Search Grants Screen
There are 15 search fields available on the Search Grants Screen. Eleven are tied to indexes that are accessible by clicking on the View Index links and one is tied to a hidden index; it functions much like other indexed search fields but lacks the accessibility of the index. The thirteenth and fourteenth search fields provide range searching capability. The last search field provides keyword searching capability.
See Searching — Basic for more information on conducting index, range, and keyword searches.
Open a Grant Index by clicking on a View Index link located beneath a search field title on the Search Grants Screen. Clicking on the View Index link located beneath Recipient Name, for example, opens an index listing all grant recipients contained in the database. For very large indexes, entries are grouped together alphabetically. The letters of the alphabet displayed at the top provide access to their corresponding groups of entries. The number in parenthesis to the right of an entry indicates the number of grant records available in the database for that entry. Clicking on an entry automatically inserts it into the corresponding search field. In addition to selecting entries from the indexes, you can also type them directly into any search field. The indexes available to you are listed below:
Used to search for grants by grantmaker name. All grantmaker names are arranged in an alphabetical list either by the surname of the individual for whom the grantmaker was named or by the first key word of the grantmaker name. Names that begin with numeric characters sort before the "A"s in the index.
II. Grantmaker State Used to search for grants awarded by grantmakers located in a particular state. In addition to selecting a state from the Grantmaker State Index, you can also type a state's postal code directly into the Grantmaker State search field.
Used to search for grants by recipient name. All recipient names are arranged in an alphabetical list by the first key word of the recipient name. Names that begin with numeric characters sort before the "A"s in the index.
IV. State/Country Used to search for grants awarded to recipients located in a particular state or country. In addition to selecting a state from the State/Country Index, you can also type a state's postal code directly into the State/Country search field.
It's important to make sure that you're not using the State/Country search field in combination with other geographic search fields in illogical ways. For example, selecting Connecticut from the State/Country Index and New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-PA from the Metro Area Index will return no results. This is because the Boolean operator and is automatically inserted "behind the scenes" between each search field.
Used to search for grants awarded to recipients located in a particular county. Since some counties have identical names (Orange County, New York, and Orange County, California, for example), include a State in your search to ensure accurate results.
For the purposes of this search option, parishes in Louisiana are included in this index. Also note that the cities of St. Louis, Missouri; Baltimore, Maryland; and Carson City, Nevada, are independent of any county. Grants awarded to recipients located in these cities are indexed under "St. Louis City," "Baltimore City," and "Carson City," respectively. This also applies to several cities in Virginia.
It's important to make sure that you're not using the County search field in combination with other geographic search fields in illogical ways. For example, selecting Fairfield (for the county in Connecticut) from the County Index and New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-PA from the Metro Area Index will return no results. This is because the Boolean operator and is automatically inserted "behind the scenes" between each search field.
Note that County data isn't available for some grant recipients. The grant records for these particular grant recipients won't be retrieved by a County search, regardless of the recipient's actual county.
VI. City Used to search for grants awarded to recipients located in a particular city. Since some states have cities with identical names (Albany, New York, and Albany, Georgia, for example), include a State in your search to ensure accurate results.
Used to search for grants awarded to recipients located in a particular metropolitan area. If you don't know the name of a particular metropolitan area, conduct a City search and locate the name of the metropolitan area on the Grant Details Tab of any grant record retrieved. Note that not all cities are located within metropolitan areas.
It's important to make sure that you're not using the Metro Area search field in combination with other geographic search fields in illogical ways. For example, selecting New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-PA from the Metro Area Index and Connecticut from the State/Country Index will return no results. This is because the Boolean operator and is automatically inserted "behind the scenes" between each search field.
Metro Area terms are based on current Metropolitan Statistical Areas as defined by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget.
Note that Metro Area data isn't available for some grant recipients. The grant records for these particular grant recipients won't be retrieved by a Metro Area search, regardless of the recipient's actual metropolitan area.
