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Frequently Asked Questions

Where does the data come from?
What is the difference between Recipient Type and Primary Subject?
Are grants mapped based on the location of the grant recipient or the ultimate
   destination of the grant funds spent?
What size are the grants represented on a map?
Does the year represent the calendar year or the grantmaker’s fiscal year?
Does the year represent the year that grants were paid or the year that grants
    were authorized?
How often is the mapping data updated?
How many years of grants are included in the mapping data?

Usage Tutorial

To learn more about particular features of the interactive map, click on the topic of interest:

More about the Map Grants Screen
More about the State Maps
More about the Recipient List
More about the Grant List
More about the Map Grants Screen Tools

Grant Screen Details

The content of the Grant Details Screen varies based on the nature of the grant and the availability of information.  The Grant Details Screen might contain any of the following:

Recipient: The full name of the grant recipient.

Location: The city and state of U.S.-based grant recipients or the city and country of foreign grant recipients.

Zip Code: The zip code of U.S.-based grant recipients.

Recipient URL: The URL address of the grant recipient.

Type of Recipient: The specific fields or subject areas of interest reflected by the grant recipient’s activities. The terminology used in this section is based on the National Taxonomy of Exempt Entities (NTEE), originally developed by the National Center for Charitable Statistics.

Grantmaker: The full legal name of the grantmaker making the grant and the state of the grantmaker’s principal office.

Grantmaker Geographic Focus: The geographic giving preferences of the grantmaker making the grant, usually one or more states. “National,” “International,” and “National; international” are used to identify grantmakers that give on a national basis, an international basis, and a national and international basis, respectively. Grantmakers that identify their giving in this way should not be confused with those that support “national organizations” and/or “international organizations,” which describes the type of organization supported rather than the geographic scope of the grantmaker.

Grant Amount: The dollar amount of the grant.

Year Authorized: The year in which the grant was authorized.

Duration: The time frame in which the grant will be paid.

Description: A general description indicating the purpose of the grant.

Type(s) of Support: The type(s) of funding (such as endowments, seed money, building/renovation, fellowships, etc.) provided by the grant.

Subject(s): The specific field(s) or subject area(s) of interest reflected by the grant. Note that not every grant includes a Subject designation. In these cases, the Subject(s) field defaults to the term(s) used to describe the type of recipient. The terminology used in this section is based on the National Taxonomy of Exempt Entities (NTEE), originally developed by the National Center for Charitable Statistics.

Additional Location Information: The county, metropolitan area, if applicable, and congressional district of U.S.-based grant recipients.

Recipient EIN: The Employer Identification Number (EIN) of the grant recipient, as assigned by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

Recipient 990 or 990-PF: Links to the latest available IRS Form 990 or 990-PF filings by the grant recipient.

Where does the data come from?

The data comes from the Foundation Center’s grants database. This database includes more than 1.6 million detailed descriptions of grants awarded by approximately 20,000 grantmakers.

What is the difference between Recipient Type and Primary Subject?

Each grant in the Foundation Center’s grants database is assigned a Recipient Type term identifying the specific field or subject area of interest reflected by the grant recipient’s activities and a Subject term identifying the specific field or subject area of interest reflected by the grant itself. For example, “Hospitals (general)” might be the Recipient Type term of a grant while “Art & music therapy” might be the Subject term. When multiple Subject terms are assigned to a grant, a Primary Subject term is designated. If the purpose of a grant is unknown and a Subject term can not be assigned, the Recipient Type term is used by default. Recipient Type and Subject terms are based on the National Taxonomy of Exempt Entities (NTEE), originally developed by the National Center for Charitable Statistics.

Are grants mapped based on the location of the grant recipient or the ultimate destination of the grant funds spent?

Grants are mapped based on the location of the grant recipient, which is not necessarily the ultimate destination of the grant funds spent. For example, a grant made to the American Red Cross, located in Washington, DC, might have been allocated for Hurricane Katrina relief in New Orleans, but the grant will be mapped based on the location of the American Red Cross.

What size are the grants represented on a map?

