Frequently Asked Questions

How much does it cost to subscribe?

A basic subscription—including information on foundations, federal government agencies, and certain state and local government agencies—costs $23.00 per month. Currently, we research some states (California and New York) more thoroughly than the rest, and for this more extensive information we charge an additional fee of $7.00 per month per state.

What kind of grants will I find in Grant Spy?

Grants and other types of funding are available from a wide variety of sources. Here are the major categories of funders:

1. Federal government. Grant Spy reports on discretionary, project, research, block, and formula grant programs available from agencies of the federal government. At this moment, Grant Spy's database contains 765 funding opportunities from federal agencies.
2. State and local government. Grant Spy reports on funding opportunities available from agencies of state, county, and municipal governments across the nation. Currently, however, the only states that we research thoroughly are California and New York; therefore, there is an additional monthly charge for state-level content from these states. At this moment, Grant Spy's database contains the following number of funding opportunities from agencies of state, county, and municipal governments:
   • California: 159
   • New York: 78
   • Other states: 274
3. Private, public, corporate, and community foundations; direct giving programs. Because of the large number of foundations in the U.S., Grant Spy concentrates its research on identifying funding opportunities from foundations that provide financial support in the following areas:
   • Animal welfare, wildlife (224)
   • Arts, culture, religion (927)
   • Awards, prizes (242)
   • Capital, organizational capacity (266)
   • Children, youth, families, women (788)
   • Civic, community (551)
   • Disaster prevention/relief, safety (122)
   • Drug addiction (2)
   • Economic/workforce development (548)
   • Education (higher) (345)
   • Education, schools, literacy (1257)
   • Elderly, disabled, veterans (351)
   • Energy (82)
   • Environment, natural resources (725)
   • Fellowships, scholarships (334)
   • Health, human/social services (1180)
   • Housing, homelessness (297)
   • International (84)
   • Law, justice, legal services (266)
   • Libraries, museums, historical preservation (324)
   • Medical research (270)
   • Medical, hospitals (353)
   • Mental health (40)
   • Parks, recreation, sports (337)
   • Police, fire, emergency services (106)
   • Research, policy, advocacy, journalism (574)
   • Technology (103)
   • Transportation, public works (116)
   At this moment, Grant Spy's database contains information on 3,377 foundation grant programs. Our database is constantly updated and expanded. New data is simultaneously inserted into the database and mailed to subscribers.

Which states does Grant Spy research?

Grant Spy reports on funding opportunities available from agencies of state, county, and municipal governments across the nation. Currently, however, the only states that we research thoroughly are California and New York; therefore, there is an additional monthly charge for state-level content from these states.

What do I need to know about deadlines?

Government agencies usually announce grants 30-60 days prior to their deadlines, but the time period varies. Some grants have no deadlines, and applications are accepted continuously. Some grants are annual programs, which means that, if you've missed the deadline, you will probably be able to apply next year. Government grants are often dependent on legislation to appropriate new funding every fiscal year.

Many foundations accept applications continuously; others review applications several times per year; others issue specific Requests For Proposals (RFP) with specific deadlines.

Of the 4,142 grants in the Grant Spy database at this moment, 1,852 have pending deadlines, 1,209 have past deadlines, and 1,612 have unspecified deadlines.

Grant Spy notifies its subscribers of newly announced grants as soon as possible. Federal grants usually appear in Grant Spy on the same day that they are officially announced.

Who is eligible to apply for these grants?

Government programs usually provide very specific eligibility criteria. Foundations are sometimes less specific or even very vague, preferring to consider each proposal individually. In general, public organizations such as 501(c)(3) nonprofits, government agencies, Indian tribes, school districts, universities, libraries, etc., are eligible applicants. Private individuals are seldom eligible, and Grant Spy offers few opportunities for individuals. The exceptions are fellowships, scholarships, awards, and grants for research, which are usually offered to individuals such as academics or medical researchers affiliated with an organization.

What methods of payment does Grant Spy accept?

