Finding grants without paying anyone
How can I find grants for free?
Most federal funding is free to search at Grants.gov, and federal contracts at SAM.gov. Foundation tax returns are public and searchable, so you can research private funders at no cost. Your state will have its own grant portal, and your community foundation almost certainly publishes local opportunities. Many public libraries offer free research help on finding funders. Browsing and keyword search in Quillify’s grant database are free too, with no card.
Last reviewed October 8, 2026.
The free sources, and what each is actually good for
- Quillify’s free plan
- Browsing and keyword search in the Quillify grant database are free, with no card. It puts grants, foundations, contracts, and community lenders in one search and marks the foundations that accept applications. The paid part comes after the search.
- Grants.gov, for federal grants
- The official listing for federal funding, free, searchable, and the primary source. Best for: knowing what exists. Worst at: telling you whether you are eligible, which means reading announcements in full. Set up saved searches and let the email alerts do the watching.
- SAM.gov, for federal contracts
- The official listing for federal procurement, and where you register to receive federal money at all. Free. If you are a business, this is the one people most often do not know about.
- Your state’s own portal
- Every state publishes its grants somewhere, and state money is markedly less contested than federal. Search for your state’s name with “grant portal” and start there.
- Your public library
- Many public libraries offer free research help and workshops on finding funders. Ask at the reference desk.
- Foundation tax returns
- Every private foundation files a public return listing every grant it made, the amounts, its trustees, and whether it accepts unsolicited applications. Free to read. Reading them one at a time is slow. Quillify reads them for you and marks which foundations accept applications.
- Your community foundation
- Geographically focused, generally the most accessible funding a small organization can get, and they publish their cycles. Nearly every region in the country has one.
What free actually costs
Time, and specifically the kind of time that comes out of evenings.
The work that does not disappear: reading announcements in full to find the eligibility clause, checking whether a foundation takes unsolicited applications before writing to it, tracking deadlines across six systems that do not talk to each other, and repeating all of it every month because listings change.
For an organization building a pipeline, it becomes somebody’s second job. That is the work Quillify takes over. It reads each announcement for eligibility, marks the foundations that accept applications, and puts every deadline on one calendar.
Two things to avoid while you are looking
Anyone charging to register you on SAM.gov. It is free and you do it yourself. Paid registration services are a persistent problem in this space and they offer nothing you cannot do in an afternoon.
“Free government money” for individuals. Federal grants are overwhelmingly for organizations, and personal grants exist mostly as fellowships and prizes. Anything promising personal grant money for a fee is not a funding source.
Who asks this most
The answer above is the same whoever you are. What Quillify does about it is not.
Related
- Grant databases: what they cover and what they missWhat is a grant database and which one should I use?
- Start from the funderHow do I find funders who would actually fund my organization?
- Most foundations will never read your proposalDo foundations accept unsolicited grant proposals?
All guides, or the glossary.
Stop researching and see what you are eligible for.
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