The Monroe County Library System provides wide support to grantseekers, from free classes and workshops, online search services, and facilities for individual electronic research. The MCLS maintains free public access to grantmaker directories as well as books on fundraising, proposal writing, and nonprofit management.
Foundation Center
The Grants Resource Center at the Central Library of Rochester and Monroe County is the MCLS’ partner library for the Foundation Center’s Funding Information Network. The following online Foundation Center databases are available for use in the Central Library:
- Foundation Directory: Searchable profiles of all active U.S. foundations and recent grants awarded by the nation’s top funders.
- Foundation Grants to Individuals: Access 6,100 programs that fund students, artists, researchers, and other individual grantseekers.
- Foundation Directory Online Essential – Explore 103,000+ expanded grantmaker profiles, 300,000+ key decision makers and leaders, Searchable 990s and 990-PDFs, as well as FDO Workspace.
Resources for Grantseekers
https://learning.candid.org Candid Learning, a service of the Foundation Center, offers information and resources that are specifically designed to meet the needs of nonprofits.
Candid Learning calendar online webinars – free trainings available online hosted by Candid that focus on topics such as finding grants, proposal writing, nonprofit formation etc.
http://www.grants.gov Grants.gov is a central storehouse for information on thousands of grant programs; by registering on this site, your organization can apply for grants from federal grant-making agencies.
http://www.guidestar.org/Home.aspx Guidestar is a searchable database of over 600,000 charities and nonprofits.
https://www.racf.org/ The Community Foundation is the Rochester region’s largest grant maker; the site provides program eligibility criteria, application procedures, and contacts.
Seeking funding can be a difficult, labor-intensive process. Sources for possible assistance for the novice grant writer are available from New York Council of Nonprofits, Candid and the Grassroots Institute.
Library staff can help you start your grant search by suggesting appropriate resources and assisting with database training. Staff cannot recommend specific funders, write grants or review funding proposals.
Grantseeker Programs
Upcoming programs on grantseeking can be found here.