Used to search for grants awarded to recipients located in a particular U.S. congressional district. If you don't know the number of a particular congressional district, conduct a City search and locate the number of the congressional district on the Grant Details Tab of any grant record retrieved.
Note that the District of Columbia and the states of Alaska, Delaware, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont, and Wyoming have only one congressional district. Grants awarded to recipients located in these states are indexed under "[State Name] District At-large."
It's important to make sure that you're not using the Congressional District search field in combination with other geographic search fields in illogical ways. For example, selecting Connecticut District 4 from the Congressional District Index and New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-PA from the Metro Area Index will return no results. This is because the Boolean operator and is automatically inserted "behind the scenes" between each search field.
Note that Congressional District data isn't available for some grant recipients. The grant records for these particular grant recipients won't be retrieved by a Congressional District search, regardless of the recipient's actual congressional district.
Used to search for grants awarded to recipients located in a particular ZIP code. Since this search field is tied to a hidden index, you have to type directly into the search field.
To search for grants awarded to recipients located within a range of ZIP codes, modify a ZIP code to include a question mark wildcard character in your search. Modifying the end of a ZIP code to include a question mark representing any digit or a series of question marks representing any series of digits retrieves grants awarded to recipients located within a range of ZIP codes based on the number of question marks replacing digits. For example, typing 1000? into the ZIP Code search field will retrieve grants awarded to recipients located within a ZIP code range between 10000 and 10009 in New York. Typing 1???? will retrieve grants awarded to recipients located within a ZIP code range between 10000 and 19999 in the Northeast. The asterisk wildcard character should not be used in the ZIP Code search field. See the Wildcard Searching section for more information on using wildcard characters.
Note that ZIP Code data isn't available for some grant recipients. The grant records for these particular grant recipients won't be retrieved by a ZIP Code search, regardless of the recipient's actual ZIP code.
X. Recipient Type
Used to search for grants awarded to recipients identified as being involved in specific fields or subject areas. Since all grant records in our database contain recipient types, using this index helps to narrow down and focus your search. You can download a full list of recipient type terms (PDF).
Recipient Type terms are based on the National Taxonomy of Exempt Entities (NTEE), originally developed by the National Center for Charitable Statistics. Since 1989, the Foundation Center has been using the NTEE not only to track the exempt purposes of nonprofit organizations receiving grants but to track the subject areas supported by grants and classify the giving interests of grantmakers. During 1995, the IRS began incorporating NTEE subject classifications into its file on nonprofit organizations in order to make note of their primary exempt purpose. To learn more about the national taxonomy and the Foundation Center's use of it, visit our web site.
XI. Subjects
Used to search for grants awarded in support of specific fields or subject areas. You can download a full list of subject terms (PDF).
Subjects terms are based on the National Taxonomy of Exempt Entities (NTEE), originally developed by the National Center for Charitable Statistics. Since 1989, the Foundation Center has been using the NTEE not only to track the subject areas supported by grants but to track the exempt purposes of nonprofit organizations receiving grants and classify the giving interests of grantmakers. During 1995, the IRS began incorporating NTEE subject classifications into its file on nonprofit organizations in order to make note of their primary exempt purpose. To learn more about the national taxonomy and the Foundation Center's use of it, visit our web site.
XII. Types of Support
Used to search for grants providing specific types of funding. See the Types of Support definitions list for a short description of each one. A link to the Types of Support definitions list is also included at the top of the Types of Support index.
Use the drop-down menu to select the type of range search you want to perform. Enter your low-end value in the "From:" field and your high-end value in the "To:" field. You can also conduct an open-ended search by entering a value in one field only. The range searches available to you are listed below: I. Year Authorized
Used to search for grants authorized within a particular range of years.
II. Grant Amount
Used to search for grants with an amount within a particular dollar value range.
A keyword (or text) search can be conducted either independently of or in conjunction with an index search or range search. Simply type a word or phrase into the Keyword Search field to search for grants with Foundation Directory Online grant records containing that word or phrase.
©2012 Foundation Center
All Rights Reserved.