It’s been a while since I’ve added to my list of favourite free prospect research resources in Canada. With a minus 53 degree Celsius temperature (with the windchill) predicted for Winnipeg tonight I thought today was a great time to update the blog!
In this post I focus on where to find free information for Canadian foundations. When approaching Foundations for funding it is vital to be armed with as much knowledge as possible. Foundation search sites are also vital for finding out which foundations to approach in the first place.
While there are many fantastic paid sources (GrantConnect, CharityCan, FoundationSearch Canada are just a few of the many options out there) often smaller organizations don’t have the budget for those types of sources. While the free sources don’t contain the same level of detail or are quite as easy to search as the paid sources, they can be very useful sources for information.
Here are a few of my favourites:
- Charitydata: Contains financial information, designation, address, website (if one exists) and list of directors for foundations. It also gives the option to search either by Director or Charity.
- Government of Canada: Contains reported financial information as well as date of status, designation and website (if one exists) for foundations.
- Chimp: Provides condensed financial information but also includes address, website (if one exists), number of full time staff as well as a very condensed donation history for the foundation.
- Philanthropic Foundations of Canada: Lists all of its members. Many of the members’ names are linked to their website.
- The Victoria Foundation: Contains lists of other funding sources including national organizations, government funding, Vancouver Island community foundations and much more.
I hope you enjoy these free sources for Canadian foundations. If you have any questions or have more to add to the list I look forward to hearing from you. Stay warm out there!