Eye on FDO

Guided Tours

Our Foundation Directory Online guided tours are getting a new look...and a new sound! When you visit FDO's guided tours page, you'll see a link to a new version of our Search Grantmakers guided tour that contains audio narration. Soon, we'll also be updating our three other guided tours: Search Companies, Search Grants, and Search 990s. In the meantime, we're still providing access to our four point-and-click classic versions.

As I've mentioned in the past, these are the same tours that potential subscribers use to preview FDO. But the guided tours are also great for current subscribers. They can be used by new subscribers looking for an introduction to FDO's functionality and features or by veteran users in need of a refresher course.

Online Librarian

As a Foundation Directory Online subscriber, you're no doubt aware of FDO's comprehensive Help file and FAQ section. When you have a question about content, functionality, or anything else relating to FDO, these are the resources to turn to. But for more general questions about the philanthropic field and nonprofit sector, I encourage you to take advantage of the Foundation Center's much-acclaimed Online Librarian service. Our top-notch team of reference experts can assist you by answering your everyday questions about foundations, philanthropy, and fundraising research. You can submit your questions via e-mail or initiate a live chat...and best of all, it's free of charge!

Trustees, Officers, and Donors

Today, a few words about FDO's Trustees, Officers, and Donors index. Did you know that this index, accessible from the Search Grantmakers Screen, currently contains almost half a million names at the Professional level? Let's think about the possibilities... Maybe you want to search for grantmakers associated with each of your organization's board members or volunteers. What a great way to introduce yourself (or be introduced) to a new prospect! Or perhaps you want to identify the foundations that your individual donors are affiliated with. Might those grantmakers also be willing to support your programs?

When searching for grantmakers in this way, be sure to select names from the index rather than typing them directly into the Trustees, Officers, and Donors search field. Otherwise, if you don't know the exact way the name of the person you're trying to find appears in the index, your search will be unsuccessful. For example, if a name is listed in the index as "Doe, John Q.," typing "John Doe" into the search field won't retrieve the grantmaker record you're looking for—the "Q." must be included. To open the Trustees, Officers, and Donors index, click on the View Index link located beneath the search field title.

Have you used this index in other ways to find new sources of support? Click the Comments link below and let us know.

We Have a Winner!

Congratulations to "Danger," the winner of our Foundation Directory Online Grantseeker's Best Friend Photo Contest. More than 600 ballots were cast and over 100 of you chose this photo as one of your top five favorites. Danger's photo was submitted to us by Cathy Chang of the Climate Project in Nashville, Tennessee. Danger is a Maltese/Yorkshire Terrier mix and, according to Cathy, he's the Climate Project's "office puppy." As the winner of our contest, Cathy and the Climate Project will receive a free, one-month extension of their current FDO subscription.

Thanks to everyone who submitted photos and participated in the voting. You helped make our contest a stunning success!

2009 Grants

As I search FDO Professional today for grants authorized in 2009 [Search Grants Screen: Year Authorized = From: 2009], I find 5,969 individual awards. Many of these grants were reported to us electronically by grantmakers that recognize the fact that currency is extremely important to grantseekers. Without the cooperation of these eReporters, many of these recently awarded grants would remain unknown until tax returns were filed, processed by the IRS, and released to the public. Currently, 256 grantmakers are participating in our eGrant Reporting Program, submitting grants lists to us on a regular basis: quarterly, annually, even monthly.