Confirming the Match: Second-Level Resources

Form 990 Online

GuideStar www.guidestar.org (Click on Advanced Search)
Goal of this site is to provide easy access to all national 990's and 990-PF's as well as basic financial information on all nonprofit organizations in the United States. Currently has access to national 990-PF's and selected 990's.

Foundation Finder (Foundation Center) lnp.fdncenter.org/finder.html
Basic information about foundations within the universe of more than 70,000 private and community foundations in the U.S. Includes links to current 990's.

GrantSmart www.grantsmart.org
Site provides easy access to national 990-PF forms. It can also be accessed from the Foundation Center's Web site at fdncenter.org/funders/grantsmart/.

Charities Search: State of California, Office of the Attorney General caag.state.ca.us/charities/
Goal of this site is to provide access to all California 990's and 990-PF's. New records are added weekly. Go to the URL listed above and then click on the Charities Search link on the left-hand toolbar.

Publications

Philanthropy News Digest (PND) www.fdncenter.org/pnd/
PND is a free website that offers up-to-date information on philanthropy, covering foundation giving and national news. From the PND Home page you can search for articles in their archive, or sign up for a free, weekly e-mail newsletter called the RFP Bulletin that gives a list of recent Requests for Proposals (RFPs). Be sure to search the RFP Bulletin section of the site for past RFPs.

The Grantsmanship Center Magazine www.tgci.com/magazine/archives.asp
Free, quarterly newsletter contains excellent articles on various aspects of fundraising. About half of the newsletter promotes The Grantsmanship Center's training programs. Subscribe online, or pick up a complimentary copy in the Nonprofit Resource Library, while supplies last.

Chronicle of Philanthropy www.philanthropy.com
A bi-weekly newspaper with articles on philanthropy, listings of recent grants, newly published annual reports, book reviews, events, and much more. Subscriptions are $69.50 for one year. Subscribe online, or pick up a complimentary copy in the Nonprofit Resource Library, while supplies last.

PNN Alert www.pnnonline.org
Free e-mail newsletter that reports on developments in various aspects of philanthropy. Be aware that the items surrounded by asterisks are paid advertisements.

Commercial Databases

Los Angeles Public Library Databases (Free with LAPL library card) http://databases.lapl.org/

In the "Newspapers" section:
Los Angeles Times: NewsBank database
Search this free archive for information about local funders.

In the "Magazines" section:
Proquest Database Magazines (*Full text available)
Search this database to find articles on fundraising, activities of other nonprofits, and trends in the nonprofit sector. Full-text articles from the following publications are available by searching ProQuest.

• International Journal of Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Marketing; (London)
• Nonprofit Management and Leadership (San Francisco)
• Nonprofit World (Madison)
• Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly (San Francisco)
• Fund Raising Management (Garden City)

In the "Business" section:
American Business Disc (ReferenceUSA)
Over 12 million companies compiled from nationwide yellow pages, searchable by name, industry, geographic location or size. Also searches over 120 million residential numbers. Use this database to search for corporations in your area.

Associations Unlimited (Gale)
Detailed descriptions of more than 135,000 international and U.S. national, regional, state, and local membership organizations in all fields. Use this to find associations that may be interested in your programs and services.

Corporate Information

Corporations have websites, but the trick is to find information on their giving activities. Often, looking in the "About Us" or "Community Relations" sections of their websites will lead you to their charitable activities.

Hoover's Online www.hoovers.com
Good free information about the business activities of companies. Additional information is available for a fee, but the full database may be available free in public or academic libraries. Grantseekers will need to link to the corporation's Web site to learn about charitable activities.

Corporate Information www.corporateinformation.com
Also has information on international corporations. Grantseekers will need to link to the corporation's Web site to learn about charitable activities.

Also, see above:
Los Angeles Public Library Databases - American Business Disc (ReferenceUSA)

Government

Nonprofit FAQ Sites

Nonprofit Genie www.genie.org/
See the FAQ section for great answers to common questions.

Internet Nonprofit Center www.nonprofits.org/npofaq/
Postings not verified. You should double-check this information.

About.com: Nonprofit Charitable Orgs. nonprofit.about.com/
Beware of annoying pop-up windows. Not the most authoritative information.

Free Management Library www.mapnp.org/library/

American Institute of Philanthropy (AIP) www.charitywatch.org
The American Institute of Philanthropy (AIP) is a nationally prominent charity watchdog service whose purpose is to help donors make informed giving decisions.

CharityChannel www.charitychannel.com
Free information and news. See the Grants and Foundations Review section.

E-Newsletters

Nonprofit Prism www.cnmsocal.org/prism.html
Provides Los Angeles news, nonprofit sector news, nonprofit organization management tips, announcement of events and networking opportunities, answers to frequently asked questions, funding leads, and more...

GrantStation Insider www.grantstation.com/Insider_signup.asp
Provides the latest information on new funding programs, upcoming deadlines, conferences, seminars, and general information for the serious grantseeker. The GrantStation Insider is delivered via email to your desktop each week.

Fund$Raiser Cyberzine www.fundsraiser.com/sub.html

Nonprofit Quarterly e-Newsletter (free)
http://www.nonprofitquarterly.org/content/section/5/30/

Thompson Publishing Free News Alerts thompson.com/sitedocs/list_subscribe/alerts.html
Variety of topics, including Grants Alert.

Food for Thought www.compasspoint.org/publications/food4thought/index.html
CompassPoint Nonprofit Services publishes San Francisco and Silicon Valley editions of its e-mail newsletter, Food for Thought, which contains many tidbits that could easily apply statewide and nationally, as well as a healthy dose of humor.

Books on Proposal Writing

Robinson, Andy. Grassroots Grants: An Activist's Guide to Proposal Writing. Oakland, CA: Chardon Press, 1996.
Excellent examples and a thorough treatment of the proposal-writing process. While examples pertain to activist organizations, this book can serve any organization. A Center favorite. This book sold at the Nonprofit Resource Library, the Chardon Press website <www.chardonpress.com> and Amazon.com.

Carlson, Mim. Winning Grants Step by Step. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1995.
Worksheets take the reader through the proposal-writing process. Text is not as comprehensive as the Robinson book, but excellent for those who learn through checklists and worksheets. This book sold at the Nonprofit Resource Library, the Jossey-Bass website <http://www.josseybass.com> and Amazon.com.

Kiritz, Norman. Program Planning & Proposal Writing, Expanded Version. Los Angeles: The Grantsmanship Center, 1980.
The low-cost entry in the field, at 47 pages this booklet is still gives excellent value for the price. Be aware that it was written in 1980, so the budget numbers are low and do include current technology. However, the rest of the material still stands as an excellent presentation of proposal writing. It's available for purchase from the Grantsmanship Center.