Instead of having to comb through 990 data yourself, Advanced Funder Insights does all the data analysis for you. Now you can easily spot big picture trends about funders to save even more time when prospecting.
Advanced Funder Insights are available on the Standard Plan and above.
Trends in Giving Average and Median Amounts: Spot the big picture trends
When looking at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, their Foundation's giving median has stabilized around $500k from 2027-2023. This may influence future applicants to hover around that same grant amount to follow past trends.
All-time Past Grantees: Identify exactly which organizations are New Grantees vs. Repeat
Now you can browse through all of the individual past grantees in the 'All-time' tab. Click on the tabs for individual years (2023, e.g.) to populate the column 'New Grantee?'. A checkmark under the 'New Grantee?' column signifies that organization was a first-time recipient.
In the example below, 516 Arts was a first time grantee of the Ford Foundation in 2023.
You can even use the search bar to parse through the Grant Purpose descriptions. In the example above, searching for 'art' pulls up organizations whose grant purposes contain the word 'art'. Use the columns Amount, Purpose, Location, and New Grantee? to see if this funder has funded similar organizations in your area as well as how much was awarded.
The Past Grantees list can even give you ideas for organizations you can reach out to for tips or advice on how to build a relationship with the funder. You might even ask them for an introduction!
Openness to New Grantees
Evaluate how much a funder gave to New Grantees vs. Repeat Grantees over the years, so you can prioritize which funders should be at the top of your focus list.
Total Giving: See what % of grantees were first-time recipients over the years
Analyze the breakdown of total grants by year and the % awarded to New vs. Repeat Grantees over time. In the example above, the Ford Foundation gave 19% of awards to New Grantees over the last 3 years.
*Note: New Grantee is defined as a first-time recipient regardless of the number of cycles they've submitted applications. Repeat Grantee, conversely, signifies the recipient has been awarded this grant multiple times.
Hover over each bar to see that 24.24% of awards were given to New Grantees vs 75.76% of awards given to Repeat Grantees in 2023. If we were to find another foundation where the % given to New Grantees was even higher, we may consider prioritizing that opportunity first.
Grant Amounts: Compare the size of grants awarded to New vs. Repeat Grantees
Use the Grant Range chart to estimate how much you should ask for as a new applicant. As seen above, both New Grantees and Repeat Grantees were awarded a median of $110,000 by the Ford Foundation in 2023.
The breakdown of funding between New vs. Repeat Grantees can also help you assess the ROI of building a relationship with this funder. The Ford Foundation’s median giving amount of $110,000 to Repeat Grantees in 2023 can be used as an indicator of the potential funding from a long term relationship with this funder.
Returning applicants can determine if they should ask current funders for more money next year based on the median grant size to Returning Grantees. In the chart above, Repeat Grantees were awarded a median of $110,000 in 2023.
Giving by NTEE Code: See a funder's most popular funding categories
By using the IRS’ classification codes for nonprofits, you can spot trends like giving by category in order to understand which cause or focus area a funder tends to award the most.
In the example below, see how Community Improvement & Capacity Building, along with Education are the Kresge Foundation's two most funded areas of giving.
Dig deeper into subclassifications, such as comparing the grant amounts for Economic Development and Community Service Clubs in order to calculate the Mode and Median of their respective Grant Amounts.
The faster you can identify patterns, the faster you can prioritize the best fit funders and start focusing on building those funder relationships. Interested in seeing how you stack up against your peers? Read more about Peer Prospecting here.
Contact Us 
Reach out to our friendly support team if you have any questions about Advanced Funder Insights. Message us via the chat bubble when you're logged in, or email us at hello@instrumentl.com.