Eye on FDO

Haven't Tried Power Search Yet?

Well, what are you waiting for?

We've been testing FDO Professional Power Search in "beta" for a month now, and we've gotten some fantastic feedback from the survey. There have been plenty of compliments, but also plenty of useful suggestions for making it even better. We welcome all these comments, and I want to take this opportunity to encourage those of you who haven't yet checked it out to do so today.

For a limited time, Power Search is available to FDO users at all subscription levels. After you log in, just click the "Preview the new FDO" link, then try out a search. Enter a keyword or phrase in the search field and you'll see results from nine Foundation Center databases:

• Grantmakers
• Companies
• Grants
• 990s
• RFPs
• News from PND
• Jobs
• PubHub reports
• Nonprofit literature

From your results list, you can begin narrowing your search using the guided search tools on the left-hand menu. Drill down to a specific database, then further refine your results with FDO index terms (everything from grantmaker or recipient geographic location to fields of interest to grant amount ranges and much more). You can also take step back by removing a search term without having to go back and start your search over.

Once you've tried it out, be sure to tell us what you think in the Power Search survey, accessible via a link at the top of the search and results screens.

New Guided Tours

New this week for Foundation Directory Online: Guided tours with audio narration!

These new tours help recent subscribers get acquainted with FDO's search terms and features, but veteran users should also check them out to see about recent enhancements and pick up some tips for their funding searches.

I encourage everyone to try one out. There are tours for each of the four Professional-level databases: Grantmakers, Companies, Grants, and 990s. Even if you've been using FDO for years, you might find a new wrinkle to help you make your searches more effective. And if you're new to FDO, they're the perfect place to start.

http://foundationcenter.org/getstarted/tutorials/fdoguidedtour/

Greetings

Hello everyone! My name is George Ford and I'm the new product manager for online subscription services at the Foundation Center. That means I'll be talking to you here on the blog about exciting new enhancements and helping you get the most out of Foundation Directory Online.

While I'm new to the position, I've been with the Foundation Center for over five and a half years managing our online training program. I’m thrilled for this new opportunity and I'm looking forward to hearing all the questions, comments, and suggestions from FDO subscribers that help keep the product evolving and improving.

I also want to take this chance to thank Dave Clark for helping make this a smooth transition for me. Dave has ably guided Foundation Directory Online through some major changes and enhancements over the last several years, and he now brings his considerable talents to Philanthropy In/Sight.

As Dave mentioned in his last post, this is a particularly exciting time for FDO as we roll out the new Power Search tool. I encourage you all to try it out and let us know what you think. Just click the "Preview the new FDO" link on the FDO home screen and when you're done, be sure to fill out the brief survey.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts on Power Search and all things FDO. You can reach me anytime here on the blog or at gef@foundationcenter.org.

A Fond Farewell

This blog entry (my eighty-third, but who's counting?) marks my last as the host of Eye on FDO. But Eye on FDO goes on, and I'll be turning over the reigns to our new product manager of online subscription services, George Ford. With the very recent release of our new Power Search tool, George takes over the blog and FDO itself at an exciting time for FDO subscribers and will manage the development of many more important new enhancements in the months to come. He'll also continue the tradition of superior customer support that you've come to expect from Foundation Directory Online.

As for me, I've been tapped to exclusively manage our new Philanthropy In/Sight subscription service. I told you about In/Sight a few weeks ago and I hope many of you have had a chance to take the guided tour at philanthropyinsight.org and see what it's all about. (In fact, that's George narrating the tour!)

To those of you who have followed this blog, either since its establishment or beginning more recently,  thanks! I hope I've been able to help you keep current on everything FDO. And I trust George will do so as well.

—Dave Clark
dlc@foundationcenter.org

Funding for Arts Month

October is Funding for Arts Month at the Foundation Center!

As always during our special focus months, there's plenty happening that's sure to be of interest to FDO subscribers, including special events and free training for artists and arts organizations. Be sure to check the events schedule for the location nearest you at our Focus on Funding for the Arts page. Then, explore some of the other arts-related goodies we're making available, including interactive maps and charts, news, RFPs, foundation-sponsored publications, and commentary.

We're also conducting a free online webinar on funding trends in arts and culture on October 30. A panel of experts in the field will present the latest data on both foundation and public support and explore the arts and culture funding outlook. For more information, or to register, please visit our web site.

Introducing Professional Power Search!

The future is here. It's Professional Power Search and it's one of the most significant new Foundation Directory Online enhancements to date. With Power Search, Professional subscribers can search across nine Foundation Center databases at once to identify more opportunities than ever before!

