Funder Research

Ask Joy to profile a foundation before you write a word: its giving priorities, typical grant size and cycle, recent grantees, and how well it fits your programs, all drawn from the research notes in your Knowledge Center.

For Grant Writers Development Directors Nonprofit Directors Prospect Researchers
Sample prompt to Joy's Assistant

Research the [Delacroix Family Foundation] and summarize its giving priorities, typical grant size and cycle, recent grantees, and how well it fits our [First Job youth employment program], using the funder profiles and past-proposal notes in the Knowledge Center. Tell me whether to pursue it and how to frame the ask.

What it can look like

An illustrative example. Your output will reflect your own sources, data, and prompts.

Research the Delacroix Family Foundation and summarize its giving priorities, typical grant size and cycle, recent grantees, and how well it fits our First Job youth employment program, using the funder profiles and past-proposal notes in the Knowledge Center. Tell me whether to pursue it and how to frame the ask.

Here's what your research file has on the Delacroix Family Foundation. I've pulled from their giving guidelines, the 990 summaries, and your prospect notes in the Knowledge Center, and matched it against your First Job program. It reads as a solid fit worth pursuing.

Funder profile: The Delacroix Family Foundation

Funder: The Delacroix Family Foundation
Focus: Youth workforce development, Northeast region
Typical grant: $25,000–$60,000, one year
Cycle: One annual round; LOI due September 15, full proposal by invitation

The Delacroix Family Foundation funds youth workforce and economic-mobility programs across the Northeast, and their guidelines and recent 990s in our research file point to a clear preference: mid-size community nonprofits that pair job training with wraparound support. Over the last three years their notes show a growing emphasis on credential attainment as the outcome they most want to see, and they consistently pass on large national intermediaries.

Giving runs on a single annual cycle. They accept a two-page letter of inquiry by September 15, invite full proposals in October, and notify in December for a January start. Awards are one year, occasionally renewed for a second, and they rarely fund capital or general operating costs, so a program-restricted request reads best. The awards logged in our file cluster between $25,000 and $60,000, with a median around $42,000.

Their three most recent grants on record:

GranteeProgramAmountYear
Fairview Community WorksYouth Trades Academy$50,0002025
Eastside Opportunity CenterCareer Launch$35,0002025
Millbrook Youth ServicesEarn & Learn$42,0002024

The fit with First Job is strong. Harbor Light is exactly the mid-size community organization they favor, and First Job pairs paid work placements with coaching and an industry credential, which maps directly onto their credential-attainment interest. The one gap in our notes: we have no prior relationship with the family or their staff, and every recent grantee sits within their home region, so a Northeast footprint matters to them.

My read is that this one is worth pursuing. Lead the LOI with our credential numbers rather than enrollment counts, request roughly $45,000 program-restricted for one First Job cohort (right at their median, and squarely inside their range), and frame the work as regional workforce supply. Before the September 15 deadline, it is worth checking whether any board member has a warm connection to the family, since a first-time ask with no relationship is where these applications usually stall.

Want me to draft the letter of inquiry next, built around the credential angle and the September 15 deadline?

From a funder name to a go or no-go

Funder Research pulls together everything your organization already knows about a foundation, the funder profiles, past-proposal notes, and giving history in your Knowledge Center, and hands you a single readable profile: priorities, typical grant range, the application cycle, recent grantees, and an honest read on fit.

  1. Keep your research in one place

    Add funder profiles, past-proposal notes, giving guidelines, and 990 summaries to the Knowledge Center so Joy has a single source to draw on.

  2. Name the funder and your program

    Tell Joy which foundation you're weighing and which of your programs you'd put forward. Add a shortlist if you want to compare several at once.

  3. Get the profile back

    Joy summarizes the funder's priorities, typical grant size, cycle and deadlines, recent grantees, and how the program lines up, ending with a pursue-or-pass read grounded in your notes.

  4. Decide and refine

    Ask follow-ups to pressure-test the fit, compare two funders, or shape the angle for the ask, then copy the profile into your prospect tracker or a team doc.

  5. Make it one click for your team

    Save this ask as a custom command on the assistant your team already uses, so anyone can run it in one step.

Make it yours

Priority Read

Summarizes what a funder actually cares about, from their guidelines and past giving, not a generic mission line.

Grant Size & Cycle

Pulls the typical grant range, application window, and deadlines from your notes so you know what to ask for and when.

Recent Grantees

Lists who they've funded lately so you can gauge fit, spot peers, and read the pattern in their awards.

Honest Fit Call

Ends with a clear pursue-or-pass recommendation and how to frame the ask, so research turns into a decision.

Shortlist Comparison

Profile several foundations at once and rank them by fit before you commit writing time to any of them.

Renewal Check

Refresh the profile on a current funder before a renewal ask so you know if their priorities have shifted.

Corporate Giving

Turn the same read on corporate foundations and CSR programs, focusing on sponsorship fit and application timing.

Government Prospects

Summarize an agency's funding priorities and eligibility from past NOFOs and your notes before committing to an application.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can AI help me research grant funders?

Yes. JoySuite's Funder Research summarizes what your organization already knows about a foundation, its giving priorities, typical grant size, application cycle, and recent grantees, into a single readable profile, so you can decide whether to pursue it before you start writing.

Does Joy search the web for funder information?

Funder Research draws on the funder profiles, 990 summaries, and past-proposal notes you've saved in your Knowledge Center. It summarizes your own research file rather than browsing the open web, so the profile reflects the material your team has vetted.

How do I know if a foundation is a good fit for our programs?

Name the funder and the program you'd put forward, and Joy compares the funder's stated priorities and recent grants against what your program does, then gives an honest pursue-or-pass read with the reasoning behind it.

Can I compare several funders at once?

Yes. Give Joy a shortlist and it profiles each foundation on the same terms, priorities, grant size, cycle, and fit, so you can rank them and spend your writing time on the strongest prospects.

What should I keep in my Knowledge Center for funder research?

Save funder guidelines and profiles, 990 summaries, notes from past proposals and outcomes, your grants history, and deadline notes. The richer your research file, the more specific and useful each funder profile Joy returns will be.

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