Using IRS 990 Data to Find and Evaluate Foundations for Your Nonprofit
Master the art of reading IRS Form 990-PF to discover funding opportunities, evaluate foundation priorities, and dramatically improve your grant success rate.
What is IRS Form 990-PF?
Every private foundation in the United States with over $5,000 in assets must file Form 990-PF (Return of Private Foundation) annually with the IRS. These forms are public records—meaning you can legally access detailed financial data about every grantmaking foundation in the country.
What 990-PF Forms Reveal:
Learning to read 990-PFs is like gaining X-ray vision into the philanthropic sector. It's the single most valuable research skill for grant seekers.
How to Access 990-PF Forms
Grant Management Software (Easiest)
Platforms like Expirely automatically pull, process, and display 990-PF data in an easy-to-read format. Search 41,000+ foundations and instantly see grant history, typical amounts, and geographic focus.
✓ Best for: Saving time and getting structured, searchable data
Candid (Foundation Directory)
$149-$329/month • Comprehensive database with 990-PF data for millions of foundations, searchable by location, issue area, and more.
✓ Best for: Organizations with larger budgets needing the most comprehensive database
IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search (Free but Slow)
Free • Search by foundation name on IRS.gov, download PDF 990-PFs. Very slow, not searchable, requires manual analysis of each PDF.
⚠️ Only use if budget is extremely tight—extremely time-consuming
ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer (Free, Mid-Speed)
Free • Searchable database of 990s with basic filtering. Better than IRS but still requires manual review of each foundation.
✓ Good free option for occasional research
Key Sections of Form 990-PF to Analyze
990-PF forms can be 40-100 pages long. Here's where to focus your attention for grant research:
Part I: Revenue & Expenses (Page 1)
What to Look For: Total assets (Line 16) and charitable distributions (Line 25). These numbers tell you the foundation's overall financial capacity.
💡 Quick Analysis:
- • Assets $1M-$10M: Typically small grants ($5K-$50K)
- • Assets $10M-$100M: Medium grants ($25K-$250K)
- • Assets $100M+: Large grants ($100K-$1M+)
Part XV: Grants Paid (THE GOLDMINE)
What to Look For: This is the complete list of every grant the foundation awarded that year—recipient name, EIN, address, amount, and purpose.
🔍 What You Can Learn:
- Geographic Patterns: Do they fund locally or nationally? What states/cities appear most?
- Organization Types: Do they prefer established 501(c)(3)s or emerging grassroots groups?
- Grant Sizes: What's their typical range? Minimum? Maximum? Most common amount?
- Issue Areas: Read grant purposes—do keywords align with your mission?
- Repeat Grantees: Who gets funded year after year? (Multi-year relationships matter!)
Pro Tip: Look for organizations similar to yours in size, mission, or geography. If they funded three youth education nonprofits in your city, you're a strong fit!
Part VIII: Information About Officers & Directors
What to Look For: Names and titles of board members, trustees, and key staff.
🤝 Relationship Building Insights:
- • Research board members on LinkedIn—do you have mutual connections?
- • Are any board members affiliated with organizations you know?
- • Do board members' professional backgrounds align with your cause?
Part VII-A: Statements Regarding Activities
What to Look For: Application process, restrictions, and whether they accept unsolicited proposals.
Some foundations check "No unsolicited requests accepted"—this saves you from wasting time on a proposal they'll never read.
Step-by-Step 990-PF Analysis Process
Here's exactly how to evaluate a foundation using their 990-PF data:
Check Total Assets & Giving Capacity
Look at Part I, Line 16 (Total Assets). Calculate 5% of assets—that's roughly what they're required to give annually. If assets = $20M, expect ~$1M in total grants per year.
Analyze Grant List for Patterns
In Part XV, count how many grants fall into each size category. Calculate minimum, maximum, average, and most common grant size. Look for your sweet spot.
Map Geographic Focus
Tally up grant recipient locations. If 80% of grants go to organizations in California, don't bother applying from New York unless there's a clear outlier reason.
