Grants & Fellowships in the Humanities & Social Sciences: Researching Granting Organizations

Foundation Directory Online

Helpful for finding general information about private foundations that sponsor research of various kinds.

Also in print: AS 911.A2 F77 (current edition in Olin Library Reference) 

See also: the Europa International Foundation Directory, AS 911 .A2 I61 (latest ed. in Olin Library Reference)

Researching further background information on granting agencies and associations can help you create a stronger application. Here are some ways to get background information on granting associations--you may want to align your goals statement with what the granting association states as its goals. Try these databases for further information:

Associations Unlimited. Contains information for approximately 460,000 international and U.S. national, regional, state, and local nonprofit membership organizations in all fields, including IRS data on U.S. 501(c) nonprofit organizations. For some 2,600 major U.S. national associations, provides full-text association materials such as brochures, pamphlets, and membership application forms.

GuideStar Premium. GuideStar, produced by Philanthropic Research, Inc. (PRI), is a searchable directory that provides detailed information on more than 1 million nonprofit organizations. The database covers ’IRS-registered 501 nonprofit organizations that may accept tax-deductible contributions’. Profiles cover mission and programs, financials, leaders, and most importantly, full text via PDF of the charity’s IRS 990 filing from 1998 forward in most cases.

Web of Science
You may be familiar with this database for doing citation searches. You can also use it to learn about grants that have sponsored research in the past. Do a standard search and sort your results based on Funding Agencies (this option appears in along the left side of the screen as one of the "more options/values").