Established in 1956 and today supported by close to 550 foundations, the Foundation Center is a national nonprofit service organization recognized as the nation’s leading authority on organized philanthropy, connecting nonprofits and the grantmakers supporting them to tools they can use and information they can trust. Its audiences include grantseekers, grantmakers, researchers, policymakers, the media, and the general public. The Center maintains the most comprehensive database on U.S. grantmakers and their grants; issues a wide variety of print, electronic, and online information resources; conducts and publishes research on trends in foundation growth, giving, and practice; and offers an array of free and affordable educational programs.

Every day thousands of people gain access to valuable resources through the Center’s web site and in its five regional library/learning centers and national network of more than 400 funding information centers at libraries, nonprofit resource centers, and organizations in every U.S. state, Puerto Rico, Mexico, South Korea, Thailand, and Nigeria. The Center’s online subscription database, Foundation Directory Online, provides detailed information about more than 95,000 U.S. foundations and corporate donors and 1.7 million grants. It can be used free of charge on site at all Center locations and Cooperating Collections.

A world enriched by the effective allocation of philanthropic resources, informed public discourse about philanthropy, and broad understanding of the contributions of nonprofit activity to civil society.

The Foundation Center's mission is to strengthen the nonprofit sector by advancing knowledge about U.S. philanthropy.

Our Beliefs

• Philanthropy is vital to our democratic society.
• Transparency and accountability are key to earning the public trust.
• Knowledge about philanthropy starts with accurate information.
• Access to accurate information about philanthropy advances responsible and effective use of philanthropic resources.
• Grantmaker and nonprofit effectiveness is enhanced by shared information and understanding.

Our Practices

• We aim to deliver the highest quality of service to all those who use our resources.
• We strive to build partnerships that help us fulfill our mission.
• We preserve our credibility by remaining independent and objective.
• We embrace innovation and harness technology to maximize our effectiveness.
• We value our employees and their contributions to our impact.
• We exercise fiscal responsibility as a means of achieving our mission.

The Center accomplishes its mission by:

• Operating library/learning centers in five locations—New York City; Washington, DC; Atlanta; Cleveland; and San Francisco—that offer free access to information resources and educational programs.
• Maintaining unique databases of information on the more than 95,000 foundations, corporate donors, and grantmaking public charities in the U.S. and 1.3 million of their recent grants. Its Foundation Directory Online subscription service is the most popular means for searching these databases.
• Providing a content-rich web site with a variety of free search tools, tutorials, downloadable reports, and other information updated daily, including Philanthropy News Digest, its daily news service, and PubHub, its searchable online collection of thousands of reports published by foundations and nonprofit organizations.
• Conducting research and publishing reports on the growth of the foundation field and on trends in foundation support of the nonprofit sector, including the annual Foundations Today Series.
• Educating thousands of people each year through a full curriculum of training courses — in the classroom and online in the form of self-paced courses and tutorials, as well as webinars. Free and affordable classes nationwide cover the funding research process, proposal writing, grantmakers and their giving, and related topics.
• Publishing books ranging from basic primers on fundraising and nonprofit management to comprehensive reference works.