10 Foundations Funding Food Security Programs
How to Research Foundations Before Applying
The grant application should not be the first time you learn about a foundation.
One of the most expensive mistakes a nonprofit can make is spending days—or weeks—writing a grant proposal for a foundation that was never a realistic prospect.
The foundation may fund your issue but not your geography.
It may support organizations your size but only by invitation.
It may have funded similar programs five years ago but changed its priorities.
It may make $500,000 grants—but only to national organizations.
Or your proposal may be asking for $75,000 when the foundation’s typical grants are $10,000.
The problem isn’t necessarily the proposal.
The problem is prospect selection.
Foundation research allows nonprofits to determine whether a funder is actually worth pursuing before committing valuable staff time to an application.
Candid describes this process as prospect research: identifying funders that are most likely to support your work and evaluating alignment across subject area, population served and geographic area.
Don’t Start With the Application
The first question should not be:
“How do we apply?”
It should be:
“Why should this foundation want to fund us?”
That question changes everything.
Before opening an application, research:
Who does the foundation fund?
What does it fund?
Where does it fund?
How much does it give?
How often does it give?
Who makes the decisions?
Does it accept unsolicited applications?
What organizations has it funded recently?
Does our organization look like the organizations it already supports?
If the answers aren’t encouraging, move the prospect down your list.
Step 1: Start With the Foundation’s Website
Always begin with the funder’s own website.
Look for:
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Mission
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Current priorities
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Geographic focus
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Program areas
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Eligibility requirements
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Grant sizes
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Application process
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Deadlines
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Letter of Inquiry requirements
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Current or recent grantees
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Contact information
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Staff and trustees
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Annual reports
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News releases
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Frequently asked questions
Don’t just read the homepage.
Read the actual grant guidelines.
A foundation may describe itself broadly as supporting “community development,” for example, while its current grant program may be limited to a particular population, geographic region or type of organization.
The grant guidelines are more important than the foundation’s general mission statement.
Step 2: Determine the Foundation’s Real Funding Priorities
A foundation’s mission statement tells you what it cares about.
Its grants tell you what it actually funds.
That distinction is critical.
Suppose a foundation says:
“We support thriving communities.”
That could mean almost anything.
Now suppose its recent grants include:
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$50,000 for affordable housing
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$35,000 for youth workforce development
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$25,000 for food security
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$20,000 for community health
You now have evidence of its actual grantmaking.
Candid’s grant data can be searched by funder, recipient, grant purpose, geography and topic, allowing nonprofits to examine where philanthropic dollars have actually gone.
Research the money, not just the mission statement.
Step 3: Study the Foundation’s Recent Grantees
This may be the single most useful part of your research.
Find 10–20 organizations the foundation has recently funded.
Then ask:
What do they have in common?
Look at:
Mission
Program
Geography
Population served
Annual budget
Organization size
Grant amount
Type of support
Length of relationship
If you discover that a foundation repeatedly funds organizations very similar to yours, that is a strong signal.
Candid specifically recommends researching the organizations a funder has supported and using those grants to identify potential matches. Its current search platform provides information on hundreds of thousands of funders and millions of grants.
Step 4: Find Out How Much the Foundation Actually Gives
Don’t guess your request amount.
Research the foundation’s historical grant sizes.
Imagine you need $50,000.
You find that the foundation’s recent grants are:
| Recent Grant | Amount |
|---|---|
| Organization A | $10,000 |
| Organization B | $15,000 |
| Organization C | $20,000 |
| Organization D | $15,000 |
| Organization E | $25,000 |
A $50,000 request may be possible—but it deserves further investigation.
Now imagine the grants look like this:
| Recent Grant | Amount |
|---|---|
| Organization A | $100,000 |
| Organization B | $150,000 |
| Organization C | $250,000 |
| Organization D | $300,000 |
Your $50,000 request may actually be too small to be strategically interesting.
The point isn’t that nonprofits must always request the “average” grant.
It is that the funder’s historical giving should inform the ask.
Candid’s current search tools specifically include total giving and average nonprofit grant amounts as information that can help fundraisers tailor requests.
Step 5: Read the Foundation’s Form 990 or 990-PF
This is where foundation research becomes much more powerful.
For private foundations, the Form 990-PF can reveal important information about assets, charitable distributions, grants and recipients.
The IRS’s Tax Exempt Organization Search allows users to access Form 990-series returns, including Form 990-PF for private foundations, as well as tax-exempt status and other filings.
Look for:
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Total assets
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Charitable distributions
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Grants paid
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Grant recipients
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Grant amounts
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Foundation officers
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Trustees
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Investment information
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Changes in giving
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Geographic patterns
You don’t need to become a tax accountant.
