Finding Funding: Tools and Sources

On this page you will find grant-searching databases and related resources on how to search and discover funding opportunities. 

Produced by: ProQuest

PIVOT is a database that includes international, Federal, state, non-profit, and institutional research, training, travel, and scholarship funding opportunities. Pivot accelerates the research process by integrating funding, collaborator discovery, and publishing opportunities into one powerful tool. It connects researchers to financial support by leveraging the most comprehensive global source of sponsored funding opportunities and provides scholarly profiles to match researchers with financial partners and collaborators. It is a subscription-based database; use your UNI credentials if off-campus to login and create a profile. Pivot publishes many useful tutorials and how-to guides. Check out the introductory video below. 

Produced by: Candid

Foundation Directory Online (FDO) is a database containing information on grantmaking organizations; it is not a funding opportunity database. FDO includes information on private and corporate foundations and government grantmakers that fund national and international projects. The database provides information on each foundation’s application process, recently awarded grants, the number and dollar amount of grants made each year, geographic focus, specified areas of interest, contact information, and more. Access FDO through Columbia University Libraries catalog, CLIO. Watch tutorials for using Foundation Directory on YouTube. 

Produced by: Candid

Grants to Individuals (GTI) includes profiles of 10,000 grantmakers with details on funders that provide scholarships, fellowships, grants, and a wide range of financial support to individuals such as students. GTI is provided through Candid, a non-profit organization that collects comprehensive data on the social sector. 

Produced by: Department of Health and Human Services

Grants.gov is an E-Government initiative operating under the governance of the Office of Management and Budget in the Department of Health and Human Services. Grants.gov provides a centralized location for grant seekers to find and apply for federal funding opportunities. Today, the Grants.gov system houses information on over 1,000 grant programs and vets grant applications for federal grant-making agencies, including the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Institute of Education Sciences, National Science Foundation (NSF), and more. Grants.gov provides user tutorials on YouTube. 

Constructing Searches

1. Consider key terms: pick out terms in your topic that you think would pull up relevant resources. Also, consider synonyms or related terms you can try as well (for example the search term "attitudes" might have related terms of 'perceptions,' 'beliefs,' 'perspectives' etc.)
2. Use punctuation: most search engines use a similar set of punctuation to help clarify your search terms. Here are some:
   • Quotations: using quotation marks allows you to search for an exact phrase i.e. "Teachers College" instead of 'Teachers' and 'College'.
   • Asterisks: adding an asterisk at the end of a word will capture related words with the same root or base, i.e. 'philosoph*' will capture philosophy, philosophical, philosopher etc.
   • Question mark: a question mark in a search has a similar function to an asterisk, but for only one letter i.e. 'wom?n' will capture woman and women.
   • Parentheses: help group sets of terms to delineate relationships within the search.
3. AND, OR, & NOT: these connectors called Boolean operators give the searcher more control over the search results. when using AND both terms searched must be present in a record. For OR either term can be present, and for NOT the chosen term must not be present.
4. Use Advanced Search and Filters: to narrow your results even further, utilize fields that let you adjust the date range, resource type, location etc. If there is an 'Advanced Search' option, use that to manipulate these fields. Also, most search engines will show a "filter" area in the left column of the page once you have already searched--use this to narrow your results list.

Here is a sample search based on some of the elements above:  

"English Education" AND Poet* AND (technology OR computer OR digital).

Lincoln School Of Teachers College. Summer Demonstration. Recreation Program. (1939). Historical Photographs of Teachers College. Courtesy of Gottesman Libraries.