Introducing the 360Giving API: A new way to access grant data
The 360Giving API is now live! Learn more about how you can use it in your systems
We are pleased to share that the 360Giving API is now live! This tool is designed to streamline access to 360Giving data, making it easier than ever for technical users to harness this information for research, analysis, and application development.
API is an acronym, short for Application Programming Interface — a software intermediary that allows two applications to talk to each other. APIs are a way to efficiently extract and share data across organisations.
Why build an API?
We developed the 360Giving API to simplify the process for technical users and technical partners of funders to access the 360Giving data. Whether you are a researcher looking to understand where grants go, a funder doing due diligence on grant applicants or a developer aiming to build applications that leverage 360Giving data, the 360Giving API can help by offering a direct, programmatic way to interact with the 360Giving dataset in your software.
What the 360Giving API offers
The 360Giving API provides access to the information published by funders who use the 360Giving Data Standard about organisations and the grants they have given or received.
One of the most exciting aspects of the 360Giving API is its ability to integrate 360Giving data into your own applications and research projects. Here are a few ways this can be beneficial:
- Support for due diligence and prioritisation: with the 360Giving API, you can retrieve information about organisations included in the 360Giving dataset in your software. This includes not only details of the grants they have received from other funders but also enriched data about the age, income, size and location of these organisations.
- See data from other grantmakers: by incorporating 360Giving data into your database, you can gain a broader perspective by viewing data from various grantmakers alongside your own. This can help identify new opportunities for collaboration and benchmarking.
- Create innovative tools and platforms: the API enables developers to create new tools and platforms that leverage 360Giving data. Whether it’s a dashboard for visualising grant distribution or a tool for profiling recipients, the possibilities are endless.
- Easy access to data on all grantmakers and recipients: the API allows you to explore the extensive data on grants that have been awarded or received in your own choice of software, for example for larger-scale research and analysis. This feature is particularly valuable for identifying funding trends, understanding the flow of grant money, and conducting comparative analyses across different grantmakers and recipients.
- Access automatically updated data: the 360Giving API is designed to keep your data current. It automatically refreshes as new data is published, ensuring that you always have access to the most recent information. This means your applications and research will be powered by the latest data, updated daily.
Getting Started
We’ve made it easy for technical users to get started with the 360Giving API. Our comprehensive documentation provides all the information needed to begin using the API, whether you’re integrating it into your own systems or working with a database provider to do so.
If you are a funder, we encourage you to talk to your database provider about how you might integrate 360Giving data into your systems using the 360Giving API. For example, your grantmaking system could look up grant applicants to see who else has funded them.
Share Your Feedback
We’re eager to see how you will use the 360Giving API to drive innovation and improve grantmaking processes. Please let us know about the projects and applications you develop using our API by emailing labs@threesixtygiving.org or via X/Twitter @360Giving or on LinkedIn. Your feedback and success stories are invaluable to us as we continue to enhance our tools and services.
The launch of the 360Giving API marks a significant step forward in our mission to improve the accessibility and usability of grant data. By providing technical users with robust tools to access and use this data, we can help create a more informed and effective picture of the grantmaking landscape.