The project demonstrates that searchable access to 990 data can be offered for free, even at significant scale. To us, truly free means:

• No budget required. Grantmakers.io's mission is to be the antidote to the continued industry practice of charging for basic 990 data.
• No hoops. No forms to fill out, no accounts to create, no affinity groups to join - and while we love our libraries, you shouldn't need to visit one just to access basic foundation data. Your time is valuable.
• No limits. No limits on views, no limited free trials, no frustrating pop-ups. The cost of providing another view is a fraction of a cent.

An open window into a critically important dataset

Grantmakers.io was created ten years ago by me, Chad Kruse 👋. I originally built the site for a friend, then open sourced it for the world when I saw how useful the data was to her. Fewer trips to the library to conduct simple donor searches meant more time to run her nonprofit.

Our friends at Algolia provide the project an expanded free tier to their world-class search service. Thanks to their generosity, every grant in the dataset is instantly searchable and filterable.

Free as in freedom and free as in food

Grantmakers.io is Free and Open Source Software (FOSS). Anyone can use it without paying (free as in food), and anyone can take the code and build on it however they please (free as in freedom).

“As a board chair of a small non-profit that has a small operating budget, I cannot thank you enough for providing simplified, public, free access to this information. Thank you!”

Transparency 💯

Grantmakers.io leads by example: fully transparent and self-sustaining. Every line of code and every dollar spent is open for everyone to see, learn from, and build upon.

The total annual budget is just ~$200 per year. These direct costs are covered by voluntary gifts from the community, akin to a Patreon model.

Meet Chad

Digital innovation is what I do. I've spent my career helping organizations of all sizes figure out what to build with new technology, and then building it. On a personal level, I'm an open data advocate, my glass is half full, and I always assume positive intent.

I started out as a strategist and dealmaker for large tech companies, and I'm often told I have a unique ability to talk shop with programmers, funders, designers, boards of directors, philanthropists and everyone in between. My head is in SF, my heart is in Bend (OR), and my body is currently in Chicago.