Grants are often viewed as one of the more complex aspects of nonprofit funding. They’re sometimes misunderstood as either a catch-all solution to a nonprofit’s financial challenges or as an exclusive opportunity only available to those with insider connections. In reality, neither of these assumptions is entirely accurate. There are numerous grants available to all kinds of nonprofit organizations, regardless of existing relationships or connections. Foundations, corporations, and government agencies are eager to fund organizations whose missions align with their own. The key is knowing how to find and apply for the right grants that support your organization’s goals.
To help you navigate the process, we’ve put together a list of practical tips and grant sources to guide your search and increase your chances of securing funding. Here’s how to get started:
Start by Applying for the $10,000/Month Google Ad Grant
One of the best opportunities for nonprofits is Google’s $10,000 per month in free advertising credits, known as the Google Ad Grant. Regardless of your nonprofit’s focus, this grant offers an invaluable way to boost your online presence and attract new supporters. It provides a cost-effective way to enhance your digital marketing strategy without straining your budget.
If you’re new to managing ad campaigns or want to maximize the impact of this grant, consider partnering with a specialized Google Grant management agency to ensure you’re getting the best results from your ads.
If your organization qualifies, Impact Driven Grants has a 100% approval rate in securing and managing Google Ad Grants for their clients. With a proven track record of delivering $10,000 per month in Google Ads to nonprofits, they help amplify your reach and ensure alignment with your long-term mission and goals.
Involve Your Board in the Grant Search
Engage your board members in the grant search process. This can be beneficial for several reasons: First, your board members may have connections with foundations or corporations that offer grant opportunities. If your nonprofit already has a relationship with a particular foundation, your chances of receiving a grant may be higher. However, even if no such connections exist, don’t worry—you can still develop relationships with grant providers. We’ll share strategies for building these connections in the next steps. By leveraging the expertise and networks of your board, you expand your organization’s reach and opportunities for securing funding.
Create a Budget
A well-constructed budget is essential for understanding your organization’s financial needs and targeting the right grants. The more specific you are about your nonprofit’s goals and funding requirements, the easier it will be to identify grants that align with those needs. For example, if you’re seeking funds to renovate office space, focus on grants tailored for capital improvements. Each grant has its own criteria, so being precise will help you match your organization with the best opportunities.
Additionally, it’s important to diversify your funding sources. Relying too heavily on a single grant can put your organization at risk if that funding is lost. By securing multiple funding streams, you can build a more stable financial foundation and reduce vulnerability to financial setbacks. The goal is to ensure that no one grant makes up a disproportionate amount of your budget, safeguarding your nonprofit’s long-term stability.
Understand the Role of a Grant
It’s important not to view grants as the ultimate solution to all of your nonprofit’s financial challenges. In reality, grants make up only a small portion of the overall funding available to organizations each year. For example, a recent study by Giving USA found that foundations account for just 16% of donations to nonprofits, while individual donors contribute over 71%. This means that while grants can be an important part of your funding strategy, they should not be your sole focus. Experts recommend that foundation and corporate grants should make up no more than 25% of your nonprofit’s overall funding, with the remainder coming from individual donors and other revenue streams.
With this in mind, the best approach when seeking grants is to begin by building relationships locally. It’s crucial for your nonprofit to be well-known and trusted within your community. The more credibility you have at the local level, the more likely you are to receive grants and build a strong donor base. Establishing a solid local presence will also enhance your credibility when applying for larger, national grants.
Before applying for any grant, carefully review the eligibility criteria to ensure that your organization aligns with the foundation’s mission. Grantmakers are looking for nonprofits whose goals and values closely match their own. The more accurately you can demonstrate this alignment, the better your chances of receiving the grant. Doing thorough research upfront will save you time and effort later in the process.
Once you’ve built strong local relationships and secured smaller grants, you may feel ready to pursue larger funding opportunities. To help you get started, we’ve compiled a list of 25 of the most generous foundations in the country. Below is a brief overview of each foundation’s mission and priorities, which should help you identify potential matches for your nonprofit’s goals.
Here they are:
The issues we engage in are wildly disparate, but they share the characteristics of being deeply rooted, dynamic, and complex. None will be solved easily and quickly, and none will be solved through our efforts alone.
