mission360 vs Candid
Foundation Directory and GuideStar data now power Candid search.
Last reviewed
THE SHORT ANSWER
Choose mission360 when you need funder research to lead into grant pursuits, donor work, revenue forecasts and board reporting—not stop at a prospect list.
Candid search is worth evaluating when your priority is deep funder and nonprofit research, giving history, recommendations and due-diligence tools.
For nonprofit leaders responsible for how the whole organization will fund its work, mission360 is the stronger fit: grants, donors and the funding outlook belong in the same working plan.
Candid search combines data from Foundation Directory and GuideStar.
A NOTE ON NAMES
Is Foundation Directory now Candid search?
Candid search combines data from Foundation Directory and GuideStar. If you were researching "Foundation Directory" or "FDO," Candid search is where that data lives today. This page uses Candid's current product name, and the pricing below reflects Candid's published plans at the review date.
WHAT CANDID SEARCH DOES WELL
Candid search is a substantial research product for grantseeking teams, and it should be evaluated on what it is built to do:
- Funder and nonprofit research. Profiles for more than 300,000 funders and 1.9M+ organizations, with grants data for a complete view of giving history and 990 downloads.Candid's published scale figures, candid.org/candid-search, reviewed October 19, 2026.
- Historical giving and open opportunities. Who funded whom, at what scale, plus grant opportunity information to find new funders for your cause.
- Funder and RFP recommendations. AI recommendations with the reasoning behind each match.
- Prospect lists and fundraising projects. Saved cohorts, prospect lists, personalized dashboards and fundraising projects to organize the research.
- AI fundraising assistant and LOI drafting. Draft letters of inquiry and budget estimates grounded in Candid's data.
- Benchmarking and compliance. Peer benchmarking across paid tiers; nonprofit compliance verification across six federal and state sources on the Ultimate plan.
Candid search may be the better fit if
- Your team's primary job is prospect research, finding and vetting funders, peers and potential collaborators at database scale.
- You need due-diligence verification, IRS status, financials, compliance checks on funders or partner organizations.
- Research output is the deliverable, and your grant workflow already has a home elsewhere.
FROM RESEARCH TO THE FUNDING PLAN
mission360 connects the work that follows the research.
Candid search supports the research itself, funder profiles and giving history, recommendations with reasoning, prospect lists and fundraising projects to organize the work, and AI-assisted drafts of letters of inquiry. mission360 is built for the funding workflow around that research:
- Eligibility and fit, in context. Opportunities reviewed against the initiative they would fund, the funding gap they could close, timing and financial requirements, with the evidence behind every recommendation inspectable.
- Proposal workflows. Guidelines become a working checklist; AI-assisted drafts use your approved organizational materials, with sources available for review; your team reviews and submits through the funder's process.
- Deadlines and submission readiness. Review requirements, attachments and approvals together before submission.
- Post-award follow-through. Reporting, expenditure and renewal milestones stay on your team's radar after an award.
- Donor activity in the same system. Donor records, signals and stewardship contribute to the same revenue picture as grants.
- The funding plan. Secured, expected and still-needed per initiative, with revenue forecasts and board-ready reporting across grants, donors and scenarios.
Research answers "who might fund us." The funding question leadership owns is the one that follows: given what is secured, what is expected, and what each initiative still needs, which pursuits deserve your team's time, and what should the board see? If your team currently rebuilds that picture in spreadsheets before every board meeting, mission360 holds it in the same system your team works in. That is why mission360 is the stronger fit when grant pursuits, donor work, forecasting and board reporting need to stay connected around one funding plan.
Choose based on the work you need to do. Candid offers extensive research data; mission360 connects funding research with pursuits, donor work, forecasting and board reporting. mission360 does not claim equivalent database coverage.
THE FUNDING TEAM'S TASKS, SIDE BY SIDE
| The task | Candid search | mission360 |
|---|---|---|
| Research funders and giving history | Funder profiles, grants data, 990 downloads | Foundation giving records from IRS 990-PF filings; federal opportunities from Grants.gov; team-added opportunities |
| Get funder recommendations | AI funder and RFP recommendations with reasoning | Evidence-based fit recommendations, with the giving history and requirements inspectable |
| Prepare LOIs and applications | AI fundraising assistant drafts LOIs and budget estimates | Proposal workflows: guidelines to checklist, drafts from approved materials, human review |
| Track deadlines and submissions | Fundraising projects and prospect lists; confirm application-tracking requirements with Candid. | Deadline tracking, application tracking and submission readiness in one system |
| Follow through after the award | Confirm post-award workflow requirements with Candid. | Reporting, expenditure and renewal milestones visible alongside pursuits |
| Connect donors and grants | Confirm donor-management requirements with Candid. | Donor records, signals and stewardship in the same funding picture |
| Show leadership the plan | Personalized dashboards; Ultimate adds funding-trends visualization. | Secured, expected and gap per initiative; forecasts; board-ready reports |
Candid entries summarize the official materials reviewed October 19, 2026. Confirm requirements not established here directly with Candid; this table does not assert that undocumented capabilities are absent.
