I own and operate a business support service company and one of my target markets is non profit organizations who need grant managers or other adminstrative services.
Guidestar is a great source for finding info on nonprofits. You can search all different criteria, size, location, mission etc…
You can go to the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) http://www.cfda.gov and Grants.gov http://www.grants.gov – these are two sites created by the federal government to provide transparency and information on grants. Browse through the listings and see if you can find any grant that would support a non-profit venture.
For private grants, you may want to check the Foundation Center’s Foundation Grants for Individuals Online. It’s a subscription based website ($9.95 per month) but their opening blurb only says that the database is ideal for "students, artists, academic researchers, libraries and financial aid offices."
You’ve said you need money. But that’s not what donors, including government grants programs, are looking for.
How many people do you serve?
What programs do you offer?
What expertise does your staff and volunteers have?
What results has your organization been responsible for, and how have these results been tracked/measured?
What difference in the community does your organization make?
What is your current budget/expected expenditures?
When were your finances last audited?
How many women do you serve that aren’t Christian?
Do your services use religion as part of your work with the community? What does that mean for women who are not Christian?
You need to have all of this information available on your web site and in a printed proposal. You need to invite potential donors, including government representatives, to come on site and see the good work you are doing. You need to get some press coverage for your work. You need to create the idea that donating to your organization is an opportunity to invest in the community.
If your organization serves only Christian women, and uses religion in its services, it would be best if you pursued Christian donors — these are best reached through churches.
Are you spending more time focused on getting funded at the expense of the programs and people you serve? Learn to easily set up a system to get five to ten proposals out the door every week.
