Grant Resources

Want to find funding for your nonprofit but don’t know where to start? The Des Moines Public Library can help! The Central Library offers a variety of tools, resources, and training for nonprofit organizations. As a member of the Candid community, DMPL is one of over 1800 organizations around the world offering free access to Candid’s resources for grant-makers and grant-seekers. 

The Library provides access to powerful tools:

• Foundation Directory │ fconline.foundationcenter.org
  • The Foundation Directory helps you find funders. They offer an up-to-date, in-depth database of over 315,000 grant-makers including private foundations, public charities, corporate giving programs, and even federal government grants. This database offers advanced search functions and detailed information about grant-makers, grants, recipients, and tax documents. (Access to DMPL’s Foundation Directory subscription is only available at the Central Library.)
• Guidestar │ guidestar.org
  • Guidestar helps funders find you. Nonprofits with a Guidestar profile are more visible to potential grant-makers. Adding more information to your profile makes you more transparent, trustworthy, and appealing to grant-makers who might offer funding to your nonprofit.

To help you get the most out of these tools, we offer individual training and group workshops. These trainings focus primarily on the Foundation Directory. You must be affiliated with a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit in order to take the training.

Once you’ve identified organizations to contact for funding, it’s time to write grant proposals. We do not offer training in writing grant proposals, but we do recommend the following resources:

• DMPL’s Print Collection
  • Ask our librarians where to find books about nonprofit management and funding.
• Candid Digital Library │candid.overdrive.com
  • Candid has curated a free collection of eBooks and eAudiobooks on topics such as grant-seeking, proposal writing, and fundraising. You can create a free account by clicking on Sign In and then on User ID Help. After you make an account, Candid will email you a library card number, which you can use to log into the Candid library on Libby alongside your DMPL account.
• Candid Learning │ learning.candid.org
  • Candid provides an online learning platform with live and pre-recorded classes on a variety of topics related to fundraising and nonprofit management. Many of these classes are free.
• Issue Lab by Candid │ issuelab.org
  • Issue Lab is Candid’s hub for academic research in the social sector. Access resources for free or submit your own work.
• Federal Grants │ grants.gov
  • Grants.gov is the United States government’s official portal for federal grants.
• Iowa Grants │ iowagrants.gov
  • IowaGrants.gov is the official portal for government grants in the state of Iowa.
• Iowa Grants Guide │ inrc.law.uiowa.edu/iowa-grants-guide
  • The University of Iowa has created an easy-to-search database of almost 700 funders in Iowa or with an Iowa connection. 

Connect with local nonprofit resources:

• Community Foundation of Greater Des Moines│ desmoinesfoundation.org
  • The Community Foundation of Greater Des Moines offers training, grants, endowments, and other resources for Des Moines area nonprofits.
• Drake University Center for Professional Studies │ drake.edu/cps
  • The Center for Professional Studies delivers regular workshops in grant writing, fundraising, and other topics relevant to nonprofit organizations. They also offer customized training tailored to the needs of your organization.
• Iowa Nonprofit Alliance │ iowanonprofitalliance.org
  • The Iowa Nonprofit Alliance connects Iowa nonprofits through annual summits, networking events, and educational opportunities.