CANDID PLANS AND PRICING
Standard is Candid's free plan. For the paid Premium and Ultimate plans, Candid's official pages display different annual prices under 'Nonprofit Discounted' and 'Standard' pricing labels. 'Standard' pricing is not the free Standard plan. Both paid pricing contexts are shown below. Confirm your eligibility and applicable price with Candid.
| Plan | Pricing context / source | Price and billing |
|---|---|---|
| Standard (free plan) | candid.org/pricing; free tier, not a paid-plan discount | Free; no subscription charge |
| Premium (monthly) | Both pages | $219/month, billed monthly |
| Premium (annual) | candid.org/pricing, "Nonprofit Discounted" | $1,199/year, billed annually |
| Premium (annual) | candid.org/candid-search, "Standard" | $2,199/year, billed annually |
| Ultimate (annual) | candid.org/pricing, "Nonprofit Discounted" | $1,699/year, billed annually |
| Ultimate (annual) | candid.org/candid-search, "Standard" | $2,499/year, billed annually |
| Enterprise | Custom pricing (10+ users; colleges, academic libraries, large organizations) | Contact Candid |
Additional Ultimate features: the funding-trends data visualization tool, compliance verification across six federal and state sources, and 250 AI fundraising-assistant credits per month (25 credits/month with Premium).
Candid plan details from candid.org/pricing and candid.org/candid-search, reviewed October 19, 2026.
HOW THE PRICING MODELS DIFFER
Candid search is priced as a research subscription: tiered plans covering funder and nonprofit search, profiles and grants data, with the AI fundraising assistant across paid tiers and benchmarking, funding-trends and compliance features at the top tiers.
mission360 is priced as one platform subscription set by your planned fundraising, the amount you plan to raise, not your annual operating budget, through the pricing calculator. For example, a nonprofit planning to fundraise $5,000,000 this year was quoted $1,167 per month, billed yearly at $14,000, with 4 full users and AI included (Calculator example, reviewed October 15, 2026; not a list price). Standard onboarding is $4,000 one time.
Compare the scope your team needs, not just the subscription price. Candid's plans include research and plan-specific AI and analysis features. mission360 connects grant pursuits, donor work, forecasts and board reporting. See mission360 pricing
WHO SHOULD CHOOSE WHAT
Choose Candid search if
- Prospect research is the bottleneck, finding and vetting funders at database scale, with giving history and 990 access.
- Due-diligence verification of nonprofits and funders is part of your work.
- Your grant workflow, donor relationships and funding plan already have a home, and you need research to feed it.
Choose mission360 if
- Leadership owns the funding decision across sources, typical for organizations with $5M-$20M annual budgets.
- Research output should flow into eligibility, proposals, deadlines and post-award follow-through within a connected funding workflow.
- Donor work and grant work belong in the same funding picture, with forecasts and board reporting that leadership can act on.
- You want grants, donor work, forecasting and board reporting connected around one funding plan.
You can evaluate the two as complementary tools: Candid search for research and mission360 for managing funding pursuits alongside donor work, forecasts and board reporting.
Grant management in mission360QUESTIONS TEAMS ASK
Is Foundation Directory the same as Candid search?
Candid search combines data from Foundation Directory and GuideStar. If you were comparing "Foundation Directory" plans, Candid search is Candid's current research product.
Does mission360 have Candid's database?
mission360 does not claim access to or parity with Candid's database. Its foundation-funder research uses IRS 990-PF records; federal opportunity discovery uses Grants.gov. Teams can also add opportunities. Compare the sources and workflow each product provides, not just the number of records.
Can we use both?
They can serve complementary roles. Evaluate how your team would move research into its working process; this comparison does not claim a native integration between the products.
How is pricing different?
Candid prices a research subscription in tiered plans, published in two contexts (both shown above, dated). mission360 prices one platform subscription by your planned fundraising, through the pricing calculator. Confirm current Candid terms with Candid, and price your own scenario on both paths.
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT
See how funder research becomes a funding plan.
Bring your funder research, your funding goals, or a grant you're considering. See how mission360 connects eligibility, proposals, deadlines, donor work and forecasts into one picture of how your organization will fund its work, with your team making every call.