Nonprofit Resource Center

The Nonprofit Resource Center offers research materials on a wide variety of topics of interest to the nonprofit sector. This collection is housed at Central Library and includes a dedicated workstation with subscription access to Foundation Directory Online. The NRC provides visitors with free public access to:

• information about starting a nonprofit
• grant maker and grant directories
• periodicals of interest to the nonprofit sector
• books on fundraising
• books on proposal writing
• books about board development and nonprofit management
• the Foundation Center's electronic databases

The Nonprofit Resource Center is available anytime the library is open. Appointments can be made for those who wish to have an in-depth orientation to the collection and its uses.

The Foundation Center

The Foundation Center is the nation’s leading authority on philanthropy - providing nonprofits and the grantmakers supporting them tools they can use and information they can trust.

• The Foundation Center also supports GrantSpace

The Foundation Center’s website helps you to:

• Get Started — free online training and webinars on topics covering proposal writing, corporate giving and grantseeking basics.
• Find Funders - use the Foundation Finder to look up basic information about foundations. Use the 990 Finder to access detailed tax returns from more than one million foundations.
• Gain Knowledge - free access to:
  • Philanthropy News Digest — for news in the world of philanthropy
  • Pub-Hub — for online access to thousands of foundation-sponsored reports
  • The Catalog of Nonprofit Literature — an authoritative list of published material in the field of philanthropy

Foundation Directory Online (FDO)

The Foundation Center's Internet database covers over 98,000 US foundations and corporate givers. Link your funding needs to grantors who have given to similar causes. FDO includes descriptions of 1.6 million recent grants and lists more than 400,000 key decision-makers. This subscription database is available free at the Nonprofit Resource Center in Library Serivces in the Central Library. Appointments may be made for 2 hours, one day in advance by calling the Information Services department at 336-703-3020.

Individual Grantseekers

• Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance / Office of Management & Budget (R351.8 C) also available online.
• At the Foundation Center’s website, get started with Individual Grantseekers
• Foundation Grants to Individuals Online is a subscription database of foundation and public charity programs that fund students, artists, researchers, and other individual grantseekers. Free at the Nonprofit Resource Center.

Periodicals

• Associations Now
• The Chronicle Of Philanthropy
• Common Ground: Linking North Carolina’s Nonprofit Sector
• Corporate Giving Watch
• Grassroots Fundraising Journal
• Nonprofit Board Report
• Nonprofit Management & Leadership
• Nonprofit Times
• Nonprofit World

HandsOn Northwest NC

HandsOn Northwest NC builds and strengthens the capacity of area nonprofits to fulfill their missions and enhance the vitality of our community. They provide information and education, promote empowerment and advocacy, facilitates networking and mentoring, and fosters connections and collaboration. Visit their website at www.handsonnwnc.org.

The North Carolina Center for Nonprofits is a statewide network of member organizations. The Center advocates for the nonprofit sector and provides information and training to member nonprofits. The Center publishes Common Ground, a monthly magazine for the sector.

Internet Sites of Interest to the Nonprofit Sector

• Council on Foundations
• The Foundation Center
• Grants.gov
• Guide Star
• HandsOn Northwest NC
• North Carolina Center for Nonprofits