Approximately half of the grants in the Foundation Center’s grants database are over $10,000 and half are under $10,000. All grants are at least $1,000.

Does the year represent the calendar year or the grantmaker’s fiscal year?

The year represents the grantmaker’s fiscal year.

Does the year represent the year that grants were paid or the year that grants were authorized?

The year can represent either the year that grants were paid or the year that grants were authorized. Of course, many grants are paid in the same year that they are authorized.

How often is the mapping data updated?

All data is updated weekly.

How many years of grants are included in the mapping data?

The mapping data includes no more than seven years of grants, including the current year. The Foundation Center is able to include grants from the current year because it doesn’t rely solely on the IRS Form 990-PF to update the data in its grants database. For example, many of the largest foundations submit electronic grants lists to the Foundation Center on a regular basis. This enables the Foundation Center to include this data in its grants database long before it appears on the 990-PF. Electronic grant reporting accounts for many of the most recent grants that appear in the Foundation Center’s grants database.

Grants Database Usage Tutorial

Map Grants Screen

The Map Grants Screen is used to map the distribution of recently awarded grants by the Kresge Foundation. The default map view is by all Recipient Type categories for all fiscal years available. To change the map view parameters, click the check boxes of the Recipient Type categories or fiscal years you want to include and the map will refresh automatically. To change the map view parameters from Recipient Type to Primary Subject, click the Primary Subject tab. To change the geographic display of the map view from U.S. Map to World Map, click the World Map radio button.

Maps are color-coded by total grant amount for each state or country. There are four categories of color-coding: Under $1,000,000; $1,000,000 to $9,999,999; $10,000,000 to $19,999,999; and $20,000,000 and Over. The total grant amount, total number of recipients, and total number of grants represented on the map appear above the map. The total grant amount, total number of recipients, and total number of grants represented on the map for each state or country can be viewed by moving your mouse over any state or country on the map.

A table below the map displays an aggregated list of the grants represented on the map in four columns: Location; Amount; Recipient Count; and Grant Count. The default sort order displays the list by Amount from highest to lowest. You can re-sort the list by clicking a column heading. Clicking Location, for example, will sort the list by state or country from A to Z. Clicking a second time will change the display to descending order. A small arrow will appear within the column heading of the column that has been sorted, pointing up or down to indicate the order in which the information is being displayed.

For U.S. maps, click on a state on the map or in the table below the map to map the distribution of recently awarded grants specific to a particular state. For world maps, click on a country on the map or in the table below the map to view a list of grant recipients specific to a particular country.

State Maps

The default map view is by County and the map view will reflect any map view options selected for the U.S. map. To change the map view parameters, click the check boxes of the Recipient Type or Primary Subject categories or fiscal years you want to include and the map will refresh automatically. To change the map view parameters from Recipient Type to Primary Subject or vice versa, click the Recipient Type or Primary Subject tab. To change the geographic display of the map view from County to City, ZIP Code, or Congressional District, click the radio button of the geographic display you want to see.

Maps are color-coded by total grant amount for each county, city, ZIP code range, or congressional district. There are four categories of color-coding: Under $1,000,000; $1,000,000 to $9,999,999; $10,000,000 to $19,999,999; and $20,000,000 and Over. The total grant amount for each city is also plotted with one of four circles that correspond to the four categories of color-coding; larger circles correspond to color-coding for larger total grant amounts. The total grant amount, total number of recipients, and total number of grants represented on the map appear above the map. The total grant amount, total number of recipients, and total number of grants represented on the map for each county, city, ZIP code range, or congressional district can be viewed by moving your mouse over any county, city, ZIP code range, or congressional district on the map.

A table below the map displays an aggregated list of the grants represented on the map in four columns: Location; Amount; Recipient Count; and Grant Count. The default sort order displays the list by Amount from highest to lowest. You can re-sort the list by clicking a column heading. Clicking Location, for example, will sort the list by county or city from A to Z or by ZIP code range or congressional district from lowest to highest. Clicking a second time will change the display to descending order. A small arrow will appear within the column heading of the column that has been sorted, pointing up or down to indicate the order in which the information is being displayed.

