Grant Connect is Imagine Canada’s fundraising research and management platform designed to simplify fundraising and help charities and nonprofits identify new funding opportunities.

Users can research over 10,000 Canadian foundations, 550 corporate giving programs, more than 300 government grantors, and hundreds of other kinds of grant opportunities.

As a development director at a small health charity, Paul Evered needs access to the right information – and the wealth of information available through Grant Connect has been invaluable.

“I’ve been working in the charity sector since 1999 and had heard of Grant Connect, but I first started using it when I arrived here four years ago,” says Evered, who works as the Development Director at the Gastrointestinal Society.

“In the past, I’ve had to do a lot of research to establish a funder match. But with Grant Connect, I just go into the Funder Search and select the right fields such as health, diseases and disorders. It even takes me to organizations that fund gastroenterology, specifically.” 

Creating a pipeline of well-researched potential funders

Evered researches and creates a pipeline of potential funders, making notes within the platform about the organizations he would like to approach, the amount of funding he’d like to request, and what he’s hoping to allocate the funds toward.

He can share access to his notes with a team member who sends off a letter of intent, or a grant or sponsorship request. Since Grant Connect includes information about the funding organization’s preferences, they know the right approach.

The process is made efficient by the quality and accuracy of the data, says Evered: “Even a single returned letter costs us in materials, postage, the time spent sending material out and the time lost because we have to start the process over again. But I don’t have to check and recheck information like addresses and contact information; I can trust it knowing the data is updated daily by the Grant Connect research team.”

Opening new doors and creating new possibilities

According to Evered, Grant Connect continues to open new doors in many different ways. For example, he discovered family foundations and other funders that he never would have found otherwise. He has used Grant Connect to help diversify the corporate sectors from which the GI Society seeks donations.

The platform has also allowed the GI Society to test the funding viability of new strategic directions by altering their funding search terms and discovering significant funder interest in the work they planned to do.

“Grant Connect gives me the information I need so I can ask the right questions and make a personal impression. This helps me to stand out in a sea of requests and, ultimately, succeed in securing funding,” says Evered.

“You only have so many arrows in your quiver and you want them to hit the bullseye without wasting time, effort and money. I would definitely recommend Grant Connect to any organization that wants to take the guesswork out of seeking funding.”

Are you interested in finding new funders and targeting better prospects? Visit Grant Connect to find answers to your questions and to take a guided tour.

Guest contributions represent the personal opinions and insights of the authors and may not reflect the views or opinions of Imagine Canada.