How to Find Grants for Nonprofits (Without Guessing)

Most grant research starts the same way.

You open a database, type in a few keywords, and start scrolling through a long list of opportunities. Some look promising. Most don’t. You bookmark a few and tell yourself you’ll come back later.

That approach works… but it’s slow, frustrating, and full of guesswork.

There’s a better way to start.

Start with organizations you already know

Instead of searching for grants, start by thinking about organizations like yours.

• Who have you met at Chamber events?
• What similar nonprofits operate in your area?
• What organizations do your clients or partners mention?

Start with those.

Search for them in GrantSnag and look at who is funding them.

Follow real funding patterns

When you search a nonprofit, you can instantly see:

• which foundations are funding them
• how much they are giving
• how often they give

This is not a list of “possible” opportunities.

It’s a record of real funding decisions.

From there, you can follow the trail:

• see what other organizations those same foundations support
• identify patterns across multiple nonprofits
• build a list of funders that are already aligned with your type of work

Sometimes this can feel a little circular at first.

That’s actually where the power is.

You’re not guessing. You’re following a network.

Try a broad starting point

If you’re not sure where to begin, start simple.

Search something like:

• “dogs”
• “youth”
• “housing”

Then filter by your state.

Look at the organizations that come up and who funds them. From there, you can expand outward and discover both peer organizations and funders you may not have found otherwise.

What comes next

Once you’ve identified a handful of strong funders, the next step is to turn that research into a plan.