To return to the U.S. map, click the U.S Map link located above the map view options or at the bottom of the page. Click on a county, city, ZIP code range, or congressional district on the map or in the table below the map to view a list of grant recipients specific to a particular county, city, ZIP code range, or congressional district.

Recipient List

The Recipient List displays a list of grant recipients specific to a particular county, city, ZIP code range, congressional district, or country in four columns: Recipient Name; Location; Amount; and Grant Count. The default sort order displays the list by Amount from highest to lowest. You can re-sort the list by clicking a column heading. Clicking Recipient Name, for example, will sort the list by recipient name from A to Z. Clicking a second time will change the display to descending order. A small arrow will appear within the column heading of the column that has been sorted, pointing up or down to indicate the order in which the information is being displayed.

The Recipient List has several components:

• Navigation Line. Located at the top of the screen, the Navigation Line displays the navigation path. To return to the state map, U.S. map, or world map, click the appropriate link.
• Recipient Count Line. Displays the total number of recipients in the list.
• Parameters Line. Displays the preceding map view parameters and the geographic area(s) selected from the preceding map(s) or table(s).
• Recipient List. Displays a list of grant recipients specific to a particular county, city, ZIP code range, congressional district, or country. The Recipient List includes the name of the recipient that received a grant or grants, the location of the recipient that received a grant or grants, the total amount of the grants received, and the total number of grants received.

Click on a recipient name to view a list of grants specific to a particular recipient. If a recipient is associated with just one grant, clicking on a recipient name will open the Grant Details Screen.

Grant List

The Grant List displays a list of grants specific to a particular recipient in four columns: Recipient Name; Location; Year Authorized; and Grant Amount. The default sort order displays the list by Grant Amount from highest to lowest. You can re-sort the list by clicking a column heading. Clicking Year Authorized, for example, will sort the list by year from least recent to most recent. Clicking a second time will change the display to descending order. A small arrow will appear within the column heading of the column that has been sorted, pointing up or down to indicate the order in which the information is being displayed.

The Grant List has several components:

• Navigation Line. Located at the top of the screen, the Navigation Line displays the navigation path. To return to the geographic-specific Recipient List, state map, U.S. map, or world map, click the appropriate link.
• Grant Count Line. Displays the total number of grants in the list.
• Parameters Line. Displays the preceding map view parameters, the geographic area(s) selected from the preceding map(s) or table(s), and the recipient name selected from the Recipient List.
• Grant List. Displays a list of grants specific to a particular recipient. The Grant List includes the name of the recipient that received each grant, the location of the recipient that received each grant, the year each grant was authorized, and the amount of each grant.

To view grant details, click on a recipient name to open the Grant Details Screen.

Map Grants Screen Tools

The Map Grants Screen provides a number of utilities used to extract maps and map data. Descriptions of each tool are provided below:

Copying – To copy a map, click the Copy Map link at the top of the screen. A new browser window will open displaying an image of the map. Right-click on the image of the map to copy it for pasting. For help, please refer to the documentation included with your web browser.

Printing – To print a map and its associated data table, click the Print/Save link at the top of the screen. Printing requires the use of the most recent version of the free Adobe Reader. Download the latest version of the Reader. A .pdf file will be generated in Adobe Reader displaying an image of the map and its associated data table. Use the tools at the top of the screen to print the file. For help, please refer to the documentation included with the Adobe Reader application.

Saving – To save a map and its associated data table, click the Print/Save link at the top of the screen. Saving requires the use of the most recent version of the free Adobe Reader. Download the latest version of the Reader. A .pdf file will be generated in Adobe Reader displaying an image of the map and its associated data table. Use the tools at the top of the screen to save the file. For help, please refer to the documentation included with the Adobe Reader application.

Exporting – To export the data table associated with a map, click the Export Data link at the top of the screen. Exporting requires the use of a spreadsheet application, such as Microsoft Excel. An .xls file will be generated in your spreadsheet application containing the data from the data table associated with a map.

Reprinted from Foundation Directory Online Professional with permission from the Foundation Center.

Copyright 2009, The Foundation Center.