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Foundation Directory Online by Candid

Foundation Directory Online by Candid

Overview

What is Foundation Directory Online by Candid?

The Foundation Directory Online (FDO) is an online database of donations, donors, and grantmakers, from Candid.org

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Recent Reviews

TrustRadius Insights

Foundation Directory Online, or FDO, has proven to be a valuable tool for users in researching and prospecting foundations. It saves users …
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Easy to use

9 out of 10
August 16, 2018
Incentivized
Searching for grants can be hard, the filters on Foundation Directory Online help take some of the tedious nature out of searching. FDO is …
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Pricing

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What is Foundation Directory Online by Candid?

The Foundation Directory Online (FDO) is an online database of donations, donors, and grantmakers, from Candid.org

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  • No setup fee

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  • Free Trial
  • Free/Freemium Version
  • Premium Consulting/Integration Services

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Product Details

What is Foundation Directory Online by Candid?

Foundation Directory Online by Candid Technical Details

Operating SystemsUnspecified
Mobile ApplicationNo
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Reviews and Ratings

(7)

Community Insights

TrustRadius Insights are summaries of user sentiment data from TrustRadius reviews and, when necessary, 3rd-party data sources. Have feedback on this content? Let us know!

Foundation Directory Online, or FDO, has proven to be a valuable tool for users in researching and prospecting foundations. It saves users a significant amount of time by providing all the necessary information on potential grants at their fingertips. The export tools in FDO allow organizations to create master worksheets for tracking and calendaring deadlines, leading to increased fundraising income. Users have found FDO to be user-friendly and keyword searchable, making it easy to access information. It has been particularly helpful during the COVID-19 pandemic, allowing users to remain in the safety of their official residence and avoid traveling outside. FDO has been a game changer for organizations, helping them focus on grants that are likely to make sense for them. Users have received millions of dollars of funding support over the years by finding funding sources for nonprofits through FDO. It enables users to quickly find prospects, saving time and effort in reaching out to the right people with the right ask and message. FDO has helped users put together lists of hundreds of new prospects, including foundations in their area that they were previously unaware of. It is used for searching for foundations/organizations that fund in a specific field, examining previous grants and grant sizes, and checking out other non-profits and their 990s. FDO has helped agencies target foundation prospects with greater precision, reducing the number of applications with little chance of approval and increasing the number of on-target applications. Users have used FDO to create robust lists of grant options, rule out organizations that don't accept applications, and validate if an individual serves on the board of a family foundation. It has made the process of finding matching grants efficient, enabling users to send more grants per fiscal year. FDO provides easy access to grantmaker's contact information, cutting down the time spent pursuing a grantmaker that might not be a good fit. It allows users to control the organization of information and prospects, using the tools to make the best use of the information. Users have used FDO to prepare in-depth grants calendars for their nonprofit clients. FDO has helped users research grant-making organizations, write on philanthropy and fundraising, and find businesses/companies with money to grant. It provides insight into information that is not always available without personal connections or extensive Google searches. Users have identified grant opportunities for organizations and helped them get funding for programs and operating support using FDO. It creates a way for users to be connected with fellow foundations and provides a list of grant applications. FDO helps build skill sets, introduce ideas and practitioners, and provides a list of grant applications. It is used for searching for new potential funding sources and researching potential funders and grant opportunities. FDO has helped users find foundations with an interest in funding their nonprofit, find information about foundations' focus areas and boards, and strengthen their grant applications. It has been useful for locating off-the-beaten-path grant opportunities, researching grant opportunities, like-minded foundations, past grants and recipients, and key personnel. FDO helps users save time searching for funders' 990s and funding opportunities. It makes searching for funding sources easier and provides easier access to information about funders. FDO contains a massive amount of information on funders of all sizes, saving time and providing a profile of target organizations. It is especially helpful for searching for niche funding areas and evaluating the worthiness of the application process. Users have found FDO useful in researching prospective funders, thanks to its great search features and recommendations of similar foundations. They are able to easily see where a foundation typically gives by location and category, as well as search through 990s for additional information.

Comprehensive Filtering Options: Users have found it most helpful to be able to filter the foundations and funders in FDO by State and funding interests. Several reviewers mentioned this as a key feature that allows them to quickly narrow down their search and find relevant funding opportunities.

Intuitive Maps and Charts: The maps and charts in FDO have received praise for their ability to quickly assess key details about funders. Multiple users have mentioned how these visual representations make it easy to understand geographic distribution, funding trends, and other important information at a glance.

Integration with LinkedIn: The integration of FDO with LinkedIn in the Who's Who section has been considered vital and beneficial by many users. This feature allows them to easily access professional profiles of individuals associated with foundations, providing valuable insights into potential connections or partnerships.

Limited search functionality: Some users have expressed frustration with the limited search functionality of Foundation Directory Online. They suggest adding a feature to search for open and upcoming requests for proposals, as well as improving the specificity of searches.

