The 990: tax form or goldmine?
Today’s installment of Steps to grant success is about the oft-overlooked, but worth your time, IRS Form 990. All private foundations must submit a Form 990 to the IRS each year. Because they have tax exempt status, the public has access to these documents, and all that they reveal. They uncover such wonders as:
- Name and address of the foundation (or foundation manager)
- This shows you who or what controls the fund (is it a trust in care of a bank?)
- Their fiscal year (when their tax year begins and ends)
- Helpful for knowing when their funds may be more available
- Contact name and phone
- Helpful for contacting them, which you should! Have your elevator speech ready and be prepared to ask questions and LISTEN!
- Their assets, and amount of contributions made to the fund
- A certain percentage of their assets must be paid out in grants, according to law
- Board names (and sometimes addresses), and exec staff or foundation managers
- This shows you how large a foundation it is, and how it is staffed
- App requirements, and if they make contributions only to pre-selected organizations
- Here you can find out if there is an online application, or if they prefer a proposal in letter form
- Grants paid, with organization names and amounts
- Useful to learn what kinds of organizations they have given to in the past, and in what amounts, so you can gauge what your ask can/should be
You can find copies of funder 990’s in several places (since they are public record. Some ideas of where to look include:
- Foundation Directory (https://fconline.foundationcenter.org/ by subscription or free at many major public libraries)
- Guidestar (https://www2.guidestar.org/Home.aspx free to all)
- Fundsnet (http://www.fundsnetservices.com/)
- GrantStation (https://grantstation.com/)
- FoundationSearch (http://www.foundationsearch.com/)
- ReferenceUSA (available through your local library)
Stay tuned for the next installment of this series, the next step in grant success: your first contact with your new funder prospect.
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