready made
leads. What more could you ask for?
http://fdncenter.org/pnd/current/index.html

Three years ago, I wouldn't have spilled so many electrons
on the Foundation Center. Reason, there was a dearth of
foundations on the Web.  My, how times have changed. The
'Net is maturing and the Center is growing along with it.

Additional Resources:
Philanthropy News Network:
This is a nice site with good news on philanthropy and
foundations. It is the closest contender to the Philanthropy
News Digest's for coverage and for search precision. Highly
recommended.
http://www.pj.org/

Helping.Org
Helping.Org, a joint venture of the AOL Foundation and the
Benton Foundation, helps nonprofits utilize online technology and resources.  A nice section on "Resources For Nonprofits" also has a search feature. If you search for the word "Lilly," you get quite a few hits for the Lilly Endowment. However, be careful in defining your search, since their index covers everything from foundations to html.

NonProfit Times
The NonProfit Times, a well-established site, offers
"Philanthropy Search," which dines at the same information
restaurants as Helping.Org. Look to NTP if you want a
search engine alternative, although, searches often lead
back to the Foundation Center's or the Philanthropy News
Network's resources.
http://www.philanthropysearch.com/home.html

Charles Lowe