Giving Compass' Take:

•  360Giving is exemplary in showing how data sharing can help streamline effectiveness for both grantmakers and grant seekers. 

• How can individual donors make significant shifts toward digital expertise and awareness as both the future workforce and philanthropic sector becomes more tech-focused? 

•Read more about how an open-data approach can transform grantmaking. 

How on earth does anyone know what to fund? That was the question that bothered me and lead to many sleepless nights when I first became a donor.

As a new philanthropist, how was I supposed to figure out what other donors are doing and make informed strategic decisions about who and what to fund?

So after a few years of planning and collaboration, I was excited to witness at October’s NPC Ignites conference that the grantmaking community is making such a strong shift that data and digital has become a core topic on the main stage.

Just look at 360Giving for evidence of grantmakers’ increased willingness to be open. This donor-led initiative showcases the UK’s world class skills in data science, and in only three years has helped nearly 100 foundations realise that the civil society aims that they were formed to address can benefit more if data is opened up.

The result is that grantmakers and grant seekers can save time and be more effective as they can easily search and gain insights from £25 billion worth of grants data.

Crucially there’s support from the Government too, with the commitment in the Civil Society Strategy that they will lead by example on opening up grants data. However, as donors we can’t ask the Government and charities to use data and become more digital if we haven’t got our own house in order. Each donor needs to demonstrate leadership.

This means publishing to the 360Giving open data standard or using user design principles for our websites and the projects we fund. And that means we have to bring in trustees who have digital skills and to consider those skills as crucial as legal or financial experience. Only then can we be in a position to transform our effectiveness.

Read the full article about the effectiveness of data sharing by Fran Perrin at NPC.