Researching the Right Funders

Aim Before You Fire

Most organizations waste enormous time applying to the wrong funders. They find a grant opportunity, get excited about the dollar amount, and spend weeks writing a proposal that never had a chance because their work does not match what the funder wants to fund.

By the end of this lesson, you will have a systematic process for identifying funders who are genuinely aligned with your work.

Quick Recall: In the previous lesson, we learned that misalignment with funder priorities is the most common reason proposals fail. Let us make sure that never happens to you.

The Three Types of Funders

Understanding funder types helps you target your research:

Government grants are the largest but most competitive with strict formatting requirements. Start here if you have staff capacity.

Foundation grants are the backbone of nonprofit funding. They range from small family foundations to large national funders with specific focus areas.

Corporate grants are often smaller but come with partnership opportunities. Companies fund work that aligns with their brand and community presence.

Research Tools and Databases

Free resources:

• Foundation Directory Online (library access): Most comprehensive foundation database
• Grants.gov: All federal grant opportunities
• Your state’s grant portal: State-level funding
• Candid (formerly GuideStar): Foundation financial data and 990 forms
• Google: “[your focus area] grant opportunities 2026”

AI-powered research:

I lead a [TYPE OF ORGANIZATION] in [LOCATION] focused on [MISSION].
Our programs include: [LIST 2-3 PROGRAMS]
Our annual budget is approximately [AMOUNT].

Research potential funders by:
1. Suggesting 10 foundation types that fund work like ours
2. Identifying government grant programs we might qualify for
3. Recommending corporate giving programs in our area
4. For each suggestion, explain why it is a good match
5. Note any common eligibility requirements we should check

Quick Check: What are the three main types of grant funders, and how do they differ in grant size and application complexity?

Analyzing Funder Priorities

Finding a funder is step one. Confirming alignment is step two.

Read these documents for every potential funder:

1. Mission statement: What do they say they care about?
2. Funding guidelines: What will they fund and what will they not?
3. Past grantees: Who have they actually given money to?
4. Annual report: What are they highlighting and celebrating?
5. 990 form (foundations): What are the actual dollar amounts and recipients?

Past grantees are the gold standard. A funder’s mission statement says what they aspire to fund. Their past grantees show what they actually fund. These sometimes differ.

AI-assisted funder analysis:

Here are the funding guidelines for [FUNDER NAME]:
[PASTE GUIDELINES]

Analyze this funder:
1. What are their top 3 priorities based on these guidelines?
2. What types of organizations do they prefer?
3. What geographic focus do they have?
4. What project sizes do they typically fund?
5. Are there any red flags or restrictions that might disqualify us?
6. How well does our work ([DESCRIBE BRIEFLY]) align with their priorities?

Building a Funder Prospect List

Create a structured list of potential funders ranked by fit:

Start with 20-30 prospects. You will narrow this to your strongest 8-10 for actual applications.

Quick Check: Why are a funder’s past grantees more informative than their mission statement?

The Alignment Scoring System

Rate each prospect on five criteria:

Score each criterion 1-5. Multiply by weight. Total score determines priority.

Only write proposals for prospects scoring 3.5 or above. Writing a proposal for a 2.0 alignment is wasted time regardless of the dollar amount.

Research Red Flags

Some funders look appealing on the surface but will waste your time:

Try It Yourself

Build your first funder prospect list:

1. Use the AI research prompt above with your organization’s details
2. Choose 5 promising funders from the suggestions
3. Look up their funding guidelines online
4. Run the AI funder analysis prompt for each
5. Score alignment using the five-criterion system
6. Rank your prospects from strongest to weakest fit

You now have a prioritized target list. Every proposal you write from this list starts with confirmed alignment.

Key Takeaways

• Funder alignment is the most critical factor: a good proposal to the right funder beats a great proposal to the wrong one
• Three funder types exist with different characteristics: government, foundation, and corporate
• Analyze past grantees to understand what funders actually fund, not just what they say they fund
• Score prospects on mission match, geography, size, eligibility, and relationship potential
• Only write proposals for prospects with strong alignment scores to avoid wasting time

Up Next

In Lesson 3: Writing Needs Statements That Compel, we will learn to describe the problem your project addresses in a way that makes funders feel urgency and confidence in your approach.