Resource Center: Development

News and Online Publications

Ethics: Standards and Principles
Standards, papers and articles, and emerging issues from the Association of Fundraising Professionals.

Foundation News and Commentary
Get the funders' perspective from the magazine of the Council on Foundations.

The Grantsmanship Center Magazine
Great articles on grantseeking and proposal writing, trends in endowments and planned giving, membership, special events, fundraising on the Web, IRS regulations, and more.

Nonprofit News
A friendly, eclectic mix of links to news articles on nonprofits and fundraising. Updated every weekday.

All About Fundraising

The following sites are good places to start for basic fundraising information. They offer tutorials, FAQs, articles and essays, and bibliographies.

Charity Village
Canada's supersite for the nonprofit sector -- 3,000 pages of news, jobs, information and resources for executives, staffers, donors, and volunteers.

Foundation Center
Includes the Foundation Directory Online, as well as everything you ever wanted to know about grantseeking and proposal writing.

Fund-Raising Forum Library
Substantive articles on planning, organizing and managing fundraising campaigns.

Fundraising Help and Information
Lots of links from About.com. Check out the Fundraising Article Collection for basic "how-to" information on special events, fundraising campaigns, corporate giving and sponsorships, and more.

Michigan State University: Grants and Related Resources
An extensive annotated list of funding links. Recommended!

Prospect Research

The following are portals to extraordinary collections of links with information on salaries, demographics, biographies, professions, finance, mergers and acquisitions, real estate valuations, and government.

Association of Professional Researchers for Advancement
APRA is the professional association for advancement researchers (also called prospect researchers). The Resouces Links page is a collection of prospect research web sites.

Development Research Links
From Princeton University Office of Development Research.

Internet Prospector
Huge number of links to grantmakers, corporations, news, tools and calculators, and a free monthly newsletter.

NETSource@USC
Prospect research links from the University of Southern California.

Prospect Research and Reference Tools
From the University of Vermont Prospect Research Office.

Links to Funders

Private and Nonprofit Portals

Foundation Finder
The Foundation Center's searchable database of more than 61,000 private and community foundations in the U.S.

Fundsnet offers several lists of links to education grants, foundations, and government funding.

Federal Portals

Grants.gov
The single access point for over 1,000 grant programs offered by the 26 Federal grant-making agencies.

Individual Federal Programs

The following programs provide most of the federal funding for AZA members. If you've been funded by a federal program not listed below, let us know and we'll add it. Send your information to the Web Site Content Manager. If you need inspiration, take a look at the Grantsmanship Center's list of federal Web sites and ponder the possibilities.

Department of Education
Click on "Grants & Contracts" for an overview of current funding opportunities.

Environmental Protection Agency
An overview of the Environmental Education Grant Program.

Institute of Museum and Library Services
Programs include General Operating Support, Museum Assessment Program, Conservation Project Support, Conservation Assessment Program, and National Leadership Grants for Museums.

National Endowment for the Humanities
NEH funds research, education, museum exhibitions, documentaries, and preservation. Proposals in the history of science, the preservation of archives and historical materials, or any other project that focuses upon the work of zoos and aquariums from a humanities perspective would be eligible.

National Fish and Wildlife Foundation
A nonprofit organization providing support to local conservation projects. Created in 1984 to benefit the conservation of fish, wildlife, and plants, and the habitat on which they depend.

National Science Foundation
NSF publishes a Guide to Programs every fiscal year describing their funding programs for biology, education, and more.

Funding Sources for Zoo and Aquarium
Conservation and Scientific Projects

The AZA Conservation and Science Department maintains a list of funding sources for zoos and aquariums.

Professional Organizations for Fundraising

American Association of Fundraising Counsel
Association of professionals who provide fund-raising counsel and direction to not-for-profit organizations throughout North America.

Association of Fund-Raising Distributors and Suppliers
An international association devoted to the product fundraising industry; companies that manufacture, supply or distribute products that are re-sold by not-for-profit organizations for fundraising purposes.

Association of Fundraising Professionals
Formerly the National Society of Fundraising Executives.

Canadian Association of Gift Planners
Professional association for gift planners of registered charities, foundations, fundraising consultants, lawyers, accountants, financial planners and life insurance representatives, trust officers and other professionals.

Council on Foundations
The professional association for foundations and their employees.

International Festivals and Events Association
The professional association for special events managers.

National Committee on Planned Giving
The professional association for people whose work includes developing, marketing, and administering charitable planned gifts.

Society of Research Administrators
Check out their GrantsWeb section for links to public and private resources, as well as policy information and legislation.

Statistics and Demographics

Statistical Resources on the Web
Comprehensive links to statistical data organized by topic. From the University of Michigan Documents Center. Highly recommended.

If you need statistical information for AZA members and the zoo and aquarium industry, take a look at these reports from the AZA Annual Survey of Members, which includes more than 50 statistical reports available for downloading in pdf.