Research Nonprofits and Find Funding with Candid Search

The nonprofit world is built around connections: organizations looking for funding, funders looking for organizations to support, and community members looking to better understand nonprofit work so they can make informed decisions about where to volunteer or donate.

Candid Search brings information about all three (nonprofits, funders, and grants) together in one research platform.

Candid Search combines data previously available through GuideStar and Foundation Directory, two long-standing resources for nonprofit and philanthropic research. Today, the database includes profiles for approximately 1.9 million nonprofit organizations, information on more than 300,000 funders, and millions of grants.

For nonprofit professionals, grant writers, researchers, donors, and anyone interested in the nonprofit sector, Candid Search can help answer questions such as:

• What does a particular nonprofit do?
• How is an organization funded?
• Who are its leaders?
• What programs and populations does it serve?
• What foundations fund projects like ours?
• How much has a particular funder awarded in the past?
• Which organizations have received its grants?
• Does a funder accept applications?

Here's how you can use Candid Search to find that information:

How to Research a Nonprofit

Candid nonprofit profiles bring together information from IRS records with information supplied by nonprofit organizations themselves, providing a broader picture of an organization's work.

Start with an Organization Search

If you already know the organization you want to research, enter its name or Employer Identification Number (EIN) into the Candid Search bar.

You can also search more broadly using keywords and then narrow your results using filters such as:

• Subject area
• Geographic area served
• Population the nonprofit serves
• Financial information
• Leadership and staff demographics

Once you find the organization you're looking for, select its name to open its nonprofit profile.

What Can You Find in a Nonprofit Profile?

The amount of information available varies by organization, but a Candid profile may include its:

Mission and programs: Learn why the organization exists, what services it provides, and the communities or populations it serves.

Financial information: Review revenue, expenses, assets, and other financial data better to understand the organization's size and financial activity.

Leadership: Find information about an organization's officers, directors, key employees, and other leadership.

IRS Forms 990: Access tax filings that can provide additional information about an organization's finances, governance, compensation, programs, and activities.

Grants received: Depending on the available data, you may also be able to see organizations and foundations that have previously funded the nonprofit.

Candid profiles can therefore be useful from several perspectives: a potential donor might research an organization before contributing, or perhaps someone is considering a partnership with a nonprofit and would like to learn more about its programs and leadership. Or, someone is conducting research on similar organizations to see where their funding comes from.

Which leads us to the other major side of Candid Search: finding grants.

Example 2: Find Potential Grant Funders

Candid Search provides information about hundreds of thousands of grantmakers and their past giving, allowing you to research those that fit with your priorities before deciding which opportunities are worth pursuing.

Begin with Your Funding Needs

Before searching, it helps to define a few basic details about your project or organization:

1. What are you seeking funding for? Consider the subject area of your project, such as education, arts and culture, health, human services, or the environment.
2. Who will the project serve? Think about the population or community that will benefit from the funding.
3. Where will the work take place? Many funders limit their giving to particular cities, counties, states, or regions.

These details can become filters in Candid Search, helping you narrow a large pool of funders to those whose giving interests more closely match your project.

Look Beyond the Search Results

Finding a potential funder is only the beginning. Select a funder's profile to investigate its giving history and determine whether it might actually be a good prospect.

One of the most useful pieces of information is its past grants, as previous giving can tell you what a funder supports in practice.

Look at questions such as:

• What types of organizations have received grants?
• What subjects or programs were funded?
• Where were those organizations located?
• How large were the grants?
• Does the funder give repeatedly to the same organizations?
• Has it funded organizations or projects similar to yours?

Candid's grants data can be filtered by factors including year awarded, grant amount, subject area, geographic area served, and population served.

This information can help you decide not only who to approach, but also what a realistic request might look like. A foundation that routinely gives $5,000 grants to organizations like yours may be a more promising prospect for a $5,000 project than one whose funding history shows little connection to your mission or community.

Check How to Apply

Before adding a funder to your prospect list, check its profile for application information.

When available, Candid may provide grant guidelines, including eligibility requirements, limitations, application procedures, and open funding opportunities.

Not every foundation accepts unsolicited proposals. Researching a funder's application practices before beginning a proposal can save valuable time and help you focus on opportunities that are actually open to your organization.

Access Candid Search at the Library

Candid Search is available through Clark County Public Library at no cost, providing access to research tools and information that would otherwise require a paid subscription.

Because the library's access is authenticated through its internet connection, Candid Search must be used while you are at the library and connected to the library's network. It cannot be accessed remotely with your library card.

Visit our Online Resources page and select Candid Search to get started.

If you're new to nonprofit or grant research, don't worry about mastering every search option at once. Start with a nonprofit, funder, or project you already know and explore the information connected to it. As you become familiar with Candid's profiles, filters, and grants data, you can begin building more targeted searches—and a much clearer picture of the funding landscape around your organization.