Public interest groups, foundations, and progressive businesses that want to reach people more effectively should investigate free-range thinking. It's a monthly newsletter of best practices and resources published by Andy Goodman, a Los Angeles communications consultant, on his website. Employees of nonprofits and foundations in the United States and Canada are eligible to receive a complimentary printed copy in the mail, by filling out an online form. If you do not qualify, or if you don't want to receive more paper, you may download a free PDF version of the newsletter as it's posted each month. Back issues, dating to August 1999, are archived on the site.

Two web-based databases from The Foundation Center are now available for use in the Main Library. Foundation Directory Online Professional and Foundation Grants to Individuals Online can be accessed by signing up for internet access at the Computer Services Desk on the first floor. Users with a valid Dayton Metro Library card are entitled to 3 hours/day of internet searching; those signing in as guests are eligible for 1 hour/day.

Foundation Directory Online Professional provides “top-tier intelligence on grantmakers and their grants,” in 80,000 funder profiles, half a million grant descriptions, and 360,000+ fully-indexed trustee, officer, and donor names. Funder profiles can include links to 990s, RFPs, key staff affiliations, funder news, and grant distribution charts. Foundation Directory Online Professional is updated weekly.

Foundation Grants to Individuals Online features descriptions of more than 6,000 foundation funding sources that support education, research, artistic endeavors, and special needs. It’s updated quarterly with new data and new foundation entries.

These newly-available databases replace FC Search: The Foundation Center’s Database on CD-ROM. Information on these resources will be incorporated into the monthly Grants Information Center Orientation and other programming. If you would like to schedule an individual or small-group instructional session on either database, please contact Virginia Palmer, Grants Specialist, at 937-227-9500, ext. 322, or vpalmer@daytonmetrolibrary.org.