360Giving, an initiative which encourages funders to publish standardised transparent data about grants, has today launched new visualisation tool.
The platform, 360Insights, visualises data from grant makers and recipients of grants in an effort to further transparency in the sector.
The data shared includes the amounts awarded by grant makers, where grants are given, what types of organisations received grants, region of recipients, locations of grants and the age and income of recipients. It was developed by compiling data from sources including the Charity Commission.
Founder and chair of directors of 360Giving, Fran Perrin said: “As the numbers of funders sharing their data approaches 100, we saw the need to make it easier for anyone to see what the £26bn of grant making says about them. That’s why we built 360Insights and I am excited to see how grant makers apply this fantastic functionality into their decision making”.
360 giving was founded in 2015 to boost transparency in funding, and encourage grant makers to publish information. 99 funders presently share their information.
Its other initiatives include Beehive, a tool which enables charities to find potential funders online and GrantNav, a register of UK grant data showing 306,566 grants.
360Giving is funded by grant makers the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation, the Indigo Trust, Pears Foundation and the Paul Hamlyn Foundation.
Perrin said: “When I set up 360Giving three years ago, I would not have believed that in such a short time we’d have so much useful data being shared, enabling insights into issues such as homelessness and the distribution of funding.”
Paul Streets, chief executive of Lloyds Bank Foundation, believes 360Insights will help his foundation. He said “Data informs everything we do - our strategic direction, allows us to check we’re making the impact we set out to and to challenge and improve our work.
“Sharing data enables transparency and accountability. That’s especially important for a funder community whose customers can’t walk away.”
“What’s exciting about 360Giving’s work, and the new 360Insights platform, is the chance for us – and indeed for anyone - to view the funding world with a wider lens, reflecting both on the synergy between funders, but also to expose the places and people that need more help. It challenges funders like us on every level, from flagging specific place-based issues, like rural homelessness in Lincolnshire, to highlighting underfunded groups, like those in the criminal justice system, that really aren’t getting the support they need.”
The launch was timed to coincide with Open Data Day, an annual celebration of open data all over the world, which has been running since 2010.
*Announcement* Today we launch our new platform. With #360Insights grantmakers can combine and visualise their 360Giving data linked to other data to answer questions about their funding https://t.co/5My2pCn6oH #OpenDataDay2019 pic.twitter.com/of8NPmtmUo
— 360Giving (@360Giving) March 1, 2019
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