High cost and push for upgrades: Several users mention that the cost of Foundation Directory Online is a downside, especially for smaller nonprofits. They also feel pressured to upgrade to professional services, which adds to the expense. Some users wish the product were less expensive to have full access or that there was a more affordable pricing structure.

Difficulty finding information: Users find it challenging at times to find information on Foundation Directory Online due to its specificity in searches. The interface change has made it even more difficult for some, resulting in decreased flexibility and removed features. However, once users learn how to effectively search on Foundation Directory Online, they find it simple and helpful.

Users have provided several recommendations for the software based on their experiences.

Firstly, users highly recommend the software as a valuable resource for grant writing and managing donor research. They find it easy to use and believe that it provides all the necessary information for making good decisions in these areas.

Secondly, users suggest trying the software at a library before purchasing, which allows potential users to explore its features and functionalities firsthand.

Furthermore, users encourage comparing the software with similar products to conduct a cost analysis. They mention that the software has competitive pricing and valuable ease of use, making it suitable for start-ups and mid-level companies.

By considering these recommendations, potential users can make informed decisions about whether this software is suitable for their needs.

Attribute Ratings

Reviews

(1-3 of 3)
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Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Foundation Directory Online is used to research prospective funders for our organization. It has great search features and recommendations of similar foundations that you may be interested in. We're able to easily see where a foundation typically gives by location as well as category. Additionally, the ability to search through 990's is very helpful!
  • Summarizing foundation information (contact info, funding priorities, geographic priorities, etc.) in a user-friendly format
  • Recommending similar foundations based on certain criteria, this is helpful when looking for new funding opportunities
  • Being able to search through organization's 990s using crtl + F
  • While FDO has an advanced search feature, I've found that sometimes it tries to be too smart for its own good. For example, if I'm looking for the Virginia Smith Foundation it will pull all foundations located in the state of Virginia with some sort of affiliated Smith and not the Virginia Smith Foundation that I'm actually looking for.
  • I'm uncertain as to how often the information is updated on FDO.
Foundation Directory Online is the best foundation research software I have used. As a grant writing professional, it has come in very handy when I'm trying to get more information or context about a foundation and they do not have a website that I can research. The additional feature of suggesting similar foundations is very nice and can save lots of time when looking for new funding opportunities.
  • Able to easily find new funding sources to apply for
  • Able to easily see the level of gifts foundations have given to similar nonprofit organizations
  • Provides basic contact information and requirements in an easy format
I have also used Grant Station and GuideStar for foundation research and have found Foundation Directory Online to be the most user-friendly, provide the most detailed information about foundations, and to have the best search features in order to find the funders that I am looking for as well as to discover new funders.
David S. Levine, CFRE | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
FDO is used for researching and tracking all institutional fundraising opportunities from prospecting to stewardship. For all prospects, we use it to have a profile of the target organization. It is particularly helpful for those foundations/grantmakers who do not have their own websites or whose websites do not provide much information.
  • Grant research (best online database of grantmakers and grants).
  • Grant management for nonprofits (you can track your progress and documents).
  • Need more staff (they do a ton of input from 990s and such, need more people to help them).
  • No integration with major CRMs (for Christodora, an integration with Salesforce would eliminate several steps in our prospecting).
Beyond any pros or cons, the simple fact is that FDO is the industry standard for grant prospecting databases. Others like GrantStation, GrantSearch, and more can offer some other functionalities or different UX/UI, but ultimately I've never found something that other search platforms had that FDO did not. If you are a non-profit organization, you need a subscription to FDO if you have any serious interest in prospecting (and getting) institutional funding.
  • More prospects (and eventually more grants).
  • Cleaner and leaner institutional fundraising opportunity tracking.
CyberGrants is more of a grant request software so that's pretty different. Grantseeker by Fluxx is a good tracking software for keeping track of your institutional fundraising progress, but ultimately FDO's database of information dwarfs any other.
Any question is answered within 24-48 hours, professionally. If one person can't answer right away, they will seek answers within their support group and find the answer for you.
August 16, 2018

Easy to use

Abby Landmeier | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Searching for grants can be hard, the filters on Foundation Directory Online help take some of the tedious nature out of searching. FDO is especially helpful for looking for areas of niche funding and evaluating if it is worth the time on the application process. This helps build efficiency and takes away a good amount of frustration.
  • Search is easy and allows for looking at key areas.
  • As this platform grows, more data will be available and I'm looking forward to even further narrowed search results.
This is a great and easy tool to use to search for funding at a nonprofit organization, it is all in one place and results are easy to pick from. It is a good go to source for nonprofits to use when looking for different grants and avenues of funding opportunities.
  • We don't apply for many grants, however; we use look for resources to direct nonprofit when looking for additional funding outside of our funding process.
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