ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 3 1 4 / C&RL News Internet resources for grants and foundations B y H ilary S te rn b e rg The Internet way to say “show me the money” I n a world w here information is power, n o ­w here is this more evident than with the identification and solicitation o f grant and foun­ dation funding. W hether seeking funds for your library’s information literacy program or assist­ ing a developm ent officer find support for a cultural agency, researching foundations and grants is not an easy task. Targeting a financial cham pion for your project or program takes considerable preparation. The seek er o f such financial support must dovetail proposals pre­ cisely to the foundation’s programmatic require­ ments. While the com petition is k een and the num ber o f funding requests remains high, as many as 80 percent o f proposals submitted to private foundations are automatically disquali­ fied. Applications are eliminated becau se the applicants failed to match their needs with the fo u n d a tio n ’s stated m ission and p rio rities.1 Meticulous research and thoughtful preparation o f grant proposals can prove rewarding; after all, foundations are created for the purpose o f donating money. In 1995 private foundation giving reached $10.44 billion .2 Unfortunately, many nonprofit and not-for- profit institutions have b e e n facing stagnant or steadily declining budgets at a time w hen the need for operational sustenance is greater than ever. Som e, w eary o f this less-is-m ore environm ent, have b ee n forced to do less with less, requiring many o f the uninitiated to seek outside funds for the first time. Grant monies can supplem ent many types o f critical activi­ ties— endowm ents, capital campaigns, match­ ing funds, equipm ent, fellow ships, research, special projects, co n feren ce s, and seminars. Most successful grants requ est underwriting for specific activities w hich have a finite sup­ port period, thus confining the funder’s com ­ mitment. The Internet encom passes an exciting gal­ axy o f foundation information and a variety o f funding resources for both the neophyte and the exp erien ced grant researcher. Foundation sites contain keys to programmatic giving, g e o ­ graphic focus, range o f grant awards, program and support limitations. Additional information provides netw orking opportunities with co l­ leagues, grant-writing structure and m ethodol­ ogy, and access to professional literature. Many associations and governm ent agencies, as well as corporate, private, and community founda­ tions maintain a W eb presence on the Internet. O f course, with the ever-changing nature o f the Internet no article could provide a perm a­ nently com p re h en siv e list o f reso u rces. B e aware that som e sites with multiple points o f access will have overlapping information and links. T he follow ing selected sites are intended to provide an introduction to the subject o f grants and foundations. Explore the sites, p e­ ruse an e-journal, and enjoy surfing the links. B est startin g p la c e s / m e g a s o u r c e s • CARDE’s O th e r G r a n t a n d F u n d in g P ag es o n th e W eb . Produced by the Center for Applied Research and D evelopm ent in Edu­ cation at the University o f Texas at Austin, this site has links to federal and private sector grants, g eneral reso u rces for gran tseekers, and re­ sources for grantwriters and graduate fellow ­ ships. Access: http://edb518g.edb.utexas.edu/ ww w_server/hotlist.htm l. Hilary Sternberg is a reference services librarian at Buffalo State College; e-mail: stembhi@buffalostate.edu http://edb518g.edb.utexas.edu/ mailto:stembhi@buffalostate.edu May 199 7 / 3 1 5 • C h a r ity Village. Bilingual links to Ca­ nadian and U.S. sites for nonprofit organiza­ tion s, p ro fe ss io n a l a s s o cia tio n s , o n lin e re ­ sources, funding sources, research, news, and more. Select “T h e Bus Station.” Access: http:// www.charityvillage.com/charityvillage/. • C o m m u n ity o f S c ie n ce F u n d in g O p ­ p o r tu n itie s . A b o o lean searchable, interna­ tional database that includes federal agencies, private foundations, state and provincial orga­ nizations, com m ercial entities, nonprofit orga­ nizations, professional associations, and aca­ dem ic institutions. Contrary to what the title m ight suggest, this site also in clu d es som e sources for arts and humanities, education, en­ g in ee rin g , law , and oth ers. Access: http:// c o s .g d b .org/repos/fund/fund-intro.htm l. • F i n a n c i a l A id I n f o r m a t i o n P a g e — G r a n t I n f o r m a tio n . Sponsored by the Na­ tional Association o f Student Financial Aid Ad­ ministrators, this site includes links to indexes o f grant information, grantwriting, grant data­ base, periodicals, government grants, and grant- related sources. Access: http://www.finaid.org/ finaid/awards/grants.htm l. • N o n p r o f i t R e s o u r c e s C a t a l o g u e : F u n d ra is in g a n d G iving. Award-winning site developed by Phillip A. W alker with m ore than 200 links w hich include funding sources, foun­ dations, and corporate contributions. Updated m onthly. Access: http://www.clark.net/pub/ pwalker/Fundraising_and_Giving/. O r g a n iz a t io n s • C o u n cil o n F o u n d a tio n s . A nonprofit coalition o f grantmaking foundations and cor­ porations w hose goal is to prom ote respon­ sible and effective philanthropy. This site in­ cludes Foundation News and Commentary and Council Columns Newsletter, publications o f books and videos, general information on foun­ dations, how to start a foundation, legislative and public policy watch, and foundation hom e­ pages. Access: http://www.cof.org. • F o u n d a tio n C e n te r. This site provides grantm aker inform ation, funding trends and analysis, Philanthropy News Digest, training and sem inars, libraries and locations, fundrais­ ing process, Foundation Center publications, and a list o f cooperating libraries. T here are annotated searchable links to m ore than 160 private, community, and corporate foundations, plus federal grants and public charities. Also ranks foundations by assets and total giving. An o n lin e lib rarian is av a ila b le to an sw e r y o u r e - m a i l q u e s t i o n s . Access: http:// fdncenter.org/. • T h e G r a n ts m a n s h ip C e n te r. TGC is know n for its grants and fundraising seminars. A list o f its excellent print publications––each available for $3 to $4— and an order form are provided. Also included in this site are non­ profit resources, TGC Magazine, today’s Fed­ eral Register grant inform ation, and links to grantm aking fo u n d ation s— arts, com m unity, corporate, international, private foundations, and public charities. Access: http://www.tgci. com/. D irecto ries • F o u n d a tio n s O n -L in e: A D ir e c to r y o f C h a rita b le G ra n tm a k e rs . Sponsored by the Northern California Community Foundation, this site has alphabetical directories o f founda­ tions and fundraising events plus information on fundraising software, consultants, products, etc. Access: http://www.foundations.org. • IAN W eb R e s o u r c e s : G ra n t O p p o rtu ­ n itie s. Alphabetical links to individual foun­ dations, organizations, and grant collections. Som e listings have full or partial text. Access: http://www.pitt.edu/~ian/resource/grants.htm. • U .S . F o u n d a t i o n s a n d F u n d r a i s i n g C o a litio n s R e s o u r c e s . Links to organizations, foundations, publications, guides, and directo­ ries. Access: http://www.contact.org/usfound. htm. G o v e rn m e n t fu n d in g • F e d e ra l In f o r m a tio n E x c h a n g e , In c. A searchable database o f current federal fund­ ing from twelve governm ent agencies: D epart­ ments o f Energy, Agriculture, Transportation, and Veterans Affairs, Air Force O ffice o f Scien­ tific R e se a rch , NASA, N ational In stitu te o f Health, O ffice o f Naval Research, Agency for International D evelopm ent, D efense Inform a­ tion Systems Agency, the Interagency Learning T echnology O ffice, D efen se Information Sys­ tems Agency-O ffice o f the Chief Information Office-Educational Institutional Partnership Pro­ gram. Includes a free daily online e-mail ser­ vice w hich provides notification o f targeted research and education grants in areas sp eci­ fie d b y th e u s e r ’s p ro file . Access: http:// w w w .fie .com/fedix/. • F e d e ra l R e g iste r O n lin e v ia GPO A c c e s s . T he Federal Register, as the official pub­ lication for presidential documents, executive orders, notices, rules, and proposed rules from http://www.charityvillage.com/charityvillage/ http://www.finaid.org/ http://www.clark.net/pub/ http://www.cof.org http://www.tgci http://www.foundations.org http://www.pitt.edu/~ian/resource/grants.htm http://www.contact.org/usfound 3 1 