Funding Resources
We encourage you to contact us if you are considering seeking foundation support for your research or project. Our office can guide you to resources and may be able to help identify potential funders. If you would first like to learn more about foundation grantmaking or research funding opportunities on your own, this page lists some sources of information that may be helpful. (If you are looking for information about government funding sources, such as the National Science Foundation or the National Institutes of Health, please contact the Office of Sponsored Projects.) This list is not exhaustive and some resources, as noted, are available only to Dartmouth users.
Some foundations restrict the number of proposals accepted per institution in a given time period. Please contact us prior to submitting a proposal and we can advise you on other initiatives across campus that may be in progress. If you are part of a recognized student organization interested in outside funding, please refer to the institutional policies for student fund-raising.
Information about Foundations and Philanthropy
Foundation Center
An independent nonprofit information clearinghouse that collects, organizes, analyzes and disseminates information on foundations, corporate giving, and related subjects; maintains an extensive web site with links to foundation and corporate grantmakers and offers tools for researching funding opportunities (see below).
Philanthrophy News Digest
A weekly service of the Foundation Center that collects news and information about the philanthropic world; their search page is useful for tracking down recent news about individual foundations.
The Chronicle of Philanthropy
“The newspaper of the nonprofit world”; some portions of the web site available only to subscribers.
Council on Foundations
A nonprofit membership association of grantmaking foundations and corporations.
Researching Funding Opportunities
Foundation Directory Online
This subscription service of the Foundation Center is available to Dartmouth students, faculty and staff from a computer with a Dartmouth IP address; profiles 80,000+ funders and lists over half a million recently awarded grants. Baker-Berry Library holds print editions of the directory through 2001; call number AS911.A2 F652.
Foundation Finder
A free service of the Foundation Center that offers basic information about foundations, such as mailing addresses.
Office of Sponsored Projects
The web site of Dartmouth’s Office of Sponsored Projects provides further information about both internal and external sources of funding, including guidance on funding from government sources.
RFP Bulletin
Private foundations and federal agencies often issue Requests for Proposals (RFPs) with specific program parameters and an invitation to submit proposals by a specified date; the RFP Bulletin, published by the Foundation Center, lists recently posted RFPs in 12 subject areas by funder and submission deadline.
Community of Science
Community of Science (COS) maintains a Funding Opportunities database (accessible to Dartmouth users) that allows users to search by keyword, sponsor, and deadlines; updated daily and not limited to science opportunities.
Guidestar
A site for gaining free access to the annual tax returns of foundations (990PF’s) and public charities (990’s), which include a list of the foundation’s grants for the year; the grants list is usually near the end of the 990.
Vermont Directory of Foundations Online
Print edition available in Baker-Berry Library; call number HV98.V5 V47.
Directory of Charitable Funds in New Hampshire
New Hampshire Directory of Foundations, 5th edition, 2007-08
Baker-Berry Library call number HV98.N4 N48.
The Europa International Foundation Directory
Baker-Berry Library call number HV7.156.
The Taft Corporate Giving Directory
Feldberg Business & Engineering Library call number HV97.A3 T29.
Foundation Websites
In general, the most up-to-date information about any foundation will be found on its own website. Most medium and large foundations have websites, on which they post their guidelines, contact names and phone numbers, deadlines, lists of past grants, annual reports, etc. We recommend checking the results of your directory searches against the foundations’ sites.
Can we help?
Contact us at 603-646-1257 or at Foundation.Relations@Dartmouth.EDU.