Funding search
Find who already funds work like yours.
Private foundations don’t post open calls, so nobody can search them. We read IRS filings instead — 9.6 million grants from 174,053 foundations and grantmaking charities, searchable by what the money was actually for.
12 funders with a record of paying for “debate”
Where the money went
Largest: $125,000 to THE EXTRACTIVE INDUSTRIES TRANSPARENCY INITIATIVE SECRETARIAT — to enhance the debate on energy transition and to bring additional civil society organizations and community voices into the energy transition debate through it's data and platform…
National Association forChicago, ILCharity · may take applications
37 matching grants · $565,786 · through 2024Largest: $18,269 to TULSA DEBATE LEAGUE INC — national tournament local league grant, league network grant, sports debate
Largest: $815,000 to FOUNDATION INTERNATIONAL COMMUNICATIONS HUB — provide strategic communications research, capacity building and advocacy assistance to prodemocracy civil society organizations (csos), so more csos can grow their prodemocracy co…
Largest: $12,000 to NEW YORK CITY URBAN DEBATE LEAGUE INC — the new york city urban debate league 2023-24 tournament season
Largest: $150,000 to YALE UNIVERSITY — to support the yale law school - information society project's majority world initiative to create and support an academic community of practice of global south scholars to enable …
Largest: $450,000 to URBAN INSTITUTE — 82302 supporting the tax policy center and office of race and equity research in centering families in the 2025 tax debate
Largest: $60,000 to BOSTON DEBATE LEAGUE INCORPORATED — boston debate league's after school debate
National Forensic LeagueWest Des Moines, IACharity · may take applications
7 matching grants · $38,110 · through 2024Largest: $6,640 to CARLSBAD HIGH SPEECH AND DEBATE — support speech and debate fund
Largest: $208,000 to Bay Area Urban Debate League — personnel & program expenses, debate instruction support, administrative costs.
John Templeton FoundationWest Conshohocken, PA
5 matching grants · $1.7M · through 2024Largest: $599,519 to NATIONAL FORENSIC LEAGUE — big questions debate, the final round
Largest: $300,000 to APPAREL IMPACT INSTITUTE — in support of a series of convenings to design, debate and launch innovative financial solutions to decarbonize industry.
Speech and Debate Educators FoundationSandia Park, NMCharity · may take applications
7 matching grants · $86,250 · through 2022Largest: $11,250 to LA CUEVA SPEECH & DEBATE BOOSTER CLUB — assistance with speech & debate competitions
This is one keyword. PaperOrbit reads your actual paper and searches on everything in it — population, methods, outcomes — then explains why each funder fits.
Start with one paperSearch by location
Local foundations often favor nearby communities. Enter a ZIP code to see foundations based near you, and where grant money has actually landed in your area.
Source: IRS Form 990-PF Part XV and Form 990 Schedule I, tax years 2019–2025. These are grants already paid, a record of what an organization funds rather than an open call. Private foundations rarely accept unsolicited applications and the route in is usually a program officer; grantmaking charities and associations more often run real application cycles, so check their website. How this data is built, and its limits →