Where to Find Grants for Small Nonprofits (Free Sources)

Foundation Directory Online is great if your organization can afford it. Most small nonprofits can't, and most small nonprofits don't need it. Here are the sources we actually point GrantDraft users to.

Federal opportunities

• Grants.gov — Every federal grant in one searchable place. Set up email alerts by CFDA category.
• SAM.gov — Required registration before you can apply for federal funding. Free, but takes 2–4 weeks the first time.
• Your state's grant portal — Most states aggregate state-level RFPs (e.g., Texas eGrants, NY Grants Gateway). Search "[state name] grant portal."

Foundation grants

• Candid's free 990 search — Every private foundation files a 990-PF listing every grant it made. Search by recipient name or by city to see who funds organizations like yours.
• Instrumentl free trial — Two weeks is enough to pull a starter list of 30–50 funders matching your mission and geography.
• GrantWatch — Inexpensive monthly subscription, broader (and noisier) than Instrumentl.
• Local community foundation — Every region has one. Their grant pages list both their own RFPs and donor-advised fund opportunities.

Underused free sources

• Peer 990s. Find 3 organizations similar in size and mission to yours. Pull their 990s on Candid. The "Schedule B" and grant revenue notes show who funds them — those funders likely fund you too.
• United Way RFPs in your county. Local United Ways often run rolling or annual competitive funding for direct-service nonprofits.
• City and county economic development offices. Especially for workforce, housing, or neighborhood-improvement work.
• Corporate giving pages. Local banks, hospitals, utilities, and grocery chains typically have small ($1k–$25k) community grants with light applications.

How to prioritize

A good prospect meets four criteria: they fund your issue area, they fund your geography, they fund organizations your size, and their typical grant amount matches what you need. If any one of those is missing, skip it. Writing for a wrong-fit funder is the highest-cost mistake in fundraising.

How many to pursue

For a small nonprofit, 8–12 well-matched proposals per year produces more revenue than 40 scattered ones. Quality of fit beats volume.