We accept payment by credit-card, check, and purchase order. If you pay by credit-card, you can choose to purchase an annual subscription, or be charged monthly automatically. You can also purchase an annual subscription with a money order, cashier's check, or personal check. We can also invoice you.

How do I pay with a purchase order?

Join now and an invoice will be automatically generated, which you can print from your browser.

How does Grant Spy compare to Grants.gov?

1. Grants.gov's email notifications are very minimal, containing only agency and program name. Grant Spy's daily bulletins contain more information, including program summaries, deadlines, eligibility criteria, etc.
2. Grant Spy includes some federal grants that have not been announced via Grants.gov.
3. Grant Spy's database search functions are easier to use than Grants.gov's.

How does Grant Spy compare to Foundation Center?

1. Grant Spy includes information about funding opportunities from government agencies as well as foundations. FC includes foundation grants only.
2. We designed Grant Spy to be simple and easy to use. Many people find FC's myriad products, plans, and data fields a bit overwhelming.
3. Grant Spy shows you where to find grants, not just foundations. We think FC often provides too much data, including tiny foundations and foundations that don't make grants (or not to you, anyway). All of the foundations in Grant Spy's database make grants and accept letters of inquiry (at least). Furthermore, nearly every foundation in our database has a website where you can get more information.
4. Grant Spy comes to you, whereas FC waits for you to come to it. We try to notify you of new opportunities as soon as possible, because we know the clock is ticking.

What is Grant Spy's privacy policy?

We will never share with a third party personally identifying information provided to us by our subscribers. Credit-card information is not collected nor stored by Grant Spy; it is directly submitted to and processed by our merchant account provider via secure servers.

Why can't I find any contact information on your website?

We don't display an email address because, unfortunately, it's virtually impossible to do so without it being picked up by spammers. We don't display a telelphone number because we have found that it's actually quicker and easier to reply to your questions via email, since they usually require a bit of research. Please use the form on our help page to contact us initially, and we'll be happy to provide you with our telephone number if necessary.

Do I need any special software?

No, just a web browser and an email client.

Where can I find a grant to start a business, pay off my debts, buy a car, etc.?

The vast majority of grants are made to nonprofit and other public organizations. Relatively few funders are willing to give directly to individuals, because they have no way of ensuring that the money will be used for its intended purpose. Most of the money given to individuals is in the form of scholarships and fellowships. Finding money for individuals is not one of Grant Spy's priorities. We suggest you consult nonprofit agencies in your area such as the United Way, which may know of such opportunities. Advertisers promising "free grant money" should be approached with extreme skepticism.

What is Grant Spy's refund policy?

If you paid for a monthly subscription by credit-card, no portion of the current month's fee will be refunded, but you will retain all the benefits of a subscriber until the end of the current 30-day period. If you paid for an annual subscription by credit-card, you will receive a full refund of the remaining term, minus 3% of the original amount. If you paid for an annual subscription by check, you will receive a full refund of the remaining term. For more information, see Terms.

Where can I find a copy of your IRS W-9 form?

Please request one via our Help page.

Why should I pay for information about grants?

Because you get what you pay for. Don't make the mistake of thinking that, just because grants are "free money", everything associated with them should be free. It's true there are plenty of free sources of information on the internet, but most of them are long on good intentions and short on resources. Their content tends to be poorly organized, incomplete, and out of date. If you're serious about getting grant funding, you can't afford to rely on free sources.

Can you help me to find a grant for ...?

If you are a subscriber who has already thoroughly searched the database, we'll be happy to help, but please understand that our resources are limited. If you want the best results, consider hiring us to conduct customized research.

How do I change my email address?

Go to My folder (log in, if necessary) and click My profile. Update your information.

How do I change my password?

Go to My folder (log in, if necessary) and click My profile. Update your information. If you don't know your password, use this form to have it sent to your email addess.

How do I change my credit-card?

Go to My folder (log in, if necessary) and click Change credit-card.

How do I cancel my subscription?

