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Foundation Center at IRSC

Candid's Foundation Directory Online (Campus Access Only)
Search for grants by field or specific purposes. The Foundation Directory is only available for IRSC campus access.

The Foundation Center Funding Information Network is an on-campus database that allows users to search for grants and grant makers (companies that award grants to organizations). You can use this database to see if there are local organizations that have provided funding to law enforcement agencies in the past so you can apply for similar funding in the future.

The best way to search the Network is by identifying a specific need and searching it with a geographic location. For example try the below on the front page of the database:

police training in Florida

This will bring you to a page with information on grants that have already been funded, organizations that have received grants, and much more. You might want to start your exploration by clicking on the grants box below the main search results:

You can then click on the grant amount in the list to see what project or program was funded, who funded them, and any other additional information. At this point you can Google the name of any grant or organization using some of the search internet search strategies on this page.

Remember, this database will only work when you are on an IRSC campus. Remote access is not available from home computers. Send yourself an email through the database with any information you might need to complete your assignment if you would like to work at home!

Searching the Internet for Grants

Sometimes you can get overwhelmed with information on the web. Google allows you to specify types of sites that you can search. To look for grant opportunities for police and first responders, you can format your searches as seen below to narrow your results only to specific types of websites. The format site:.org limits the search to non-profit organizations, many of which might fund grants. To do a similar search for government (.gov) organizations that provide grant opportunities, simply replace .org with .gov.

Try these sample searches:

site:.org grant and police and the current year (2019)

site:.gov grant police and current year (2019)

You might also want to add specific needs in the search to make it more narrow. For example, a great search for finding grants from federal organizations for firearms might be:

site:.gov grant and police and firearms

Evaluate Sources with RADAR

RADAR Infographic by Angeleen Neely-Sardon

RADAR Evaluation Checklist

eBooks about Grant Writing

Writing Successful Grant Proposals by Ellen W. Gorsevski
ISBN: 9789463003889
Publication Date: 2015-12-18
In simple steps, Writing Successful Grant Proposals highlights key things savvy proposal writers do to attract and secure prospective funders. With clear, concise instructions, this book demystifies grant proposal writing, from the initial development phase, to the writing and submissions phase, to the grant award phase, to the final delivery of project results phase.
A Government Guide to Grants by Nathan E. Legaspi
ISBN: 9781608767519
Publication Date: 2010-07-01
This book provides an overview of the six grant types, provides criteria for defining a block grant and uses that criteria to provide a list of current block grants, examines competing perspectives concerning the use of block grants versus other grant mechanisms to achieve national goals, provides a brief historical overview of the role of block grants in American federalism, and examines recent changes to existing block grants and proposals to create new ones. The authors also describe key sources of information on government and private funding, and outlines eligibility for federal grants. Moreover, how to develop and write a grant proposal is also discussed in this book. In preparation for writing a proposal, the report first examines preliminary information gathering and preparation, developing ideas for the proposal, gathering community support, identifying funding resources, and seeking preliminary review of the proposal and support of relevant administrative officials. The second section covers the actual writing of the proposal, from outlining the project goals, to finally developing the proposal budget. This book consists of public documents which have been located, gathered, combined, reformatted, and enhanced with a subject index, selectively edited and bound to provide easy access.

Other Grant Websites

COPS Grants
The Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) is the component of the U.S. Department of Justice responsible for advancing the practice of community policing by the nation's state, local, territorial, and tribal law enforcement agencies through information and grant resources.
Office of Justice Partnerships: Bulletproof Vests
The Bulletproof Vest Partnership (BVP), created by the Bulletproof Vest Partnership Grant Act of 1998 is a unique U.S. Department of Justice initiative designed to provide a critical resource to state and local law enforcement.