I help land trusts, watershed groups, and habitat and green-space organizations with budgets of $250,000 to $5 million. You get a short list of funders that take applications, have already paid groups like yours, and open in the coming year. Then I write the applications to match. Flat fees, never a percentage of your grant.
Free, by email, within two business days. Nothing to schedule and nothing to sign.
That is 75% of the private foundations with $1 million or more in assets whose latest return I could read. Applying to them wastes weeks of staff time. A short list starts by crossing them off, then checks who funded organizations like yours, how much, and when they next take applications.
Free funder guides for all 50 states: which environmental funders actually accept applications, state by state.
Send five lines about your organization. You get up to five funders that fit, each with what it funds, a similar grant it paid, and when it next opens. It's yours to use whatever you decide next.
FreeThe full picture: ten to fifteen vetted funders, the grants each one paid to groups like yours, how to apply, and a 12-month calendar your staff or board can work from.
$600I write each proposal from your team's written answers, or run your grants month by month through the Grants Desk. You approve and submit under your own name.
$1,000 each, or $750 / moEach step stands on its own. You can stop after the short list, the roadmap, or any single proposal.
A 35-point review of how a careful funder would see you today: legal standing, finances, board, programs and outcomes, grant history, and capacity. You get a written findings memo with a clear verdict, your five biggest gaps with a fix for each, and 14 days of email questions after delivery.
Ten to fifteen vetted funders that fit your mission, place and size, each with the grants it paid to groups like yours, its typical award, how to apply, and its next deadline. Plus a 12-month calendar, a two-page note on how to use it, and 14 days of email questions.
One complete application to one foundation: requirements checklist, narrative, budget narrative, and attachments list, written from a structured written interview your team answers in a shared document. Two rounds of revisions. You review, approve and submit it under your own name.
Your grants, handled every month: one proposal or two letters of inquiry, your grant calendar kept current, drafts of up to two funder reports due that month, and a written status note on what went in, what is due, and what I need from you.
A full sample roadmap for a fictional Virginia watershed group, built with real funders, real grants and real links. Seven funders with full profiles, a 12-month calendar, the first three to pursue with dates, and a log of the funders cut at the final checks, and why.
This is what you receive, in this format, for your own organization.
Read the sample roadmapAlso see a sample Readiness Audit, a sample Foundation Proposal and a sample Grants Desk status note. All four use the same fictional watershed group.
| Funder | Typical grant | Next deadline |
|---|---|---|
| Virginia Environmental Endowment Funded Rivanna River monitoring, $52,500 | $20k–50k | Dec 1, 2026V |
| Appalachian Stewardship Foundation Stream restoration, Virginia preferred | $12k–25k | Feb 1, 2027V |
| NFWF Chesapeake Bay Stewardship Fund Riparian buffers a named priority | $25k–150k | ~Apr 2027E |
I'm Austin Brewer. I built Short List Grants around one idea: a foundation's tax return tells you more than its website does. The return lists every grant it paid, to whom, for what and how much, and whether it accepts applications at all.
So I built my own system to read those returns at scale. It has read the latest returns of 42,756 larger private foundations across all 50 states, and it is what the 50 free state guides on this site, and every short list and roadmap, are built from.
A roadmap rests on what funders actually did with their money, not on what a database tagged them as liking. Every deadline carries a label telling you how sure it is, and every funder links to its source.
I'm a US citizen based in Valencia, Spain, working with US organizations. I follow the Grant Professionals Association's code of ethics, and every engagement has a short written agreement covering scope, fees, timelines, confidentiality and how AI is used.
Up to five funders that fit your mission, place and size. For each one: what it funds, a similar grant it paid, a typical award, when it next opens, and a link to its guidelines. If you'd like suggestions on next steps, I add five short questions you can answer in writing whenever it suits you.
Because grant work is written work. Your answers become the proposal, so it saves everyone time to give them in writing once. Your team works on its own schedule, your board gets a full record, and my fees stay lower. Every email gets a written answer within two business days.
No one honestly can. Funders decide. What I can do is make sure you apply only to funders that take applications and fund work like yours, with an application that is accurate, complete and on time.
You get every funder that passes my checks, plus a clear account of why the list is the length it is and which funders were cut. A short honest list is worth more than a padded one.
You do, from your own account and under your own name. I never hold portal log-ins. You get the finished text and a submission checklist.
Never. Fees are flat and agreed in writing before any work starts. Percentage pay is ruled out by the Grant Professionals Association's ethics code, and many funders don't allow grant money to be used for it.
No. The service covers private, community and corporate foundations, public grantmakers, and state programs.
Five short answers. Within two business days you'll get a written reply with up to five funders that fit, by email. Rather start with a paid service? Pick it in the form.
You'll get a written reply at your inbox within two business days, with up to five funders that fit.
Nothing by then? Check your spam folder, or write to [email protected].