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Scenario 2 — Support for office equipment.

This type of search, though considered basic, is the first step to constructing more powerful search strategies. When you conduct a search with more than one index entry, you are actually conducting a Boolean search. This is because The Foundation Directory Online automatically inserts the AND Boolean operator between search fields, which means it will only retrieve records containing both (or all) of the criteria you include in your search. In short, you're conducting a more focused search which will return more useful results. See Boolean Searching for more information.

Question: How do I get a list of foundations that could potentially provide support for office equipment for the nonprofit I volunteer at in Los Angeles?

Answer: This is an easy one that will return a very nice list of results. First, consider some of the key words in the question. You're looking for EQUIPMENT and you're located in LOS ANGELES. Conveniently, both terms are indexed on The Foundation Directory Online, so we will use them to build our search.

To begin:
      1. Click the Types of Support Index to open it in the Index Pane on the left side of the screen.
      2. Scroll down until you find equipment.
      3. Click equipment to automatically insert it into the Types of Support search field.
        4. Note: The number in parenthesis to the right of equipment is the number of records in the database that list equipment as a type of support.
      4. Now click the Foundation City index to open it in the Index Pane.
      5. Click "L" at the top of the Index Pane to display a list of all cities beginning with the letter "L".
      6. Scroll down until you find Los Angeles.
      7. Click Los Angeles to automatically insert it into the Foundation City search field.
        8. Note: The number in parenthesis to the right of Los Angeles indicates the number of foundations based in Los Angeles.
      8. Click Search. The Results Screen appears displaying a list of all records containing your search terms.
      9. Click a foundation name in the results list to view the record.
      10. Click Close Window when you are through viewing the record, and click another foundation name in the results list or click New Search to go back to the Search Screen and start over.

Tip: If you click your browser's Back Button after you've closed the Record Display Screen, the Search Screen will re-display with your prior search. (You may have to click Back a few times if you've opened more than one Search Results page.)