You’re looking for patterns.
Step 6: Look at Several Years—Not Just One
One year’s grants can be misleading.
A foundation may make a large one-time grant because of:
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A special initiative
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A capital campaign
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A disaster
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A new program
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A multi-year commitment
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A donor-directed gift
Look at three or more years whenever possible.
You want to know:
Is this a consistent funding priority?
For example:
Year 1
Youth development — $400,000
Year 2
Youth development — $425,000
Year 3
Youth development — $450,000
That’s much more meaningful than seeing one $400,000 youth grant.
Candid cautions that recent grants data can be incomplete because government filings and other sources become available at different times. Its current guidance notes that IRS-derived data can take months or years to become fully available, while funder-reported and public information can arrive sooner.
So use historical data—but understand its limitations.
Step 7: Find the Foundation’s Geographic Footprint
This is where many nonprofits waste time.
A foundation can be headquartered in Massachusetts but only fund:
Boston
or
New England
or
Massachusetts
or
the United States
Those are very different funding opportunities.
Check:
Where is the foundation located?
Where does it make grants?
Does it fund your city?
Does it fund your county?
Does it fund your state?
Has it funded an organization near you?
A foundation’s physical address is not necessarily its funding geography.
Candid specifically identifies geographic area served as one of the core factors nonprofits should use when evaluating potential funders.
Step 8: Research Who the Foundation Already Funds
Now take your research one step further.
Find nonprofits that are:
similar to yours
in your geographic area
serving the same population
working on the same problem
Then identify who funds them.
This creates a peer-funder strategy.
For example:
Your nonprofit provides food security services.
You identify five organizations serving similar populations.
Their funders include:
Foundation A
Foundation B
Foundation C
Corporate Foundation D
Suddenly you have four prospects backed by evidence.
This is often much better than searching Google for:
“food grants for nonprofits.”
Step 9: Look for Relationships
Research the people behind the foundation.
Find:
Executive Director
Program Officer
Foundation President
Trustees
Board Members
Community Advisors
Then look for legitimate connections.
Perhaps a board member:
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serves on a local nonprofit board
-
attended the same university as your executive director
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participates in a community coalition
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knows one of your existing funders
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has spoken at an event your organization attended
This does not mean asking someone to “get us a grant.”
It means understanding whether there is a natural pathway for relationship-building.
Warm introductions can be valuable—but they should never replace program fit.
Step 10: Determine Whether You Can Actually Apply
This sounds obvious.
It isn’t.
Some foundations:
accept open applications.
Others:
require a Letter of Inquiry.
Others:
invite selected organizations.
Others:
fund through intermediaries or community foundations.
Others:
don’t accept unsolicited proposals at all.
Never assume that finding a foundation means you can submit a proposal.
Check the current instructions directly from the funder.
If the foundation’s website says applications are by invitation only, don’t spend two weeks preparing an unsolicited 15-page proposal.
Step 11: Check Your Eligibility
Create a simple eligibility checklist.
Organization
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501(c)(3)?
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Fiscal sponsor accepted?
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Minimum operating history?
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Required annual budget?
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Required audit?
Geography
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State?
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County?
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City?
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Neighborhood?
Population
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Children?
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Seniors?
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Immigrants?
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Low-income households?
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Veterans?
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Students?
Program
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Food security?
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Youth?
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Education?
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Housing?
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Workforce?
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Arts?
Funding
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General operating?
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Project support?
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Capital?
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Equipment?
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Capacity building?
Application
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Open application?
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LOI?
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Invitation?
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Deadline?
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Funder conversation required?
A “yes” in five categories doesn’t automatically make a funder a good prospect.
But a “no” on a mandatory eligibility requirement can eliminate the prospect immediately.
Step 12: Look at the Foundation’s Language
This is an underrated research technique.
Pay attention to the words the funder repeatedly uses.
Does it talk about:
equity?
economic mobility?
systems change?
community power?
resilience?
innovation?
measurable outcomes?
capacity building?
collaboration?
prevention?
Those words tell you how the foundation thinks about problems.
Your proposal should never copy the foundation’s language mechanically.
But understanding its framework helps you explain your work in terms that are relevant to the funder’s interests.
Step 13: Study the Funder’s Preferred Type of Grant
Two foundations can support the same issue while funding completely different things.
One may prefer:
program grants
Another:
general operating support
Another:
capital
Another:
capacity building
Another:
research
Another:
multi-year initiatives
Another:
small community grants
That distinction can determine whether your proposal is viable.
If you need $30,000 for unrestricted operating support but the foundation only funds capital projects, it may not be the right prospect.
Step 14: Research the Foundation’s Decision Cycle
Put the research into your grant calendar.
