Articles on: Fundamentals

Funder Intelligence

Funder Intelligence is a powerful tool within Grant Frog that helps you find and research foundations and grants to identify new funding opportunities for your organization. This feature provides access to foundation grant data, allowing you to filter and search foundations using multiple criteria.


Maps charts discovery


Where We Get Our Data


We source our data directly from the IRS. This includes 990 data from private, corporate, and community foundations. We then add additional Grant Insights to the Funder profiles to help you make the best grant request decisions, such as average and median grant size, geographical giving areas, and a grant distribution amount range based on how the funder gives.


📽️ How to Find Foundations and Grants with Funder Intelligence in Grant Frog



Getting Started


Navigate to Funder Intelligence in your Grant Frog dashboard to begin your search.


Foundation discovery list


📽️ How to search using Keywords and other Filters in Grant Frog



Search and Filter Options


Funder Intelligence offers several ways to narrow down your search:


Basic Filters


  • State: Filter foundations by specific state
  • Focus Area: Search by foundation's funding priorities
  • Keyword Research: Search your own custom keywords that aren't in Focus Areas (see the Keyword Research tutorial)
  • Geographic Filters:
    • Zip code
    • City
    • State
  • Foundation Identifiers:
    • EIN (Employer Identification Number)
    • Foundation name


Financial Filters


  • Assets: Filter by foundation's total assets
  • Grant Amounts: Search by grant size ranges


Grant Recipients Filter


Search for nonprofits that have previously received funding from foundations


See our complete Funder Intelligence Filter Guide on how you can refine your searches and use filters best


Step 1: Select Your Initial Filter


  1. Navigate to the Foundation tab
  2. Choose your primary filter (we'll use State as an example)
  3. Select "Texas" from the dropdown menu
  4. Review the complete list of foundations in Texas
  5. Choose a Foundation to view contact and grant details



Add additional filters to narrow your results:


  1. Select a Focus Area that matches your organization's mission:
    • Animals
    • Children and Youth
    • Cancer
    • Education
    • And many other options
  2. This will show you foundations that have historically funded projects in your area of interest


Step 3: Research Individual Foundations


Click on any foundation from your filtered list to view detailed information:


Grant Keyword Research


You can search with your own custom keywords that aren't necessarily in the Focus Areas.


Keyword search


Common Searches You Can Use


REAL EXAMPLES:


Example 1: Meals for Seniors Program


Searched keyword: "meals"


Filtered by: California


Result: Targeted list of CA foundations funding meal programs


Discovered: Specific grant amounts and recipient organizations


Example 2: Conservation Funding


Searched keyword: "conservation"


Filtered by: Colorado


Result: Colorado foundations supporting conservation work


Found: Rocky Mountain Conservancy and similar grantees



You can search to see who's providing grants to other organizations.


  • Click Grant Recipients
  • Enter the Name of the Organization - you can filter by the state to refine your search if there are multiple orgs with the same name
  • View the list of foundations who have given to the organization


Nonprofit Organizations Who are Doing Similar Work to Yours or Are Located in An Area You Want to Search


📽️ Funders Who Give in Your State but Aren't Located in Your State


Funders Who Give in Your State but Aren't Located in Your State


Foundation Profile Information


Foundation SinglePage Contact FocusArea SaveToFunder


When you select a foundation, you'll see:


Basic Information


  • Total Assets: Current foundation assets
  • Recent Filings: When they last filed their 990 with the IRS
  • NTEE Code: National Taxonomy classification
  • Contact Information: Address and website (when available)


Funding Focus Areas


  • Based on their actual grant history, showing what causes they support


Funding Focus Areas


Application Guidelines


  • Grant application deadlines
  • Contact information for submissions
  • Application submission process
  • Whether they accept unsolicited requests


Grants Data


  • Grant Contributions by Year: Historical giving amounts


Grant History: Detailed list of past grants including:


  • Recipient organization names
  • Grant amounts
  • Purpose of each grant
  • Recipient addresses

Grants Data


Donor-Advised Funds


A Donor-Advised Fund (DAF) allows individual donors to donate charitable contributions to organizations through a fund maintained and operated by a 501(c)(3) organization, a 'sponsoring organization'.


Donor advised funds Grant Frog


With DAFs, an individual can contribute a specific amount, receive an immediate tax deduction, then grant out funds over time to their favorite causes.


Some of the larger DAF organizations, include Fidelity Charitable and Vanguard Charitable, and public national charities, such as the National Philanthropic Trust. Community Foundations are also DAF sponsoring organizations.


Donor-Advised Fund holder names are NOT publicly listed, only the grants given to an organization.


While you're unable to apply to grants through DAF funds, you can:


  • research organizations who have received DAF grants
  • tell potential donors that you accept DAF contributions
  • review your donors who have given through DAF organizations


How to Search Donor-Advised Funds


  • Click Funder Intelligence in the menu
  • Choose the Financials tab
  • On Donor-Advised Fund, choose Yes


DAF filter


  • You can then combine this filter with other filters



If you know a specific foundation name:


  1. Type the foundation name in the search box
  2. Select the foundation from results
  3. Access their complete profile and grant history


This method is useful for:


  • Researching foundations that have previously supported your organization
  • Following up on specific recommendations
  • Analyzing competitors' funding sources


Advanced Grant Analysis


Filtering Grant Data


Within each foundation's profile, you can filter their grant history by:


  • Recipient Name: Search for specific organizations
  • Grant Amount Range: Set minimum and maximum amounts
  • Purpose: Search grant descriptions
  • Geographic Location: Filter by city, state, or zip code
  • Year: View grants by specific time periods


Understanding Grant Patterns


Use this data to:


  • Identify typical grant sizes
  • Understand funding priorities
  • See geographic preferences
  • Analyze giving trends over time


Grant Recipient Search - See Other Nonprofit Grants


  1. Navigate to the Grant Recipients tab
  2. Filter by:
    • City
    • State
    • Zip code
  3. View foundations that have funded organizations in specific locations
  4. Reset filters as needed to broaden or narrow results


Making the Most of Your Research


Best Practices


  1. Start Broad: Begin with general filters and narrow down gradually
  2. Analyze Patterns: Look for consistent funding areas and grant sizes
  3. Geographic Alignment: Pay attention to foundations that fund in your area
  4. Historical Trends: Review multiple years of giving to understand patterns
  5. Application Requirements: Note specific application processes and deadlines


How to Save a Funder to Your Account


Once you've identified promising foundations during your research, you can save them directly to your Grant Frog account for easy access and future reference.


Steps to Save a Funder


  1. Open the Funder Record: Navigate to the foundation profile you want to save
  2. Click "Save to Funders": Look for this button within the foundation's profile page
  3. Automatic Data Transfer: The system will automatically add the following information to your account:
    • Funder name
    • Complete contact details
    • Address
    • Phone number
    • Website (when available)


Benefits of Saving Funders


  • Quick Access: Easily find saved foundations without repeating searches
  • Contact Management: Keep all funder contact information organized in one place
  • Relationship and Grant Tracking: Build a comprehensive database of potential funding sources
  • Application Planning: Create a pipeline of foundations to approach for funding

Updated on: 19/08/2026