Advancement · Grants & Funding

Read a funder’s return
before you ask

Every private foundation files a public tax return that lists each grant it paid. Copy in the size of the foundation, its grants to organizations like yours and how it accepts requests. The tool works out a rough payout rate, the middle and range of similar grants and where your ask sits, flags a foundation that funds only groups it chooses, and prints a funder profile for your team.

Add a funderWhat you get
$12one-time · every device you sign in on
Buy · $12

Included with Caveat Classroom and Whole-school licenses. Or get it in the Grant writer’s desk, $49 for 62 items.

Funders researched

The worked example is made up: a family foundation that fits, a large trust that gives only to groups it picks and an old public charity filing. Saved on this device only.

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What you get

Advancement · Grants & Funding$12 · included with Classroom and Whole-school licenses

What you finish with
A record per funder: the return form, tax year, assets, grants paid and number of grants; how it accepts requests; a row per similar grant; your planned ask, the people involved and seven research checks; the payout rate, average grant, middle and range of similar grants and your ask against them; a printed one-page funder profile.
Who it is for
Grant writers, development staff, executive directors and school foundation volunteers deciding which foundations to approach.
Format
Browser tool with a saved record per funder. Prints a funder profile, the record, every funder in a table or a blank worksheet; downloads a spreadsheet (.csv); exports and imports a file.
Access
$12 one-time, yours on every device you sign in on; the tool opens once you are signed in with it. Included with Caveat Classroom and Whole-school licenses. Also in the Grant writer’s desk ($49) and the Advancement Suite pass ($99), and 1 more bundle. Everything you type stays in this browser; nothing is sent to Caveat.
Where it lives
The Grants & Funding space in Caveat Advancement.
Support
Questions about access, an order or a correction: team@caveatacademic.com.

How to use it

  1. Find the return by name or tax ID.
  2. Copy the totals and how it gives.
  3. Add grants to groups like yours.
  4. Enter your planned ask.
  5. Print the profile for your team.

Add a funder

What a foundation’s return tells you

Reading a private foundation’s returnSizeTotal assets at fairmarket valueGrants paid in the yearAbout 5% paid out eachyear is the general ruleGrants listEvery grant paid:recipient, city, amount,purposeFind groups like yours andnote what they gotAccessWhether it acceptsunsolicited requestsContact, form, deadlinesand limitsOfficers and trustees, bynameReading a private foundation’s returnSizeTotal assets at fair market valueGrants paid in the yearAbout 5% paid out each year is the generalruleGrants listEvery grant paid: recipient, city, amount,purposeFind groups like yours and note what theygotAccessWhether it accepts unsolicited requestsContact, form, deadlines and limitsOfficers and trustees, by name
A private foundation’s tax return is public. The grants list tells you more about fit than any mission statement.

Where to find returns

Private foundations file Form 990-PF every year, and the law makes it public. The IRS posts filed returns, and free nonprofit databases let you search them by name or tax ID and open the full return. Larger public charities that make grants file Form 990 and list grants over $5,000 to domestic organizations in Schedule I. Match by tax ID: many foundations share a family name.

Reading fit, not just size

A large foundation is not a better prospect if it never funds work like yours. The grants list shows real fit: the kinds of groups, the places and the usual amounts. A first ask near the middle of grants to similar organizations is easier to say yes to than one at the top. If the return says it gives only to organizations it picks, an unsolicited proposal will not be read; a board connection is the way in.

Sources

  1. Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 990-PF, Return of Private Foundation (irs.gov).
  2. Internal Revenue Service. Tax Exempt Organization Search and Form 990 series downloads (irs.gov).
  3. Internal Revenue Service. Taxes on failure to distribute income, private foundations (Internal Revenue Code section 4942) (irs.gov).
  4. Instructions for Form 990, Schedule I: Grants and Other Assistance to Organizations, Governments and Individuals in the United States (irs.gov).

The worked example is made up, including the foundations, tax IDs and grants. The payout figure here is grants paid divided by year-end assets, a rough guide: the legal minimum is figured on average investment assets and qualifying distributions, and can be met over several years. Nothing you type is sent to Caveat. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.