Did you know that foundations in the United States give billions of dollars to schools every year? Millions of dollars are not even distributed simply because not enough schools apply.

That’s not usually the case with many well-known foundations, but it is true with foundations that are not in the public eye as much.

How does that impact you and your school? Instead of everyone trying to get Bill & Melinda Gates to give them money, they should be concentrating on the foundations that are not as popular and more closely match up with their schools’ needs. It is extremely important to find a foundation with a strong emphasis that just happens to be the same emphasis you have at your school. That may be improving attendance, lowering your failure rate, or improving math scores.

Even though more money is given to schools with high at-risk populations or more economically depressed populations, that is less true generally of foundation grants than federal or state grants.

Here’s the problem. How do you find all these foundations and find out what their main mission is? If you search the Internet, you will find some of them. Newsletters often list a few foundation grants.

If you want to get anywhere near finding all the foundation grants for which you are eligible, you will probably need to subscribe to a grant database. A database is a perfect place to find foundation grants because it usually allows you to search by state or region, and it also allows you to search by type of grant need.

However you happen to find the foundations, please consider applying to a few of them for grant funds. Find those that are less competitive. Phone them. Tell them what your school is trying to accomplish. Get them interested before you even apply.

Making this contact will also be easier if you use a grant database. The database will often give you a telephone number, an email, even a website link to each foundation. That makes it easier to make contact. This contact can often help you make your application better and help you secure the money you need.

Foundations give schools billions of dollars each year. Why shouldn’t you get grant money just like other schools?

The problem is that you can’t get any money unless you apply, and you can’t apply until you find the foundations that give grant money to schools. Use the Internet, use grant newsletters, and, above all, use a good grant database to find that grant money for your school.