6 / C&RL News federal agencies, will provide the first published notification for federal grants. This database is searchable using boolean operators from 1995 to the p resen t. Access: http://w w w .access. gpo.gov/su_docs/ aces/a ce s140.html. • F ed erally Fu n d ed R e s e a rc h in th e U.S. This site provides links to the National Insti­ tutes o f Health, National Science Foundation, Small Business Innovation Research, Depart­ m ent o f Agriculture, and the Advanced T ech ­ nology Program. Access: http://medoc.gdb.org/ best/fed-fund.html. • G ran ts a n d A w ard s. This U.S. Govern­ ment grants site includes a searchable Catalo o f Federal Domestic Assistance—the most com ­ prehensive listing o f federal grants from gov­ ernment agencies. There are links to 25 gov­ e rn m e n t s ites. Access: h ttp :/ / w w w .acce ss g p o .gov/su_docs/dpos/topics/grants.html. • M on ey M atters. Links are provided to the Guide to U.S. Education Programs, What Should I Know About ED Grants?, and GCS W eb, w hich provides information about cur­ rent contract and grant opportunities and stu­ d e n t fin a n c ia l a s s is ta n c e . Access: http:// ww w.ed.gov/m oney.htm l. • TRAM R e s e a rc h F u n d in g O p p o rtu n i ties a n d A d m in istra tio n . From the Texas Re­ search Administrators Group, w hich contains unusual tools and types o f information includ­ ing electronic dow nloadable forms in Mac and PC versions for several governm ent agencies and foundations, links to federal regulations and guidelines to several government agencies, a search engine for research opportunities and funding sources, links to sample policies and agreem ents contributed by universities and or­ ganizations, and links to additional servers. Access: http://tram.rice.edu/TRAM/index.html Reception time changed T h e time for the ACRL Academic/Re­ search Librarian o f the Y ear Award Recep­ tion at the ALA Annual Conference in San Francisco has b ee n changed to 5:00–6 :3 0 p.m ., Monday, Ju n e 30. Feel free to join ACRL at this reception as it honors Jam es G. Neal, director o f libraries at Jo h n s Hopkins Uni­ versity, as its 1997 Academic/Research Li­ brarian o f the Year. For more information on the 1997 award winners see page 337 o f this issue. g , ­ . G r a n t w ritin g • C o rp o ra te a n d F o u n d a tio n F u n d in g . D ick O lsen and Chris Murray o f the University o f Southern California provide exam ples o f an introductory letter and proposal to a founda­ tion. An outline for effective proposal writing takes the guesswork out o f this process. In­ cludes a step-by-step m ethodology for secur­ ing corporate support and foundation funding. Access: g o p h e r:/ / c w is .u s c .e d u / 1 1 /Library Research/Research/Funding. • H ow to W rite S u ccessfu l G ra n t P r o p o sa ls. The full text o f three successful grant proposals are posted here, as well as shareware and freeware applications to m ake grant writ­ ing easier. Access: http://ipt.lpl.arizona.edu/ IPT/Grant/. • P ro p o s a l D e v e lo p m e n t. Written by the Pennsylvania State University R esearch and T echnology Transfer Organization, this site in­ cludes a reprint portion o f Proposal Develop­ ment Handbook written by D ean Kleinert and Libby Costello o f the Office o f Federal Programs. It explains how to develop a statement o f need, goals and objectives, m ethodology, budget and proposal elements. In addition there is identi­ fication o f funding opportunities and a bibliog­ r a p h y o f p r in t s o u r c e s . Access: http:// infoserv.rttonet.psu.edu/spa/fac-guid.htm#pd. • A P ro p o s a l W ritin g S h o rt C o u rse . An excellent how -to guide that defines proposal structure. It is excerpted from Guide to Pro­ posal Writing, revised edition, written by Ja n ­ ice C. G eever and Patricia McNeill and pub­ lish e d by th e F o u n d atio n C e n te r in 1997. Provides recom m endations for additional read­ ing. Access: http://fdncenter.org/2fundpro/ 2prop.html. • T ip s f o r S u ccess. Created by R ebecca Ryan and Howard Kaplan o f Georgia Southern University from their w orkshop Nuts and Bolts: A n Introduction to Grant Development. The a u t h o r s d is c u s s d e v e l o p i n g c o n t r a c t s , boilerplate proposals, following guidelines, dis­ sem ination plans, review er’s com m ents, and m ore. Access: gopher://eaglel.cc.G aSoU .edu: 7 0 / 0 0 / G e o rg ia % 2 0 S o u th e rn % 2 0 U n iv e rs ity