Power Search is an essential tool for anyone researching a potential donor, looking for new prospects in a particular subject area, or seeking more information on any issue of importance. Why? Because it puts the full power of the Foundation Center in your hands. You'll see a summary of all matches from anywhere within our vast knowledge base on the field of philanthropy. That includes FDO's grantmakers, companies, grants, and 990s databases, as well as our unique databases of philanthropy news, RFPs, nonprofit jobs, foundation publications, and nonprofit literature. One search, multiplied by nine databases, equals powerful results!

But that's not all. The new FDO also enables all subscribers to fine-tune their prospect lists with instant recaps of matches—by key data fields—for every search. With this intuitive new feature, you can quickly and easily refine your search by the exact subset of results you're most interested in.

For a limited time, all of these great new features are available to all subscribers as a "beta." Just click the "preview the new FDO" link on the FDO Home Screen to test-drive the grantseeker's ultimate power tool. And be sure to tell us what you think by completing our quick, seven-question survey.

Coming Soon...

...a whole new way to search FDO and find what you're looking for. Read my next blog post, next week, for details!

Online Communications

Do you use Twitter? YouTube? Facebook? Well, a lot of foundations do, and we've recognized this by adding a new Online Communications section to FDO's grantmaker profiles. We've been collecting this information for some time now, and it's previously appeared in the Additional Contact Information section, but now it has a home of its own. Look for the new Online Communications section, listing and linking to a foundation's presence on everything from MySpace to Flickr to Second Life, near the top of selected grantmaker profiles.

Philanthropy In/Sight

By now, you might have heard about the Foundation Center's exciting new Philanthropy In/Sight subscription service. If not, or if you're not sure what to make of it, allow me to share some insight on In/Sight (silly pun intended).

Philanthropy In/Sight is an interactive mapping tool designed for grantmakers, policymakers, researchers, and others interested in the impact of philanthropy around the world today. It combines our rich data on grantmakers and their grants—the same data that feeds Foundation Directory Online—with a Google maps interface to tell the story of global giving. With Philanthropy In/Sight, you can:

• Plot the locations of grantmakers and grant recipients and view detailed information about their activities and grants awarded or received;

• View aggregated grantmaker and grant data; and

• Assess impact, funding needs, and effectiveness with layered demographic and other thematic data

But don't take my word for it; take a guided tour.

Before going any further, I want to stress that Philanthropy In/Sight does not in any way replace Foundation Directory Online. If you're a grantseeker, prospect researcher, or fundraiser, FDO is still your best bet to identify funding prospects for your organization. But although Philanthropy In/Sight was specifically designed for the "givers," as opposed to the "getters," In/Sight and FDO do complement each other in many ways and each can be useful to practically anyone interested in any aspect of philanthropy. In recognition of this, we're offering a special 50 percent discount on Philanthropy In/Sight to current Foundation Directory Online Professional annual or bi-annual subscribers, or Institution-Wide Access licensees. For more information, or to request a free 24-hour trial, please call our Customer Service Department at (800) 424-9836.

With Philanthropy In/Sight, every picture tells a story. Visit philanthropyinsight.org to learn more.

FDO Update Alerts

Today's the first of the month, which means that FDO Update Alerts are e-mailed to Professional subscribers who have opted-in for this monthly service. FDO Update Alerts contain summaries of additions and updates to our grantmaker database during the previous month in five categories: new grantmakers; high growth grantmakers; contact information changes; fields of interest/types of support changes; and leadership changes. To receive FDO Update Alerts, click the Visit Update Central link on the left side of the FDO Home Screen and then enter and submit your e-mail address.

These monthly alerts are useful because they remind Professional subscribers to visit FDO's Update Central to build customized reports for more detail on each month's additions and updates. Update Reports can be customized by state or states in any one of three categories: new grantmakers; high growth grantmakers; and grantmakers with recent changes. Many of our Professional subscribers use these reports to identify new funders and stay current on developments in their state.

FDO Update Alerts shouldn't be confused with FDO Alerts, another exclusive benefit at the Professional subscription level. While FDO Update Alerts are delivered monthly and contain simple summaries of additions and updates to our grantmaker database, FDO Alerts are funder-specific, delivered when updates occur, and contain detailed information on profile and status changes; details on newly posted grants; links to new 990 filings; and links to newly posted news articles, job openings, RFP announcements, and publications. There's no better way for a grantseeker to keep tabs on current prospects and past donors. To sign up to receive alerts for a grantmaker, click the Add to My Alerts check box located in the Tools section of any grantmaker profile.