At Thrive Grant Services, we partner with growth-oriented nonprofits to expand their grant funding pipeline with strategy, structure, and clarity. We specialize in helping organizations with established programs, typically with budgets of $500K or more, strengthen their grant readiness, identify aligned funding opportunities, and submit high-quality proposals that reflect their true impact.
Finding new funders: Why relying on the old list doesn't work
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Preheader Text If you find this email helpful, please share it with a friend. And if someone forwarded this to you, you can get your own subscription here. Finding New Funding: Maintain a Healthy Grant PipelineWhen I speak to prospective clients, one question dominates: How do we find new grants? Researching new grants is challenging. But if you haven’t looked for any new grants in a while, you should start before your pipeline runs dry. Why you need to look for new grantsA known, repeatable process feels comfortable, but you can’t rely on it forever. Funders change their priorities or cap their support to a few years. Plus, as your programs evolve, old grants can become irrelevant. Tips for finding grant opportunitiesThe best approach will depend on your time and budget. Research local fundersGoogle is a powerful resource, but it’s limited when searching for grant opportunities. Pros: Free. If you’re plugged into your local community, you may already have an idea of where to start. Cons: Time-consuming. And you won’t find all the information to determine whether the grant is worth pursuing. Best for: Organizations with no budget that want to focus only on their immediate geographic area. Use a grant databaseThese are more robust than an internet search, but still require some staff time. Here are the databases I encounter most often. Instrumentl (what I use for my business) Pros: Provides me with all the data I need to make an informed decision to recommend an opportunity. I can see who institutions have funded, the range of award amounts, the percentage of new vs. returning grantees, and more. Historical 990s are a click away. Cons: Plans start at $299/month, making it an investment. And I can’t see how many applications a funder receives. Best for: Consultants or organizations with the budget for professional tools. Grant Gopher (an entry-level database) Pros: Five free searches. Low subscription cost. Cons: Less comprehensive data and fewer features than Instrumentl. Free search results can be too broad. Best for: Organizations with limited budget looking for an affordable starting point. Pros: Free. Pulls Form 990 data from US foundations, so fantastic for confirming giving history and finding contact details. Cons: Provides raw data, which you have to sift through. Limited filters make it difficult to find what you need. Best for: People who love a DIY approach and can easily decipher a 990. Grant Watch (An extensive, list-based source) Pros: Flexible membership options. Features thousands of active opportunities. Cons: Sifting through thousands of options is overwhelming, and filtering what's relevant is difficult. Best for: Organizations willing to invest a moderate amount, with the staff time to filter and vet extensive lists of leads. Hire an outside contractorThe best contractors act as strategic partners, freeing your team to focus on core priorities. Pros: Lightens your team’s load, provides outside expertise, and gives you the benefit of professional tools (like Instrumentl) without your own subscription. Cons: Requires due diligence and some budget for external help. Best for: Overstretched teams or organizations looking for high-quality leads without spending hours on research. Upcoming funding opportunitiesSundt Foundation https://www.sundt.com/foundation/#apply Deadline: 12/15 Focus: The Foundation considers a broad range of social issues but gives special focus to youth development, military & veterans, hunger & nutrition, and other basic needs. Innovative Worthy Projects Foundation Deadline: 12/31 Focus: We provide grants to nonprofit organizations that help children faced with disabilities and other challenges. Looking Out Foundation https://www.lookingoutfoundation.org/grants/ Deadline: 1/15 Focus: The Looking Out Foundation supports nonprofit organizations nationwide that address the ever-changing needs of the human race, and focuses on empowering those without a voice.
Thrive Tip: When interviewing a grant contractor, ask how they track grants and deadlines, and what tools they use to find new opportunities.
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Thrive Grant Services
At Thrive Grant Services, we partner with growth-oriented nonprofits to expand their grant funding pipeline with strategy, structure, and clarity. We specialize in helping organizations with established programs, typically with budgets of $500K or more, strengthen their grant readiness, identify aligned funding opportunities, and submit high-quality proposals that reflect their true impact.
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Are You Working in the Shadows? Shine a Light on The Tasks Draining Your Time A recent report by Instrumentl, a grant database and management system, confirms what you already feel in your bones: grant professionals are drowning in administrative tasks. Instrumentl named this invisible labor “shadow work.” After talking to over 1,000 grant professionals, they found that the average person spends about 30 hours a week on shadow work, costing organizations $53,700 per year. That’s a problem too...
Effective Use of AI in Grant Writing: Where it Works, and Where it Can Hurt You You have a looming grant deadline and a to-do list a mile long. AI’s siren song promises to write a polished grant in seconds. But should it? Now that the AI genie is out of the bottle, it’s not going back in. It makes sense to experiment and see how this tool can help you. But if there’s one thing I’m hearing from the grant field, it’s to use it with caution. Why AI-written applications hurt your chances AI’s...