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Using Grant Databases, Foundation Directories and Funding Award Records for Nonprofit Prospecting and Vendor Outreach By Email Extractor Published October 10, 2026 5 min read
grants foundation directory nonprofit prospecting funding awards grant database
On this page Grant Data as Business Intelligence
The US nonprofit sector receives $100B+ annually in foundation grants and $600B+ in government grants. Grant data is uniquely transparent because both foundations and government agencies are required to publicly disclose their giving:
Data source
What it contains
Why it is public
Business intelligence use
IRS Form 990 (foundation)
Every grant a foundation makes: recipient, amount, purpose
Tax-exempt status requires public disclosure
Identify funders and recipients by cause area
IRS Form 990 (nonprofit recipient)
Revenue, expenses, programmes, officers, compensation
Tax-exempt status requires public disclosure
Nonprofit financial health; leadership identification
Federal grants (SAM.gov, USAspending.gov)
Every federal grant award: recipient, amount, agency, purpose
Federal transparency requirements
Identify federally funded organisations
State grant databases
State-level grant awards by agency
State transparency laws
Identify state-funded organisations
Foundation directories (Foundation Directory Online, Candid)
Foundation profiles; giving history; application info
Compiled from public filings
Foundation prospecting for grant seekers
Who benefits from grant data
Company type
How they use grant data
What they look for
Grant writing consultant
Identify foundations that fund their client's cause area
Foundation giving patterns; application deadlines; average grant size
Nonprofit consultant
Identify nonprofits that need operational support
Nonprofits receiving first large grant; growing organisations
Fundraising technology company
Sell CRM, donation processing, grant management software
Nonprofits with growing revenue; multiple funding sources
Accounting firm (nonprofit)
Sell audit, tax and financial services
Nonprofits crossing audit threshold; complex multi-grant organisations
Insurance agent
Sell D&O, liability, property insurance
New nonprofits; growing nonprofits; nonprofits with employees
HR / payroll provider
Sell HR services to growing nonprofits
Nonprofits adding staff; crossing employee count thresholds
Marketing agency
Sell marketing, branding, web services
Nonprofits with programme expansion; new initiatives
IT / technology vendor
Sell IT services, cybersecurity, cloud
Nonprofits with technology grant funding
Evaluation / research firm
Sell programme evaluation and research
Nonprofits with government grants requiring evaluation
Legal firm (nonprofit)
Sell governance, compliance, employment law
New nonprofits; growing nonprofits; organisations with compliance needs
Data Access Methods
Federal data sources
Database
What you find
Format
Access
USAspending.gov
All federal spending including grants
CSV download; API; search
Free; bulk download available
SAM.gov (grants.gov)
Active federal grant opportunities
Search; API
Free; registration required
IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search
Nonprofit status, EIN, filing info
Search; bulk download (BMF)
Free
IRS Form 990 data (Candid / ProPublica)
Full 990 data including grants made and received
Search; API; bulk download
Candid (paid); ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer (free)
NIH Reporter
NIH-funded research grants
Search; API; CSV download
Free
NSF Award Search
NSF-funded research and education grants
Search; CSV download
Free
USDA NIFA
Agriculture and food-related grants
Search
Free
Foundation data sources
Database
Coverage
Data available
Access
Candid (Foundation Directory Online)
140K+ foundations; millions of grants
Foundation profiles; giving history; 990 data; application info
Paid subscription; free basic access
ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer
All 990 filers
Financials; officers; grants made (for foundations)
Free
State charity registration databases
Charities registered in each state
Registration status; financials; officers
Free (varies by state)
GuideStar (now Candid)
1.8M+ nonprofits
Profiles; financials; ratings; demographics
Free basic; paid for full data
Foundation Center (now Candid)
Foundation giving data
Grants by foundation; by cause; by geography
Paid subscription
Terms of service considerations
Allowed
Not allowed
Searching public databases using their search functions
Scraping foundation directory websites in violation of their TOS
Downloading bulk datasets when offered (USAspending, IRS BMF)
Overwhelming government or nonprofit database servers
Using APIs when provided (USAspending API, NIH Reporter API)
Misrepresenting yourself to obtain non-public grant data
Building prospect lists from publicly filed information
Redistributing compiled data in violation of licence terms
Purchasing data from Candid, GuideStar and similar services
Using grant data for fraudulent solicitation
FOIA requests for state grant records
Circumventing access controls or rate limits
Prospecting from Grant Data
By grant signal
Signal
What it indicates
Outreach opportunity
First large government grant ($500K+)
Organisation scaling up; needs infrastructure
Financial management; compliance; evaluation; HR; technology
Rapid revenue growth (990 data)
Organisation growing fast; likely hiring; expanding programmes
All support services; technology; space; staffing
Multiple small foundation grants
Active fundraiser; may benefit from grant management tools
Grant management software; CRM; prospect research tools
Technology-specific grant
Funded for technology project
IT services; implementation; cybersecurity; training
Capacity-building grant
Funded to strengthen operations
Consulting; training; strategic planning; board development
Capital campaign or building project
Major construction or renovation
Architecture; construction; equipment; furnishing
New 501(c)(3) determination
Just received tax-exempt status
All startup services; insurance; banking; legal; accounting
By nonprofit financial profile (from 990)
Profile
Description
Service opportunities
$100K-$500K revenue
Small nonprofit; likely all-volunteer or 1-3 staff
Bookkeeping; basic technology; insurance; legal
$500K-$2M revenue
Growing nonprofit; small staff; crossing audit threshold
Audit; HR; payroll; CRM; fundraising technology
$2M-$10M revenue
Mid-size nonprofit; professional staff; multiple programmes
Full accounting; IT; HR; compliance; programme evaluation
$10M+ revenue
Large nonprofit; complex operations
Enterprise technology; consulting; audit; legal
Government-funded (50%+)
Heavy compliance burden; audit requirements
Grant management; compliance; audit; programme evaluation
Foundation-funded (50%+)
Relationship-driven fundraising; reporting requirements
CRM; grant writing; prospect research; reporting
Processing Grant Research Data
When compiling prospect data from USAspending.gov grant award downloads (CSV), IRS Form 990 data (from ProPublica or Candid -- CSV, XML), NIH Reporter exports (CSV), state grant databases (HTML, CSV), Candid / Foundation Directory exports, state charity registration databases (HTML, PDF), nonprofit job postings and industry conference attendee lists, upload the files to Email Extractor to extract and deduplicate email addresses across all sources. Nonprofit organisations appear across federal grant databases, IRS 990 filings, state charity registrations, foundation directories and industry association listings, so deduplication prevents contacting the same executive director, development director or programme officer through overlapping outreach campaigns.
