Foundation funding, and who is open to you
How do foundation grants work and how do I get one?
Most private foundations do not accept unsolicited proposals at all. Roughly seven in ten indicate on their own tax return that they only fund organizations they select themselves, which means no amount of proposal quality will reach them. Of the ones that are open, the process usually starts with a letter of inquiry, not a full proposal, and the deciding factor is fit with a stated program area, not need. Community foundations and corporate giving programs are generally more accessible than private family foundations.
Last reviewed 6 August 2026.
Four different animals under one word
- Private and family foundations
- Endowed, required to distribute a minimum share of assets annually, and file a Form 990-PF that lists every grant they made. The largest group by number and the most closed by disposition: many are a family and an adviser making decisions among themselves.
- Community foundations
- Geographically focused, pooling many donors' funds. Generally the most accessible entry point for a small organization, they run published cycles, and they know your area, which cuts a great deal of explaining.
- Corporate foundations and giving programs
- Tied to business interests and locations. More responsive to a clear connection with their operations or workforce than to need in the abstract. Often faster and smaller.
- Donor-advised funds
- Not grantmakers you can apply to. A donor recommends grants from an account held at a sponsoring organization, so the route is the donor, not the sponsor, and organizations waste real time writing to the sponsor.
The number that should change your strategy
Roughly seven in ten private foundations say, on their own 990, that they only fund organizations they have already chosen. They are telling the public that an unsolicited approach will not be read.
This is not visible from a giving history. A foundation that gave to three organizations like yours last year may have chosen all three itself. Reading the box is the difference between a prospect list and a wish list, and it is why the useful number in our data is 19,000+ funders who explicitly accept applications, not the 122,000+ we hold in total.
How to approach the ones that are open
Start with the letter of inquiry if they use one. It is short, it is a screening step, and treating it as a compressed proposal instead of a clear statement of fit is the most common way to fail it.
Fit beats need. A funder with a stated interest in early childhood literacy is not weighing your need against another applicant's need; they are deciding which proposal is more clearly the thing they said they fund. Applying outside a stated program area because your work is important is the second most common failure.
Ask for an amount their filing supports. Their 990-PF lists every grant they made and the amounts, so a request three times their largest recent award tells them you did not look.
Who asks this most
The answer above is the same whoever you are. What Quillify does about it is not.
Related
- Most foundations will never read your proposalDo foundations accept unsolicited grant proposals?
- Reading a foundation's tax returnWhat can I learn from a foundation's 990-PF?
- Who can actually apply for grantsCan my type of organization apply for grants?
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