Finding the Right Funders — Grantable Docs

The old way

Finding funders means hours on Foundation Directory Online, downloading 990 PDFs from the IRS website, cross-referencing in spreadsheets, and guessing which ones are actually a good fit. You build a list of 40 prospects and apply broadly, wasting time on funders that were never going to fund your work.

The Grantable way

Describe what you’re looking for in plain English. Grantable searches its database of 150,000+ funders, scores each match against your organization profile, and delivers a ranked list with fit assessments and giving data. You focus your energy on the funders most likely to say yes.

Step by step

1. Make sure your profile is ready

Before searching for funders, your organization profile should be complete — mission, programs, geographic focus, budget range, and impact areas. The AI uses this information to evaluate fit. If you haven’t set it up yet, use /profile to build it.

2. Start a funder search

Use the /prospect skill or just describe what you’re looking for:

/prospect “Find funders that support youth mentoring programs in California”
“Search for foundations giving $50K+ to environmental education in the Pacific Northwest”
“Who funds workforce development programs for formerly incarcerated adults?”

The AI searches the funder database and returns a ranked list with giving data, focus areas, and fit scores.

3. Review the results

For each funder, you’ll see:

Funder profile — Total giving, assets, top recipients, geographic focus, and priority areas
Fit score — An AI-generated assessment of how well this funder aligns with your organization, scored across 17 dimensions
Fit rationale — Specific reasons why the funder is (or isn’t) a strong match, with evidence

4. Go deeper on promising funders

Ask the AI to evaluate your top prospects in more detail:

“Evaluate our fit with the Kresge Foundation in detail”
“What has the Gates Foundation funded in youth education over the past 3 years?”
“Generate an opportunity brief for the Ford Foundation”

The AI pulls from 990 data, giving history, and published priorities to give you a comprehensive picture of each funder.

5. Build your prospect list

As you identify strong matches, the AI can help you organize them:

“Create a prospect list of our top 10 funder matches”
“Which of these funders have upcoming deadlines?”
“Generate a one-page report of our top prospects for the board”

You can share prospect reports with team members or board members using file sharing.

Tips

Be specific about geography, program area, and funding range. The more specific your search, the more relevant the results.
Upload your org profile first. Fit scores are only as good as the profile they’re comparing against.
Don’t stop at the first page. Ask the AI to look deeper — “Find funders I might not have heard of” or “Search for newer foundations in this space.”
Use fit scores to prioritize, not eliminate. A medium-fit funder with an upcoming deadline may be worth pursuing over a high-fit funder with no open opportunities.