Find out:
When does the application open?
When is the LOI due?
When are decisions made?
When are grants awarded?
When does the grant period begin?
When are reports due?
Then work backward.
If the foundation’s application is due October 15, your internal schedule might look like:
August 15: Eligibility confirmed
August 20: Funder research completed
August 25: Program officer contact
September 1: Go/no-go decision
September 5: Proposal outline
September 15: Program information completed
September 20: Budget finalized
September 25: First draft
October 1: Executive review
October 7: Final approval
October 10: Submission
October 15: Funder deadline
The goal is to make October 15 boring.
Step 15: Create a Funder Scorecard
Don’t rely on your memory.
Score every prospect.
For example:
| Factor | Score |
|---|---|
| Mission alignment | 1–5 |
| Program alignment | 1–5 |
| Geographic fit | 1–5 |
| Population fit | 1–5 |
| Grant-size fit | 1–5 |
| Eligibility | 1–5 |
| Previous similar grants | 1–5 |
| Relationship potential | 1–5 |
| Application accessibility | 1–5 |
| Renewal potential | 1–5 |
Then classify prospects:
A — High Priority
Strong alignment and realistic funding opportunity.
B — Cultivate
Good potential but relationship or eligibility needs to develop.
C — Monitor
Interesting but weak or uncertain fit.
D — Do Not Pursue
Poor alignment or clearly ineligible.
This protects your development team’s most valuable resource:
time.
A Better Question Than “Does This Foundation Give Grants?”
Almost every foundation research project begins with the wrong question.
“Does this foundation give grants?”
The answer may be yes.
That tells you almost nothing.
The better questions are:
Does this foundation fund organizations like ours?
Does it fund programs like ours?
Does it fund communities like ours?
Does it make grants in the size range we need?
Does it accept applications from organizations like ours?
Does it appear to be funding this priority now?
Can we build a relationship with this funder?
That is prospect research.
Your Foundation Research File
Before submitting an application, create a one-page research brief.
Foundation
Name:
Website:
Location:
Mission
What does the foundation say it wants to accomplish?
Current Priorities
Geography
Where does it fund?
Population
Who does it fund?
Grant Size
Typical range:
Largest relevant recent grant:
Recent Comparable Grantees
Relevant Grants
Funder’s recent investment in programs like ours:
Application
LOI?
Open application?
Invitation?
Deadline?
Contact
Program officer:
Email:
Phone:
Relationship
Existing connection?
Potential introduction?
Previous contact?
Strategic Fit
Why should this foundation care about our work?
Recommended Ask
Amount:
Program:
Decision
Pursue / Cultivate / Monitor / Decline
The 30-Minute Foundation Research Test
Before spending hours writing, see whether you can answer these ten questions:
1. What does the foundation fund?
2. Who does it fund?
3. Where does it fund?
4. How much does it typically give?
5. Has it funded organizations like ours?
6. Has it funded our type of program recently?
7. Can we apply?
8. Who makes the funding decision?
9. What is the application process?
10. Why are we a particularly strong fit?
If you cannot answer those questions, you’re probably not ready to apply.
The Most Important Research Principle
A foundation’s website tells you what it says it values.
Its grant history tells you what it actually funds.
You need both.
Candid’s data combines information from IRS filings, funder reporting, websites and other public sources, while noting that recent grant data may not yet be complete.
The IRS provides another important primary-source check through its Tax Exempt Organization Search, where researchers can review tax-exempt status and Form 990-series filings, including private foundation 990-PFs.
And Candid’s current research tools provide access to more than 300,000 funder profiles and millions of grants, making it possible to investigate not only foundations themselves but also the organizations they support.
That combination gives nonprofit fundraisers something much more valuable than a list of grants.
It gives them evidence for deciding where to spend their time.
Turn Research Into a Funding Strategy
The objective isn’t to find 100 foundations.
It is to find 10 foundations that make sense.
Then:
Research them.
↓
Rank them.
↓
Build relationships.
↓
Match the right program to the right funder.
↓
Develop the proposal.
↓
Submit strategically.
↓
Track the result.
↓
Cultivate the relationship.
↓
Pursue renewal.
The strongest grant programs aren’t built around chasing every deadline that appears online.
They’re built around knowing which funders are most likely to say yes—and why.
Ready to Build a Better Foundation Prospect List?
Your nonprofit doesn’t need another giant spreadsheet filled with random grant opportunities.
It needs a qualified funding pipeline.
Research each foundation for mission alignment, geography, population, grant size, previous giving, eligibility, application process and relationship potential before your team invests time in a proposal.
Research first. Apply second. Build the relationship throughout.
That is how grant research becomes fundraising strategy.
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