We do all of our work in collaboration with grantees and other partners, who join with us in taking risks, pushing for new solutions, and harnessing the transformative power of science and technology. We strive to engage with our grantees and partners in a spirit of trust, candid communication, and transparency. Our collective efforts also depend on the support and resources of governments, the private sector, communities, and individuals. – Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
We work and make grants in seven interconnected areas that together, we believe, can help challenge inequality: Civic Engagement and Government, Creativity and Free Expression, Equitable Development, Gender, Racial and Ethnic Justice, Inclusive Economies, Internet Freedom, Youth Opportunity and Learning. – Ford Foundation
The Getty Foundation supports institutions and individuals committed to advancing the greater understanding and preservation of the visual arts in Los Angeles and throughout the world. We do this through grant initiatives that increase access to museum collections, strengthen art history as a global discipline, advance conservation practice, and support current and future leaders in the visual arts. We carry out our work in collaboration with the other Getty programs—the J. Paul Getty Museum, the Getty Research Institute, and the Getty Conservation Institute. Since 1984, we have awarded more than 7,500 grants benefiting over 180 countries on all seven continents. – J. Paul Getty Trust
4.. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
At the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, we are working to help broaden the discussion about what shapes health, and set a new standard of health, equity and well-being for all communities. Through a wide array of grant programs, we engage policymakers, business leaders, community groups and many other stakeholders with a common interest in making it easier for everyone to get and stay healthy. – The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
The W.K. Kellogg Foundation was established in 1930 by breakfast cereal pioneer W.K. Kellogg, who defined its purpose as “…administering funds for the promotion of the welfare, comfort, health, education, feeding, clothing, sheltering and safeguarding of children and youth, directly or indirectly, without regard to sex, race, creed or nationality….” To guide current and future trustees and staff, he said, “Use the money as you please so long as it promotes the health, happiness and well-being of children.”
The foundation receives its income primarily from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation Trust, which was set up by Mr. Kellogg. In addition to its diversified portfolio, the trust continues to own substantial equity in the Kellogg Company. While the company and the foundation have enjoyed a long-standing relationship, the foundation is governed by its own independent board of trustees. The foundation receives its income primarily from the trust’s investments.
Over the years, the Kellogg Foundation’s programming has continued to evolve, striving to remain innovative and responsive to the ever-changing needs of society. Today, the organization ranks among the world’s largest private foundations, awarding grants in the United States, Mexico and Haiti. – W. K. Kellogg Foundation
We make grants to a broad range of institutions – from research universities contributing to public knowledge and performing arts centers engaging local diverse communities, to grassroots organizations representing millions of individuals and multilateral groups working on international development.
At any one time, more than 1,350 of our grants are active. In 2016, the foundation awarded $414,987,000 in grants and disbursed an estimated $419,000,000 in grant payments. As of December 31, 2016, the foundation’s assets were approximately $9 billion. View our financial statements and public disclosures, as well as grantmaking FAQ. – The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation
We consider proposals in three program areas: community development, education and religion. We also are interested in initiatives that benefit youth and that promote the causes of philanthropy and volunteerism. – Lilly Endowment Inc.
We support leaders and institutions working on issues our founders cared about most: fighting climate change, providing access to health and early learning, advancing reproductive health and rights, ensuring a better future for the ocean, empowering the next generation of scientists and engineers, supporting local communities, preserving and protecting the North American West, gaining knowledge through science, helping our farmers protect our planet and nourish the world. – The David and Lucile Packard Foundation
Gordon and Betty Moore established the foundation to create positive outcomes for future generations. In pursuit of that vision, we foster path-breaking scientific discovery, environmental conservation, patient care improvements and preservation of the special character of the San Francisco Bay Area. – Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation
The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation supports creative people, effective institutions, and influential networks building a more just, verdant, and peaceful world. MacArthur is placing a few big bets that truly significant progress is possible on some of the world’s most pressing social challenges, including over-incarceration, global climate change, nuclear risk, and significantly increasing financial capital for the social sector. – The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation endeavors to strengthen, promote, and, where necessary, defend the contributions of the humanities and the arts to human flourishing and to the well-being of diverse and democratic societies. To this end, it supports exemplary institutions of higher education and culture as they renew and provide access to an invaluable heritage of ambitious, path-breaking work. The Foundation makes grants in five core program areas: Higher Education and Scholarship in the Humanities; Arts and Cultural Heritage; Diversity; Scholarly Communications; and International Higher Education and Strategic Projects. – The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