O f f ic e % 2 0 o f % 2 0 R e s e a r c h / T ip s % 2 0 fo r % 2 0 Success. Electronic jo u r n a ls / m a g a z in e s • The Chronicle o f Higher Education— Academe This Week. This segm ent o f the Chronicle provides deadline and contact infor­ m ation for grants, fellowships, papers, and e x ­ http://www.access http://medoc.gdb.org/ http://www.access http://www.ed.gov/money.html http://tram.rice.edu/TRAM/index.html gopher://cwis.usc.edu/ll/Library http://ipt.lpl.arizona.edu/ http://fdncenter.org/2fundpro/ gopher://eaglel.cc.GaSoU.edu May 1 9 9 7 / 3 1 7 change programs, as well as other information. With few exceptions, the deadlines are so cur­ rent that it is too late to apply this year, but now there is an entire year to think about a project for n ext year’s deadline. Access: http:// w w w.chronicle.m erit.edu/.events/.links.htm l. • Council Columns Newsletter. Selected f u l l - t e x t a r t i c l e s fr o m th e C o u n c il o n Foundation’s print newsletter Council Columns. N in e te e n is s u e s p e r y e a r. Access: http:// ww w.cof.org/ columns/. • Foundation News and Commentary. A bimonthly periodical published by the Coun­ cil on Foundations, w hich lists a table o f co n ­ tents for the last three issues and includes tw o or more full-text articles per issue. Access: http:/ /www. co f. org/fnc/. • The Grantsmanship Center M aga­ zine. Full text o f fall 1995, spring 1996, sum­ m er 1996, and w inter 1997 print issues. Access: http://www.tgci.com/publications/pub.htm. • Philanthrop y Jou rn a l Alert. F re e e-m ail new sletter providing up-to-the-m inute new s in the nonprofit sector and new devel­ opm ents at the W eb site. Access: http://www. philanthropy-journal.org/todo/pjalert.htm. • Philanthropy Journal Online. “All the Nonprofit News That’s Fit to Hit.” A nonprofit n ew sp ap er providing new s and inform ation regarding the nonprofit sector including numer ous links and resources available on the W eb. Access: http://www.philanthropy-joumal.org/. • Philanthropy News Digest. A Foun­ dation Center weekly publication w hose articles are gleaned from new spapers and wire services relating to philanthropy. Many articles have “FC” annotated notes w hich provide backgrou nd information. Full text is provided for the past eight w eeks. A ccess to the archives is through a search engine. In addition, there is a search­ ab le donor, officer, and trustee index. Access: http://fdncenter.org/phil/philmain.html. O th e r in te restin g sites • F u n d ra is in g . A bibliograph y o f print sources in fundraising. Citations are for works published in 1995 or earlier. Many are o f the “how to ” variety for finding inform ation on grants and foundations and grantwriting meth­ o d o lo g y . Access: http://www .iupui.edu/it/ philanth/bigbib. html#FUNDRAISING. • P a y to n P h ila n th ro p ic Studies li b r a r y . T h e library p ro v id es links to fo u n d atio n s, nonprofits, grant information, and electronic journals. An online searchable version o f the Philanthropic Studies Index (1991-1994) pro­ vides access to b o o k and periodic literature on volunteerism, nonprofit organizations, fundrais­ ing, and charitable giving. Information is in­ cluded for the fundraising school, school d e­ gree programs, applied research, and m ore. Access: http://www-lib.iupui.edu/philanthropy/ payton.html. • U n iv e rsity o f Id a h o E d u c a tio n G ran ts D i r e c to r y . Links to sites recom m en d ed by Ja m es Kearney in The Grant Getter’s Guide to the Internet, w h ic h in c lu d e fe d e r a l gran t sources, foundations and private grant sources, grant directories, and education resources. Ac cess: http://radon.chem .uidaho.edu/~pm its/ grants/hom epage. htm l. N o tes 1. A nnu al Register o f Grant Support: A D i­ rectory o f Funding Sources, 30th ed. (New Providence, N.J.: R. R. Bow ker, 1997), vii. 2. Giving USA (New York: American Asso ciation o f Fund-Raising Counsel, 1996), 12. ■ G ra n t funding an d distribution b y m ajor subject catego ries, 1995 Reprinted by permission o f the Foundation Center ( http://www.fdncenter.org) http://www.chronicle.merit.edu/.events/.links.html http://www.cof.org/ http://www.tgci.com/publications/pub.htm http://www http://www.philanthropy-joumal.org/ http://fdncenter.org/phil/philmain.html http://www.iupui.edu/it/ http://www-lib.iupui.edu/philanthropy/ http://radon.chem.uidaho.edu/~pmits/ http://www.fdncenter.org 3 1 8 / C&RL News