Included in Core and above

Find the foundations already funding organizations like yours.

Prospect research for grant funding is slow, manual, and often based on guesswork about which foundations might actually be a fit.

How it works

WhatIF Machine analyzes your organization’s cause area, location, and budget size

Funder Match searches IRS filings from 7.2 million grants

Get a matched list of foundations that already fund similar organizations

Save funders and move directly into Grant Writer

Funder Match results showing foundations ranked by fit, with matching grant counts, local giving share, and typical grant size

Funder Match results, cropped. Click to expand — the full results list runs longer than the screenshot shows.

What it produces

A ranked list of foundations matched to your organization’s cause, location, and grant size — sourced from real IRS filing data, not guesswork.

Who uses this

Development directors and EDs doing funder prospecting, especially smaller organizations without a dedicated grants team.

Not all funders take applications

Many private foundations don’t accept unsolicited grant proposals — they’re invite-only, or they require a Letter of Inquiry (LOI) before considering a full proposal. Funder Match flags this clearly for every match: if a foundation doesn’t accept applications directly, you’ll see a Write Letter of Inquiry option instead of a standard proposal draft.

An LOI is a shorter, introductory letter — typically under a page — that briefly presents your organization, your need, and your funding request, inviting the foundation to request a full proposal. WhatIF Machine’s Grant Writer drafts this for you directly from a Funder Match result, grounded in your organization’s real data.

Federal grants too

Funder Match also searches open federal opportunities from Grants.gov, filtered against your organization’s profile — so federal funding stops being a separate research project in a separate system. Foundation and federal prospects come back in one place.

Funder Match FAQ

Where does the funder data come from?

IRS filings from 7.2 million grants, matched against your organization's profile.

Can we save funders and come back to them later?

Yes — save any funder match and move directly into a Grant Writer draft when ready.

How accurate are the matches?

Matches are based on real IRS filing data showing what each foundation has actually funded — cause area, geography, and typical grant size — not generic categorization.

What if a funder doesn't accept unsolicited applications?

Funder Match identifies this for you and offers a Letter of Inquiry path instead — a brief introductory letter designed to open the door to a full proposal invitation, rather than a full grant application.

What's the difference between a full proposal and a Letter of Inquiry?

A Letter of Inquiry is short — usually under a page — and introduces your organization and funding need to invite further conversation. A full proposal is the complete, detailed application a funder requests once interested.

Do we need a separate grant database subscription?

No. Funder Match is included in Core, along with everything else in WhatIF Machine. The leading dedicated prospect research platforms start at roughly $220–$300 a month for their entry tiers — two to three times what Core costs for everything WhatIF Machine does.

Related features

Grant Writer

Demographics

Included in Core and above.

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Financial intelligence for nonprofits

Product

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