Social Sciences Librarian- Alexander Library
Rutgers University
169 College Ave.
New Brunswick, NJ
(848) 932-6105
Non-Profit Funding
For not-for-profit projects, the major method to raise capital is through grants. Nearly all foundations and grant-funding organizations require that the grant be given to an organization NOT an individual. Some of these organizations are incorporated and referred to as 501(c)3. Therefore, you will need to find an organization that would care about your project and be willing to handle the administrative aspects of the grant. Also, note that administrative fees are involved in managing a grant. Foundations expect administrative costs and they should be written into the budget. These are often referred to as indirect costs. See for example Rutgers's policy on "Facilities and Administrative (F&A) costs."
- Foundation Directory OnlineProvides information on more than 100,000 foundations, corporate giving programs, and grant making charities in the United States. Once you've logged into the database, click Advance Search & Filters. This will allow you to focus your funding search to specific populations served by the program you're proposing, areas of need (subject area), geographic area, etc.
Venture Capital for Business Projects
- Financing Your BusinessPrepared by Rutgers Business Librarian, Roberta Tipton, this guide contains links to sites providing formation about raising venture capital--including micro-financing--for business ventures.
- Corporate Social ResponsibilityPrepared by Ka-Neng Au, Business Librarian, this guide contains research strategies to find out what companies are doing in their communities and for the public in general. You may find a match between your proposal idea and the stated interests of a company in giving support.
- Public Register OnlineFree directory of online corporate annual reports available on the web.
- Corporate Annual ReportsA guide to locate public information about domestic and international corporations
Rutgers Patrons
- Rutgers New Brunswick: Administrative Offices & DepartmentsA list of key offices specific to the Rutgers New Brunswick
If your proposal is intended to solve a problem at Rutgers--whether parking or the bus system or the dining halls or the residence halls or student life or academic programs--one of the administrative offices at the university might be your best patron. Here are two main resources:
- Rutgers Universitywide OfficesA list of offices relevant to university-wide functions and activities
Government Funding Sources
-
Assistance ListingsThe official U.S. government website for people who make, receive, and manage federal awards. Formerly the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance
-
Environmental Protection AgencyAgency charged with defending human health and the environment.
-
Grants.govUnited States Government clearing house for grants--a good starting place.
-
National Institute of Mental HealthThe lead federal agency for research on mental disorders--part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
-
National Institutes of Health (NIH)The largest source of funding for medical research in the world. NIH has 27 separate institutes and centers, focusing on different aspects of health research. Rutgers received nearly $139,000,000 in research funding from NIH in FY 2015
-
National Science FoundationIndependent federal agency created "to promote the progress of science; to advance the national health, prosperity, and welfare; to secure the national defense…" Funds a wide array of projects. In FY 2015, Rutgers received more than $55,000,000 in research support from NSF.
-
Small Business AdministrationAn independent agency of the federal government that help Americans start, build, and grow businesses. A source for loans and grants
-
United States Department of EducationFunding for a wide variety of projects--adult education, charter schools, early childhood education and much more.
Company Resources
-
Yahoo! FinanceDetermine the ownership of a company (public or private) by typing the company name in the "Quote Lookup" box. There is much more information available on public companies because they have to report their finances.
The resources below will help you find information about a particular company.
-
Business Source PremierFind articles in newpapers, magazine, trade publications, and more. Start your search with the company name and add terms/concepts to focus the search results.
-
IBISWorldProvides reports for all of the 723 industries in the United States as categorized by the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS).
-
MarketLineFind a company overview, which contains a company history, major products, a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses/Limitations, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis, and a list of competitors.
-
Mergent OnlineFind financial data about your company. Please note that only public companies are in this database.
-
PrivCo
An excellent resource for business and financial research on non-publicly traded companies, including family-owned, private equity-owned, venture-backed, and international unlisted companies. The database currently includes profiles for over 900,000 companies, 20,000 private equity and venture capital firms and investors, and 100,000 private market deals.