The Goals of the Catholic Funding Guide for Funders
There are two primary goals funders can achieve with the Catholic Funding Guide:
- Networking to find joint funding opportunities. You can find funders who are difficult to find elsewhere, as well as funders who share your values and goals. Additionally, other funders may find you through a search, and reach out if they’re interested in connecting.
- Discovering new funding opportunities. You can search our Amplify platform to find your next project or grantee to support. You may also find a project (or organization) to share with someone in your circle of acquaintance.
With that in mind, here are the steps you can take to optimize your search results and increase your chances of receiving relevant inquiries.
4 Steps to Make the Most of the Guide
Here are the four steps to take to optimize your experience with the Guide:
- Claim your profile
- Edit your profile
- Search for new funding opportunities
- Search for other funders
Claim & Edit Your Profile
First, you’ll need to claim your funder profile (here are step-by-step directions). From there, you will be able to edit your profile.
Verifying your foundation’s information (or the information of your donor advised fund) will ensure that grantees can reach out to you in the way you prefer. Additionally, clarifying your goals and funding prerogatives should improve the number of relevant inquiries you receive from both funders and grant seekers.
Amplify Your Reach
The Amplify platform in the Guide makes it easy to search for new funding opportunities. With Amplify, grant seekers can post specific projects in need of funding. You may find a project that fits your mission and interests. Or, a grantee’s overall values might align with yours, and you may begin a relationship that results in a longer-term partnership.
In order to get the most relevant results, start with a goal in mind. What type of project do you want to fund? Starting off with a clear idea in mind will help narrow down your search.
Tips on searching:
- Try both specific and general keywords to see what brings you the most results
- Try plurals or singular versions of a keyword
- Use preset filters
Look for Funders
If you’re looking for partners who share your mission and may be interested in joint funding ventures or collaboration in other ways, you can search for other funders who share your values.
With a free plan, you will have access to three results per search. A standard plan subscription gives you access to the entire database.
You can use the search bar at the top of your dashboard to find funders who may share your goals, values, interests, area of work, and more.
Here’s how to search.
You can search by preset filters and/or keywords
- Filters include:
- Areas of interest
- Geographic focus
- Asset amount
- Populations served
- Home diocese
- State
- Funder type
As you type keywords, our search engine scans all fields of a funder profile, including:
- Mission statement
- Grants awarded
- Board members
- Geographic location
This can help narrow your search for mission-aligned funders who could be open to collaborating and networking with you in the future.
As you search, you can narrow results by:
- Clicking the checkboxes next to the desired filters
- Typing your keyword into one of the filter search boxes
The results will filter down as you type.
Philanthropy Insights & Analysis
Funders with a paid plan can access the newest section of the Guide, Philanthropy Insights & Analysis. In this section, you will find research and reports that explore various aspects of data relevant to Catholic philanthropists, including poverty, global solidarity, and parish life.
When you find reports that are relevant to your work, you can share them with your Board or staff to inform future funding decisions. The research can also help you stay informed about other sectors of philanthropy that you may not be directly involved with.
You can navigate to Philanthropy Insights & Analysis from the dashboard when you log into your account. Simply click the “Insights” tab, and explore reports from there.
About the Catholic Funding Guide for Funders
The Catholic Funding Guide is a project of FADICA Catholic Philanthropy Network.
The Guide was created originally to help grant seekers streamline prospect research. In recent years, it has expanded to involve funders in a more active way with the goal of connecting Catholic-inspired grant seekers with grantmakers.
Now, funders can subscribe to the Guide at a free or standard plan. Paid funders have full access to the funder database as well as new Philanthropy Insights & Analysis section of the Guide, which includes data and best practices surrounding current philanthropy trends, specifically in the areas of global solidarity, parish life, poverty, and Catholic education.
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