New Nonprofit Data Tools: New Giving Dashboard and Form 990 Data Recommendations
First, the Urban Institute’s Center on Nonprofits and Philanthropy has launched a Giving Dashboard. Its categories cover a range of giving forms, including individual giving, noncash contributions, volunteering, impact investing, political giving, donor-advised funds, digital currency, and crowdfunding. Here is the description:
Below, we have collected and organized data into a giving dashboard that provides a snapshot of the many ways Americans give. We define giving expansively to include not only donations to tax-exempt nonprofits, but also crowdfunding, impact investing, and more. Many of our categories contain several measures from a range of data sources. On the right side of the dashboard, we provide a quick overview of each category by highlighting how the first measure in the category changed during the latest year for which data are available. By clicking on the category, you can explore all the measures within it. Although many types of giving resist quantification, the figures in this dashboard represent indicators that illuminate the dominant trends shaping the contemporary giving landscape in the United States.
Second, the Aspen Institute’s Program on Philanthropy and Social Innovation has published a new report, Stories From the Frontier: Breakthroughs, Challenges, and Recommendations from the First Five Years of Open 990 Data. Here is the description:
Read our new report to learn how open Form 990 data is empowering change throughout the nonprofit sector! PSI commissioned the Dorothy A. Johnson Center for Philanthropy at Grand Valley State University to author the report.
Making 990 data searchable and available for free to the public has revolutionized nonprofit information and scholarship by massively reducing costs and increasing efficiency. Researchers, nonprofits, government regulators, and journalists are using previously inaccessible data to further transparency, educate donors, advance knowledge, and fuel innovation. The report also provides a list of tools and resources for accessing 990 data.
Lloyd Mayer