How to read a 990 to find your next funder
A foundation’s Form 990-PF answers four questions its website may not: who they actually funded, how much they gave, who sits on the board, and whether they accept applications. Read the grants schedule first, then the application information, then the trustee list, then assets. Twenty minutes per funder is enough.
Where to get the filing
ProPublica’s Nonprofit Explorer posts 990s free and is the fastest place to start. Candid’s Foundation Directory adds the deepest 990 and grant-history data; the Essential tier runs about $449 a year, and the directory is free to use on-site at hundreds of partner libraries. Instrumentl surfaces 990 data inline on each funder profile, which removes the tab-switching once you are researching funders every week.
The grants schedule: read it first
The list of grants paid is the heart of the 990-PF. It shows who received money, how much, and often a one-line purpose. Pull four things from it.
- Typical grant size. If checks cluster far below your intended ask, adjust the ask or move on.
- Grantee types. Look for organizations shaped like yours, not just organizations in your field. A funder whose education giving all lands at universities is not a K-12 nonprofit’s prospect.
- Repeat grantees. A schedule dominated by the same names year after year signals a relationship-driven funder. Plan a warm introduction, not a cold proposal.
- Geography. Where the money lands matters more than where the foundation is headquartered.
Read three years of schedules. One year can be an anomaly; three years is a pattern.
The application information
The filing states whether the foundation accepts unsolicited applications, and if so, the format, deadlines, and contact. This is the fastest disqualifier in prospect research. A foundation that funds only pre-selected organizations is a relationship prospect, not a proposal prospect, and knowing that before you write saves the whole week.
The trustee list
The officers and trustees section is your connection map. Run the names against your board, your donors, and your professional network before every approach. It also signals direction: new trustees often precede new funding priorities, so a changed board with an unchanged website is a reason to weight recent giving over stated interests.
The assets
Asset size is a rough predictor of future grant budgets. Private foundations are required to distribute a minimum share of assets each year, so a growing corpus generally means a growing grants budget, and a shrinking one means a smaller pool even if last year’s giving looked strong. You are not doing accounting here; you are checking trajectory.
A reading order that holds
Grants schedule, application information, trustees, assets. Stop at the first disqualifier and move to the next funder. If this becomes a weekly job, a tool that folds the filing into the research screen earns its keep: our Instrumentl review covers how its funder profiles do exactly that, and the 14-day free trial is the cheapest way to test it against your own prospect list.
This piece is part of the guide to the $1M-$5M fundraising stack, where grant research becomes a weekly discipline rather than a seasonal push.
Common questions
Where can I get a foundation's 990 for free?
ProPublica's Nonprofit Explorer posts searchable 990s at no cost. Candid's Foundation Directory adds deeper grant-history data and is free to use on-site at hundreds of partner libraries.
What is the difference between a 990 and a 990-PF?
Private foundations file Form 990-PF, which includes a list of grants paid, trustee names, and application instructions. Public charities file the standard 990, which is far less useful for prospecting because it does not itemize grants the same way.
How current are the 990s I can see?
Expect a lag of a year or more between a foundation's fiscal year and the public filing. Read three years together and treat the pattern, not the latest single year, as the signal.
This post is part of the guide to the established fundraising stack ($1M – $5M raised).