7 Grant Databases for Nonprofits

In today's landscape, the abundance of grant databases can make choosing one almost as daunting as finding the right grants for your organization. On the bright side, there's now a wide array of databases, catering to organizations of all sizes and budgets, with many free options as well! Below is a list of some of the most popular paid grant databases for nonprofits:

1. Instrumentl offers a free 14-day trial version. Paid plans range from $179 to $499 per month. We’ve been using their platform for about a year now, and we love how user-friendly it is. They also have a built-in system to track your research and grant calendar, which can really streamline your grant strategy. They also have a grants management software comparison report available here to help you compare features to other platforms.  

2. Foundation Directory Online: The nice thing about Foundation Directory Online (which is now the Candid Foundation Directory) is that you can access its full database at one of its Funding Information Network access locations. Paid plans range from $54.99 to $219.99 monthly, and they offer discounts for annual subscriptions. Here’s a comparison tool for their plans.

3. GrantStation: Paid plans range from $219 per quarter to $699 for an annual subscription. No free or trial version is available, but you can sign up for their newsletter, GrantStation Insider, which will deliver free grant notices straight to your inbox. Before you sign up directly through GrantStation, dig around for deals – your local nonprofit resource center might be able to offer you a discount. Also, if you have a subscription to the Chronicle of Philanthropy or are a member of the Association for Fundraising Professionals, you get free access.

4. Chronicle of Philanthropy: Paid version only, but $109 for an annual subscription (or $169 for a two-year subscription) gets you access to their database, access to GrantStation, and helps you keep up on industry news so if you’re considering a GrantStation subscription, you may as well just subscribe to Chronicle of Philanthropy to get more bang for your buck.

5. Grant Gopher: There are free and paid versions (ranging from $9 to $49 per month). Grant Gopher doesn’t have all the bells and whistles that a platform like Instrumentl does, but it has great coverage at an affordable price.

6. GrantWatch: Paid only, but they offer a one-week subscription for just $18 so you can try it out for a short period of time and then decide to upgrade!

7. Impala: Free and paid plans. We just started using Impala and, we must say, it is a fundraiser’s dream. Our Google Chrome window typically has no less than 20 tabs open at any given time – we’ll bounce around from Instrumentl to GrantStation to LinkedIn, but Impala streamlines it all. That being said, our opinion is that this is better suited for teams with a dedicated development position on staff (or ideally more than one person) because you need time to really dig into the platform. It doesn’t list open grant opportunities, but it does tell you what foundations have funded specific nonprofits and how you might be connected to a person at the foundation you’re trying to reach.

Grant research is a skill that improves with practice and experience! If you need assistance with grant research, check out our Grant Research Package. This package saves your team time and effort and includes a one-hour review call with us to assist you in crafting a grant strategy, along with an email template designed to facilitate communication with potential funders.