Bloomberg Philanthropies works to ensure better, longer lives for the greatest number of people by focusing on five key areas: the arts, education, the environment, government innovation, and public health. – Bloomberg Philanthropies
SVCF offer grants to eligible organizations through our strategic grantmaking focus areas: Economic Security, Education, Immigration and Building Strong Communities. – Silicon Valley Community Foundation
We strive to make a meaningful impact in our focus areas, employing not only our significant financial assets, but also a rigorous and results-oriented approach. We are committed to close and productive partnerships with our grantees, as well as with other funders and impact players in government, academia, and the private sector who share our interests and goals. And we endeavor to be forward-thinking in every aspect of our work, which includes taking risks that others cannot or will not when we conclude that the risk/reward trade-off warrants investment. The Helmsley Charitable Trust aspires to improve lives by supporting exceptional efforts in the U.S. and around the world in health and select place-based initiatives. – The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust
The Rockefeller Foundation’s mission—unchanged since 1913—is to promote the well-being of humanity throughout the world. Today, we pursue this mission through dual goals: advancing inclusive economies that expand opportunities for more broadly shared prosperity, and building resilience by helping people, communities and institutions prepare for, withstand, and emerge stronger from acute shocks and chronic stresses. To achieve these goals, we work at the intersection of four focus areas—advance health, revalue ecosystems, secure livelihoods, and transform cities—to address the root causes of emerging challenges and create systemic change. Together with partners and grantees, The Rockefeller Foundation strives to catalyze and scale transformative innovations, create unlikely partnerships that span sectors, and take risks others cannot. – The Rockefeller Foundation
What we do: stimulate nonprofit investment in technology by offering support services at 25% – 50% of their market cost, emergency assistance and disaster relief, and medical assistance programs. – Tulsa Community Foundation
The California Endowment’s mission is to expand access to affordable, quality healthcare for underserved individuals and communities and to promote fundamental improvements in the health status of all Californians. – The California Endowment
The Kresge Foundation is a $3.5 billion private, national foundation that works to expand opportunities in America’s cities through grantmaking and social investing in arts and culture, education, environment, health, human services and community development in Detroit. – The Kresge Foundation
Since 1924, The Duke Endowment has worked to help people and strengthen communities in North Carolina and South Carolina by nurturing children, promoting health, educating minds and enriching spirits. – The Duke Endowment
The Open Society Foundations work to build vibrant and tolerant democracies whose governments are accountable and open to the participation of all people. – Foundation to Promote Open Society
The Foundation seeks to improve the quality of life in Georgia. We pursue our mission by responding to community needs, typically making grants to well-established institutions and projects with strong leadership and a broad base of support. – Robert W. Woodruff Foundation, Inc.
To provide meaningful assistance and support to society, the arts, and the environment. – Margaret A. Cargill Foundation
Established in 1911 by Andrew Carnegie to promote the advancement and diffusion of knowledge and understanding. In keeping with this mandate, the Corporation’s work focuses on the issues that Andrew Carnegie considered of paramount importance: international peace, the advancement of education and knowledge, and the strength of our democracy. – Carnegie Corporation of New York
The Susan T. Buffett Foundation has offered scholarships to college students in Nebraska for over 50 years. Scholarships are awarded on a competitive basis to first-time, entering freshmen who are residents of Nebraska, graduates of a Nebraska high school with plans to attend a Nebraska public institution, and who have demonstrated financial need. There are a limited number of scholarships, so the Foundation is unable to provide awards to all eligible candidates. – The Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation
The mission of the Annie E. Casey Foundation is ambitious: to improve the futures of millions of disadvantaged children and their families.
To achieve results, we focus on developing solutions to build a brighter future for children, families and communities. As such, our grant-making strategies are focused on policies and practices that improve the outcomes of kids, families, communities and reform-minded leaders. – The Annie E. Casey Foundation
Each foundation operates with its own specific priorities and goals. As you conduct your research, it’s essential to ensure that your nonprofit’s mission and activities closely align with the objectives of the grant you’re applying for. The stronger the alignment, the better your chances of success. To help with your search, we’ve put together a list of grant search engines you can use to find opportunities:
I know this is a lot to take in, but don’t worry—you’ve got this! Start by focusing on the Google Ad Grant to get the ball rolling.
Managing grant applications and nonprofit marketing campaigns can be challenging, especially as your organization grows. For nonprofits seeking expert guidance, it’s essential to choose a partner that aligns with your mission, brings firsthand expertise in grant management, and delivers measurable impact.
If your organization qualifies, Impact Driven Grants has a 100% approval rate in securing and managing Google Ad Grants for their clients. With a proven track record of delivering $10,000 per month in Google Ads to nonprofits, they help amplify your reach and ensure alignment with your long-term mission and goals.
Ready to maximize your nonprofit’s impact?
