FAIRFIELD, CT--(Marketwire - February 9, 2011) - Foundation Source, the nation's leading provider of support services for private foundations, today announced the launch of Foundation Source Access, a new online platform that connects nonprofits with private foundations in order to help them raise money easily and cost-effectively. Access introduces private foundations to discover and fund a wide range of the latest and most urgent fundraising projects for support. Access also serves as an innovative philanthropy network, allowing nonprofit and foundation peers to share lessons learned and strategic insights.

Today, the typical nonprofit spends between 20 and 25 cents of each dollar on fundraising, diverting precious time and resources away from its core mission and purpose. At the same time, the private foundation community -- 1000 of whom are clients of Foundation Source -- continues to demonstrate a pressing need for a simpler way to find and fund worthy charitable causes. Access will serve both sectors, helping nonprofits convey their funding needs directly to Foundation Source clients, while simultaneously enabling foundations to get project information directly from nonprofits. 

"Foundation Source Access encourages nonprofits searching for new funding sources to look beyond the largest institutional foundations and extend their reach to the largely untapped market of small and medium-sized foundations run by individuals and families," said Andrew Bangser, President of Foundation Source. "There are over 80,000 private and family foundations which collectively donate an impressive $40 billion a year to charitable organizations, with many giving to new grantees each year. Nonprofits have never before had such immediate, direct access to so many private foundations at once, or the ability to control the information that foundations see while making funding decisions."

Foundation Source Access brings donors and grantees together around causes ranging from education reform and Haiti disaster relief to world hunger and the provision of clean water. 

"Foundation Source Access is a creative, interactive tool that links funders with nonprofits working to make a difference, by matching new sources of support to projects in need and bringing them to life for potential donors through information, pictures, and interactive online dialogue," said Tiffany Kuehner, Vice President of the Naples, Florida-based nonprofit Hope for Haiti. "Access lets nonprofits like Hope for Haiti tell our story effectively and provides potential investors with the knowledge to match their passions with current projects."

Over 600 nonprofits are currently signed up for Access, and any US charitable organization can now create a profile highlighting its projects to potential donors. These profiles can incorporate a variety of media, including text, photos, videos, documents, web links and up-to-the-minute news. Foundations can search the project directory by cause, nonprofit category, geography, and project size. Starting in the summer of 2011, nonprofits will be charged a small fee to showcase their funding ideas directly to Foundation Source clients.

"The online giving marketplace has grown rapidly, and private foundations increasingly look for new ways to find smart investments that match their interests," remarked Michele Demers Gluck, Director at Foundation Source and supervisor of the Access product. "With the launch of Foundation Source Access, it will finally be possible for public charities to seek funding directly from hundreds of private foundations with a single online application."

About Foundation Source (www.foundationsource.com)

Foundation Source is the nation's leading provider of support services for private foundations. The company's back-office, online and support services allow foundations to focus on their mission, strategy and family priorities while spending less time on administration and compliance tasks. The result: better run foundations with greater social impact. Foundation Source was recently named Philanthropic Group of the Year by the editors of Private Asset Management.

Foundation Source provides its full range of award-winning services to nearly 1,000 private foundations coast-to-coast representing over $4 billion in foundation assets. Foundation Source has formed successful partnerships with many of the nation's leading private wealth management firms, trust and estate attorneys, CPAs and philanthropic services. The company is headquartered in Fairfield, Conn., with regional offices in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, New York City, Philadelphia, Salt Lake City, San Francisco and Seattle.

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