Your underground connection to available grants for nonprofits, schools, and municipalities!
Your underground connection to available grants
for nonprofits, schools, and municipalities!
Home›Help Desk
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Grant Gopher page contents
Our service is designed specifically for organizations based in the United States that want to fund programs based in the United States. We do not focus on international grants, though there are some in our database. Most United States based foundations do not make unsolicited grants to organizations based outside of the United States.
It is difficult to get funding for start-up costs. Most grant makers want to see that you have other sources of funding, and some operating history. We always suggest that you start with a few steps: * Research your area and make sure that another organization similar to the one you have envisioned does not already exist. We have seen organizations open shop when there are six similar organizations within blocks. The more organizations like yours there are, the harder it is to get funding of any type. * Write up a business plan (yep, nonprofits are a business). This will help solidify your ideas and get you thinking about other ways to fund the start-up. * Have a strong board of directors ready to go and other partnerships in the works. Being well connected helps your chances of funding (a LOT). * Have a detailed budget for your start-up expenses, and continuing through the first couple of years. This goes along with the business plan. Develop a plan for sustainability beyond the initial funding. The better prepared you are, the more likely you are to get funding. If you have no money and are counting on grant funding to start and run your organization, you need to think through the plan and find other sources of money. Grant money is rarely, if ever, given as the sole starting point for an organization.
While we would love to help everyone, our service is designed specifically for organizations. There may be some grants in our database that individuals can apply for, but it is not a focus area.
Once you have identified a grant that is a good match, click on the application link in the grant description. This will take you directly to the grantor's funding guidelines and application. If the grantor does not have a website, that will be noted in the grant description and application instructions are provided. Next, read their guidelines carefully (several times)! Once you decide to proceed with the application, be sure to follow all the directions set forth by the grantor.
There are some grants and business plan competitions, but they are highly dependent on business type, projected number of employees, and geographic location, among other qualifying requirements. We recommend that you contact your local Small Business Development Center and/or SCORE to assist with business funding questions. Their services are free.
If you need assistance for personal expenses, contact your local Family Resource Center, United Way (dial 2-1-1), or local government Human Services department. They are best prepared to help and can connect you to available resources. We do not recommend that you pay someone to help you find grants for personal needs. Those are usually scams.
The Grant Gopher Team reviews the grant records daily to make sure they are as up to date and accurate as possible. We review funders websites, financial information including IRS Form 990, and communicate directly with them. Grant makers that accept applications on an ongoing basis are reviewed once every year at a minimum, but generally quarterly or bi-annually. Other grant makers are updated multiple times during the year as their grant cycles and initiatives are launched. Additionally, if we are alerted about a change by either our members or a funder, the change is reviewed and updated immediately.
Grants are listed in deadline date order by default. Grants that do not have an application deadline are marked as "No Deadline" and are at the end of the results list. Pro members are able to sort grant search results by Newest Grants or by No Deadline grants, bringing those grants to the top of the list.
We only publish the application deadline when it has been confirmed. It is not an 'anticipated' deadline based on past grant cycles. Deadlines can vary from prior cycles by a few weeks to several months, so 'anticipated' deadline dates are very misleading. Our clients have let us know that they do not want grant information unless the deadline has been confirmed. We also set the deadline based on mandatory requirements, such as workshop attendance or LOI submission. If there is a mandatory pre-application requirement, we also include the full proposal deadline in the grant description. But the deadline is always based on the first mandatory application requirement.
No, but we do offer a Lite (free) account. You are able to run unlimited searches in the database and see the full details and application information for five grants matching your search. This will give you a great idea of the different types of grants available through the Pro service.
First, log in to your Grant Gopher account. If you have the Pro service, you will see a green "Pro" badge underneath the green "Search" button on the Home page. You will also see a gray "Save Search" button next to the "Search" button. If you don't see those, then you have the Lite (free) service. If you are being charged for the Pro service but you don't see the Pro badge after logging in, then it is almost certain you have created multiple accounts. Please contact Customer Care using the message button on the lower right hand side of the screen. We can give you the user name for your Pro account and remove any duplicate accounts.
Just click here! This link takes you to the page where you can restart your service. If you had set up any saved searches and email alerts, they will still be in place and ready for you to use.
If the transaction was processed, you should receive either an "approved" or "declined" message on the payment page. You will also receive an email receipt within seconds if the transaction went through. However, if you have extra purchasing protection or security on your credit/debit card, the transaction might not be processed at all. Your bank can block it. If that is the case, you will not see any message after you click the "Submit" button. You're welcome to reach out for assistance by using the message button in the lower right hand corner of the website.
Click your account name in the upper right hand corner of the website (right next to the Log In link). That will take you to your account management page where you can change your email address, contact name, and other profile information.
Your user name was included in your Welcome emails and is sent monthly in the Lite newsletters . If you can't find your user name, please contact Customer Care using the message button at the lower right hand corner of the screen. If you give us the email address associated with your account, we can provide it. If you need a password reset, click the grey "Reset Password" button on the Log-In page. Then enter your user name in the reset field. Click the green "Send Reset Link" button. A reset link will be emailed to you.