Log in to the website with your user name and password. Click 'My folder', then 'Cancel subscription', and follow the instructions. Only requests submitted in this way will be processed. This process is necessary to accurately identify the subscription to be cancelled, and to ensure that the request comes from a legitimate user. If you don't know your password, use this form to have it sent to your email addess.

How do I renew my subscription?

Information about your expiration date can be found in your folder. We'll also notify you by email well in advance. If your subscription is currently active, go to your folder, click Renew subscription, and follow the instructions. If your subscription has expired, log in with your current email address and password and follow the instructions. If you intend to mail a check or purchase order, please generate a new invoice to ensure that you have our correct address.

Can I share your content with my friends?

No. Grant Spy's content is copyrighted material and redistribution of it is prohibited. This policy is regrettable but necessary if Grant Spy is to remain financially viable. However, subscribers may share Grant Spy's data with colleagues employed by their organization as needed to conduct the organization's normal business. All subscribers agree to abide by these Terms and Conditions.

The application deadline for this grant has passed; why is it in today's bulletin?

When we include a grant which is past its deadline, it is because there is a good chance that the grant will be offered again at some time in the future. Many grants are offered annually, semi-annually, or quarterly, so don't give up just because the current deadline has passed. If the grant looks like a good fit for you, contact the funder directly to find out if and when the grant will be available again.

Can you give me advice on a particular grant?

Probably not. Grant Spy's purpose is to notify its subscribers of funding opportunities. We have no 'inside information' and we cannot make recommendations. The only advice we can offer is to read the original funding notices thoroughly and contact the funders for more information. For details on this subject, please read our Disclaimer.

Why have I not been receiving bulletins?

If an occasional bulletin goes astray, it's probably just a temporary problem. We can't re-send bulletins, but you can read them at the website, under the Bulletins link. If you have not received a bulletin in several days, however, there are several considerations.

If you have never received a bulletin…

• Check to see if your spam filter has been diverting or rejecting them. Spam filters are the most common culprit behind this problem. Sometimes a spam filter running at the server level rejects your bulletins before you ever see them.
• If the bulletin 'bounces' back to us, we will notify you, and you will need to ask your email provider to resolve the problem. Such spam filters usually have 'white' or 'safe' lists which allow specified senders to bypass the filter; ask your postmaster to add our email address (which is 'email' @ our domain name) to the list of allowed addresses.
• Probably the easiest solution is to have your bulletins delivered to another email address. Simply go into your Folder, click on 'My profile', and enter your alternate address. Note that a different address at the same domain (e.g., '@domain.org') will likely not solve the problem, since both addresses are at the same server. If you don't have an alternate address at a different domain, you can set up a free account with Gmail (recommended) or another email provider. If using a new email account is not convenient, Gmail can be set up to automatically forward your bulletins back to your original address.

If you have received bulletins in the past, but not lately…

• Occasionally, a server rejects a bulletin for no obvious reason. This problem is usually transitory, and persists for no more than a day. If your bulletins begin to be returned consistently, we will try to notify you of the problem.
• Has new spam filtering software been installed on your computer?
• Ask your ISP or IT department if they have made any changes that could explain why you have not been receiving your bulletins.
• Try a different email address (see above).

If you receive bulletins irregularly…

• Your ISP might be rejecting them. Our bulletins are emailed via an automated process which sometimes makes them look like spam to some spam filters. Also, depending on certain keywords and other content in a particular bulletin, your email server might mistakenly reject it as spam.
• Complain to your ISP or IT department that you are not receiving email that you have paid for.
• Try a different email address (see above).

Can the content of my bulletins be limited to selected categories (e.g., energy, technology)?

No. The content of bulletins can be limited geographically, by not by category. This is because categorizing grants is often difficult to do accurately. Foundations in particular are difficult to categorize: often you won't know whether or not they will fund something until you've submitted a proposal. Grant Spy would rather show you too much information rather than too little, and let you decide which grants are relevant to your interests.