Lately, there has been a lot of talk about how Foundation Search compares to Foundation Directory.  Possibly to help others make a more educated decision, I’ve decided to share our experiences, at Texas Christian University, using both services.

Foundation Directory

This is the standard database that my organization has used for very many years.   Our foundation gift officer knows it well and together, both researchers and gift officer, we have very few complaints about it.  The support team is always responsive when we have a question, but then, we rarely have any.  It is easy to search for foundations, board members, and all the search options are great.  Above all else, it is intuitive.

My small frustrations with Foundation Directory come when I have to dig very deep to find prospects.   If searching for specific funding interests, you are limited to the interests that the Directory uses.  If you want specifics, you have to dig into 990s. 

Foundation Search

It took quite some time to become familiar with this product.  It is not intuitive.  Some researchers on our staff have given up trying to use it and have turned to Guidestar (which is now going to become Candid).  When we ask for support, or call with specific questions, Foundation Search has clear answers (though their initial training tutorial was awful).  But it takes time to learn how best to do what you want in this product. 

The best thing about Foundation Search, for a researcher, is being able to search for keywords.  Foundation Search uploads all foundation gifts (for the past 15 years and over about $2000) into the database, and makes them searchable, assuming the foundation has provided a gift description in the 990.  This is a phenomenal tool.  You can also search for gifts by recipient state, county, or city.  Another great feature is that you can find news articles about foundations – they’re listed on the foundation’s main page.  So you know, right away, if this funder has given major gifts that made the news.  There’s also a nice feature of being able to search for a gift by size – so you can weed out any smaller gifts, if you’re so inclined. 

Comparison

Foundation Search has the edge on uploading 990s.  They are much quicker with getting the data into their system.

For us, Foundation Search was a bit cheaper, but not by much. 

Though this did not factor into our final decision, the sales representatives from Foundation Search were so persistent in their calling that we almost declined their product because of it.  Foundation Directory representatives rarely bother us.

The initial training for Foundation Search was very unhelpful.  The representative seemed more interested in telling us how to apply for grants instead of how to find potential funders.  In the subsequent months, they gave us some very good tutorials.  In general, I think this company would do very well to hire someone who has actually researched foundations for a nonprofit.

Foundation Directory is still preferred among our staff – except by the CFR researcher (me!) who now prefers Foundation Search.

Conclusion

For us, there has been talk of now subscribing to both services.  Many on our team want the ease of Foundation Directory.  It’s very easy to use and is, to many, the industry standard. But if you want to be able to do major, in-depth prospecting, Foundation Search has the clear edge.

In the coming months, it will also be interesting to see what Candid, the alliance between Foundation Center and Guidestar, will offer. 

Donia Wright, Advancement Research Officer

Texas Christian University, Fort Worth, TX

Vice President, Apra North Texas