Technology Trend: Online Grant Funding Databases

By design, CYFAR grants fund programs for five years, followed by a year of ineligibility. But after a few successful years of operation to find its footing, a local program should be a good candidate for further funding. The first step is finding potential new funding sources. There are several good databases on the Internet where this search can begin.

Just as there are general information search engines – the most popular of which is Google – there are topic-specific search tools. Many of them are free, some require registration for access and some are accessible only by paid subscription.

Everything found in grants.gov will also turn up by using the three biggest foundation directories, COS, SPIN and IRIS. These directories are free and searchable by every conceivable criterion, including:

• the location in which the project will operate;
• the amount of money being requested;
• the applicant’s academic qualification, whether the applicant is an individual, 2 or 4-year college, laboratory, etc.
• and many others

These databases work similarly but will retrieve different results, so you should check all three to cover the broadest number of funders. All will return grants.gov records. They differ slightly in the amount of refinement possible, and user-friendliness. There is no perfect one.

• COS The Community of Science database is not limited to science research funding sources. It is very broad, and claims to have 400,000 funding opportunities on its books totaling $33 billion in funding worldwide. To use COS, go directly to the advanced search page and familiarize yourself with the terms used in the search fields. Note that additional criteria can be added about halfway down the page by clicking on one of the choices. For example, if the application deadline is important to you, click on “deadline” and fill in “on or after XXX”. This will eliminate funding whose application deadline has already passed.
• SPIN Sponsored Projects Information Network is a smaller database than COS, but still has thousands of funders in its database. SPIN access requires registration, then a short wait for an e-mail confirmation before access is granted. Searches can be saved and e-mail notifications requested. Go directly to advanced search for best results.
• IRIS The Illinois Research Information Service has some information specific to Illinois, but it is useful for anyone. It claims to have 9,000 funding opportunities on its books.

Spending some time with each of these should give you several good potential funding sources to explore. If not, you may want to register as a user so that you can save these criteria for future searches by naming and storing it. Registered users can save as many as five searches, so give each one a different name, such as “CYFAR Year 5+”.

Also note that the university with which you are affiliated is likely to have access to paid databases. It is worth asking whether you or one of your campus partners can use the account. If you want to search for a local funder, look for your state’s foundation association. It may have a free or paid statewide database that you can use to search.

This is not Google

When searching the entire Internet, the goal is to be as specific as possible in order to eliminate as many irrelevant pages as possible. But funding databases represent a much smaller universe, so the goal is to return as many likely sources of funding as possible. The best approach is to start with only one or two search criteria, then add more to refine the search if needed.

The entries returned will not be long but they will contain some vital information. This should help you to decide which to eliminate and which to research further, by reading their RFPs or Web sites or phoning the funder directly to ask for more information.

Look also for each funder’s IRS form 990 from previous years, which list all contributions by grantee name and amount. It may also be useful to go back online to look at databases of projects that have already been funded:

• CRIS – ongoing and recently completed research and education projects funded by the USDA
• The Foundation Directory Online
• NSF – Grants Awarded

You may wish to consult:

Community of Science
Illinois Research Information Service
InfoEd International (SPIN)

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