Identify Issue Area Alignment
Read the purpose description for each grant. Create a keyword frequency list. If "youth development," "after-school," and "STEM education" appear 15+ times, and you run a youth STEM program, you're golden.
Find "Peer" Organizations
Look for grantees with similar mission, size, or location as your organization. Google them to understand what they do. If the foundation funded them, they'll likely fund you.
Check Multi-Year Funding
Download 3-5 years of 990s. Do the same organizations appear annually? This indicates relationship-based giving and multi-year support potential.
Research Board Connections
Use LinkedIn to research board members listed in Part VIII. Look for connections to your board, major donors, or community partners.
Real Example: Analyzing a Foundation's 990-PF
Case Study: Smith Family Foundation (Fictional Example)
Step 1: Assets & Capacity
Total Assets (Line 16): $45,000,000
Charitable Distributions (Line 25): $2,100,000 (4.7% payout rate—normal)
✓ Conclusion: Mid-size foundation with healthy giving capacity
Step 2: Grant Analysis (Part XV)
Reviewed 72 grants awarded:
- • Range: $5,000 - $150,000
- • Average: $29,000
- • Most common: $25,000 (22 grants at this amount)
- • ✓ Sweet spot: $20K-$35K proposals
Step 3: Geographic Focus
48 of 72 grants (67%) went to organizations in Georgia
18 grants (25%) went to other Southeast states
6 grants (8%) went to national organizations
✓ Conclusion: Strong Georgia preference, some Southeast flexibility
Step 4: Issue Area Keywords
Top keywords in grant purpose descriptions:
- • "Youth" or "children": 41 times
- • "Education" or "school": 38 times
- • "After-school" or "mentoring": 19 times
- • "STEM" or "science": 12 times
- • ✓ Clear focus: Youth education, especially STEM and after-school
Step 5: Peer Organizations
Found 3 grantees very similar to my organization:
• Atlanta STEM Alliance: $30,000
• Youth Tech Academy: $25,000
• Future Engineers Program: $35,000
✓ All three run after-school STEM programs in Atlanta—exactly what we do!
Final Decision:
APPLY! This foundation is an excellent fit. Request $28,000 for our Atlanta after-school STEM program. Mention alignment with past grantees. Connect board member Jane Smith (listed in Part VIII) via mutual LinkedIn connection before submitting.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Mistake #1: Only Looking at Asset Size
A $100M foundation that gives 100 grants of $100K each is better than a $1B foundation that gives 10 grants of $10M each (unless you need $10M). Focus on GRANT PATTERNS, not just assets.
Mistake #2: Ignoring Geographic Restrictions
If 95% of grants go to California organizations and you're in Florida, don't waste your time. Geographic fit is usually non-negotiable.
Mistake #3: Using Outdated 990s
Foundations change priorities. Always review the most recent 2-3 years of 990s. A foundation that funded arts education in 2018 might have shifted to healthcare by 2024.
Mistake #4: Requesting Outside Their Range
If their largest grant ever was $50K and you request $200K, you'll be rejected instantly. Stay within their established range (ideally near their average).
How Expirely Simplifies 990-PF Research
Manually analyzing 990-PF forms takes 30-60 minutes per foundation. To research 50 foundations, that's 25-50 hours of work.
Expirely automates 990-PF analysis by pulling, processing, and structuring IRS data for 41,000+ foundations into an easy-to-search database:
✓ Instant Grant History
See who they funded, how much, and for what purpose—no PDF digging
✓ Auto-Calculated Ranges
Minimum, maximum, average grant sizes displayed instantly
✓ Geographic Filters
Filter by state/city to find foundations that fund your area
✓ Keyword Search
Search grant purposes for your mission keywords across all foundations
Research time: 30 min → 30 seconds
Start Researching with IRS 990 Data
Expirely gives you instant access to IRS-verified 990-PF data for 41,000+ foundations. Search by location, grant size, and keywords in seconds.