Finding Funding Opportunities

Select Opportunities Available to UM Investigators

University Grant Program – The UGP is a small grant program available to UM Faculty.

Searching for Funding:

There are several resources that you can use to search for funding. 

Funding Institutional

Funding Institutional is a tool that you can use to search for funding opportunities. To get started now, visit www.fundinginstitutional.com. To start, click the “Create Account” button in the upper right hand corner. Once you’ve created an account and signed in, you should be directed back to a page with a “Check Access” button. Click that, and select University of Montana from the list. You’ll be prompted to sign in using your UM NetID. Once you sign in there, it will take you to a landing page where you can search for funding opportunities.

Using the Foundation Directory Online

You may access the Foundation Directory Online by using your UM NetID to log in when prompted. A few tips for using this site:

  • Start by clicking “Search Grantmakers” near the top of the page – this will take you to a page where you can perform an advanced search.
  • Focus on two fields to start your search: Fields of Interest and Geographic Focus. If your search yields overwhelming results, you can revisit the “Search Grantmakers” page and narrow other fields.
  • Us the “view index” link to the left of each search field to select key words, rather than typing your own. This ensures that you are searching for fields that exist in their system, and may even prompt more keywords from you.
  • If you get too few results, rethink your keywords to broaden your search.
  • If you find a foundation that does not accept unsolicited proposals, do not pass it by. Rather, find out what the process is for working with the foundation; there may be a process in place for getting them to open the competition to you. It could be as simple as completing a form online, writing a letter, or making a phone call as a first step.
  • Try, try, try! It can take time to find a good fit.

Using Agency-Specific Sites

If you have a strong sense of which federal agency might fund your idea, it would be prudent to visit that agency’s website to seek relevant funding opportunities.  Many agencies provide access to regular email updates, RSS feeds, and other tools.  Common sites include:

  1. National Institutes of Health
  2. National Science Foundation
  3. National Endowment for the Humanities
  4. National Endowment for the Arts
  5. Department of Education
  6. Department of Justice
  7. USDA (Note that USDA is a great resource for many areas of interest including Forestry, Animal Health, Climate Change, Energy, and more)
  8. You can also use grants.gov to search for funding opportunities or to sign up for an RSS feed (see below).

Accessing RSS Feeds

What is RSS?

RSS, or Really Simple Syndication, delivers content directly to you so that you do not need to spend time browsing websites for specific content.  You can use your RSS reader to collect and monitor information from your favorite feeds in one central location. 

How do I use RSS?

The exact display of the RSS feed depends upon your reader.  It can be delivered directly to Outlook (where it looks like an email); content can be displayed as a news feed via a browser extension; or it can be displayed as news blips on a web-based feed reader.  You can search the internet for a browser extension or a web-based feed reader, or set up RSS feeds in Outlook (instructions are available in the help section of Outlook).  If you would like to use a web-based feed reader, some of the most popular readers include FeedlyNewsBlurDigg Reader, and The Old Reader.

Once you register on one of these sites or install a browser extension, you will follow their instructions for adding RSS feeds.  Generally you will need to copy and paste a URL of the feed you would like to follow into an "Add Feed" box.  To get this URL, you will go directly to the site whose RSS feed you would like to monitor and find the URL there. A few sites with relevant RSS feeds are listed below.

  • Grants.gov Announcements by Agency or Category
  • US Department of Education News
  • National Institutes of Health Funding Opportunities
  • National Science Foundation Program Announcements
  • National Endowment for the Humanities Grant Announcements

Additional Resources

In addition to the resources detailed above, there are several other resources available for finding funding opportunities.

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