About the data

GrantPeers is built entirely on public records published by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Not affiliated with the IRS.

Sources

• Form 990-PF – the annual return of private foundations. Part XV lists every grant paid during the year (recipient, address, purpose, amount), grants approved for future payment, and how to apply ("Application Submission Information"), including whether the foundation only gives to preselected organizations.
• Form 990, Schedule I – grants by public charities. We only include grantmaking public charities in philanthropy (NTEE codes starting with T, e.g. community foundations T30/T31 and federated giving programs T70). Donor-advised fund sponsors are excluded because you cannot apply to them.
• Form 990 and 990-EZ – website, mission, revenue and staff size of nonprofits.
• IRS Exempt Organizations Business Master File (EO BMF) – all ~1.9 million tax-exempt organizations with their EIN, address, revenue and NTEE cause code. Only 501(c)(3) public charities can be searched.
• NTEE code titles: dhenderson/ntee. The plain-language labels in the interface are our own.

Data status

• 53,587 foundations · 802,050 grants · $50.9B · tax years 2023–2025
• Last data update: 2026-10-03
• Business Master File loaded: 2026-10-03 (1,969,902 organizations)
• Last check for new IRS files: 2026-10-03

How matching works

Private foundation returns do not include the recipient's EIN. We match recipients to the Business Master File by name and address in steps: exact name with the same ZIP code or city; very similar name in the same state; similar name in the same city (counted at half weight). Ambiguous cases are left out. Schedule I grants usually include the recipient's EIN and are matched directly.

"Organizations like yours" share your cause (NTEE code), your area and a similar budget. A foundation's rank depends on how many such organizations it funded in the last three years, how recently, whether it accepts applications, and how much it gives in your state.

Limits

• Data is typically 1–2 years old: foundations file months after their tax year ends, and the IRS publishes the files later.
• Not every grant can be matched to an organization (abbreviations, missing addresses, churches and government bodies that are not in the Business Master File).
• Some returns are filed on paper and are not part of the electronic data.
• No guarantee of completeness or accuracy. Always check a foundation's current guidelines before applying.

Personal data

Names of board members and contacts come from the foundations' own tax returns and are shown only to logged-in users. Grants to individuals (e.g. scholarships) are only shown as totals, never by name. To have a name removed, see our Privacy policy.