Grant Funding Resources

Funding Research Center (FRC)

The Funding Research Center (FRC) is located at the Alice Virginia and David W. Fletcher branch and is accessible during normal business hours. Specialized assistance may be provided upon request by calling the Adult Services department at 301-739-3250.

The Washington County Free Library is part of the Funding Information Network of the Foundation Center, the nation's leading authority on philanthropy. WCFL provides free access to grantmaker directories, guides, and books on nonprofit management from the Foundation Center and other materials relating to grants.

The Foundation Center (www.foundationcenter.org)

The Foundation Center provides a content-rich website with a variety of free search tools, tutorials, downloadable reports and other information updated daily. The Foundation Center offers a free search tool, FDO Quick Start, providing free, public access to essential information about over 100,000 foundations and over 250,000 IRS forms 990-PF.

The library provides in-house access to two databases from the Foundation Center only at the Fletcher branch:

The Foundation Directory Online Foundation Directory Online Professional

  A searchable database of more than 100,000 foundations, corporate donors, and grantmaking public charities with complete profiles of the top 20,000 US foundations. This database enables users to find grant money for organizations.

The Foundation Center Grants to Individuals Online

  A searchable database of more than 7,000 foundation and public charity programs that fund students, artists, researchers, and other individual grant-seekers.

Other Online Foundation Center Resources (Free)

• The Foundation Center GrantSpace (http://grantspace.org)
  Resources for nonprofits including free webinars, videos, FAQ's and book recommendations.
• The Foundation Center Philanthropy News Digest (http://foundationcenter.org/pnd)
  Source for Requests for Proposals from funders, news in the nonprofit community, and job openings.
• Catalog of Nonprofit Libraries (http://foundationcenter.org/gainknowledge/cnl/contents.html)
  Contains citations and some abstracts from books found in the library collections at the five Foundation Center locations as well as select literature from other sources.
• The Foundation Center Glass Pockets (http://glasspockets.org)
  Focuses on transparency in philanthropy
• Board Source (www.boardsource.org)
  Resource for nonprofit boards, including information and trainings for board members.

Additional Helpful Websites

Federal

• Grants.gov (https://www.grants.gov/)
  Source to find, apply for and track federal grants.
• Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (https://sam.gov/content/assistance-listings)
  Assistance listings are detailed public descriptions of federal programs that provide grants, loans, scholarships, insurance, and other types of assistance awards.
• IRS Charities and Non-profits webpage (https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profits)
  Source for information on obtaining tax-exempt status, 990's, and other non-profit tax-related information.

Maryland

• Maryland Association of Non-Profit Organizations (Maryland Nonprofits) (www.marylandnonprofits.org)
  Offers a wide variety of member services and encouragement to non-profits throughout Maryland.
• Enoch Pratt Free Library Grants Collection (https://www.prattlibrary.org/research/guides/how-to-start-a-nonprofit-in-maryland)
  Helpful research tools and links to resources for non-profits.
• State of Maryland Attorney General (https://www.marylandattorneygeneral.gov/Pages/Nonprofits/default.aspx)
  Resources for organizations and donors including state laws, how to start a non-profit organization, and best practice policies.
• Maryland Governor's Grants Office (https://grants.maryland.gov/Pages/home-page.aspx)
  Helps state agencies, local governments, and nonprofit organizations find, win and manage grants. Provides a vast amount of information and training materials about grants and users can search for available grants.

Local

• Community Foundation of Washington County (http://www.cfwcmd.org)
  The mission is to promote philanthropy for the benefit of Washington County.
• Volunteer Washington County (http://volunteer.unitedwaywashcounty.org/)
  One-stop resource for volunteer information in Washington County.