Annual report
Annual Report 2022-23
2022-23 has been a transformative year for 360Giving. An ambitious new 2022-25 strategy was implemented ‘Unleashing the Impact of Grants Data’, marking a step-change for the charity. We have built on the momentum from previous years, and have worked to shift funders from sharing data to using it, creating a transformation in data culture and practice.
At the end of the year, there were 247 funders sharing data on over 846,000 grants worth £213 billion, with over 35,000 people accessing the data in the 360Giving tools alone. This mass of open, comparable grants data has enabled 360Giving to show what can be done with the data, to inform decision-making and influence better grantmaking practice in the UK.
Here are the highlights from 2022-23 against our strategic goals:
Goal 1: Increase relevant data available for informed decision-making
2022-23 saw a 9% increase in the number of funders sharing grants data using the 360Giving Data Standard, with 23 new funders sharing their data for the first time. We worked particularly on engaging funders of grants to individuals, agreeing an update to the 360Giving Data Standard, developing new guidance, and hosting a workshop to support these funders sharing their data. Many of these funders engaged in the project will be publishing their data in 2023-24.
We launched new mechanisms to increase the ease and efficiency of publishing 360Giving data and to reduce the reliance on manual support by the Helpdesk team. These processes aim to support the publishing process to be self-servicing, offering flexibility to funders and making it possible for 360Giving to support more publishers within current resources and focus on proactively recruiting target funders.
Goal 2: Improve the quality and depth of data for increased usefulness
With enormous progress in the quantity of grants data, we’re focusing increasingly on the quality of that data. Our data is now more recent, with an 18% increase in data shared for grants that were distributed in the last six months. To improve quality of data across the board, we made the Data Quality Tool more accessible so publishers can ensure their data is at a high standard.
2022-23 was also significant for the 360Giving Data Standard, as we made the biggest changes since it launched. We developed and implemented new categorisations for grants to individuals, introduced a new field to identify grants intended for onward distribution (“regranting”), and introduced a new location scope field to support a better understanding of where grants are going. These changes widen the scope of data available and improve our understanding of the grantmaking picture. Finally, we have continued to embed the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Data Standard, working to enable the sharing and validation of DEI data in our tools.
Goal 3: Enhance data use for greater effectiveness
We piloted a new, earned income approach to our training and consultancy services. These paid offerings allow us to increase the scale of all our work strengthening data skills in 2022-23.
We also increased our free workshop programme, including the very popular ‘Introduction to GrantNav for Charities’ workshops to support more people to access and use the data, complemented by enhancements to our tools to make the data easier to access and understand, reaching new audiences. We developed new tools to support access and use of the data, including the Cost of Living Grants Tracker, and a widgets builder which allows funders to embed their 360Giving data into their own websites, enabling users to access the information directly.
A key goal in our new strategy is for our research to support funder decision-making and inspire practice in the sector. This year, we worked with The Access to Justice Foundation to produce a report on Specialist Legal Advice Providers, and the Paul Hamlyn Foundation commissioned us to produce research on Sector Infrastructure Funding. Both these reports were extremely well received by the sector and demonstrated the impact we can now have using the data.
Goal 4: Lead and influence practice for impact
With 27 external speaking engagements reaching over 800 people during the year, engagement in our work was higher than ever. One of our most significant impacts was supporting the roll-out of the DEI Data Standard alongside the DEI Data Group. The DEI Data Standard collaboration on the Funders Collaborative Hub was the most viewed collaboration opportunity of the year, with 5,000 vistors, demonstrating the interest there is in the good practice we shared.
We also took the initiative to build a mechanism for grantees to request corrections to funders’ grants data regarding them. Set to launch in 2023, the ability of those who the data is about to request changes, is a principle we are championing and aim to lead practice through this mechanism. We are also proud to have received the Neurodiversity Inclusivity Confidence Award, and shared what we learned in our blog.
Archive
Annual Report 2021-22
As the last year of our 2019-22 strategy, we carried through a number of our long-term goals to completion, building on the success of previous years. We reached a critical mass of funders sharing their data, with data on 79% of UK grants by value being published. We also saw success further embedding the sharing and use of grants data in the sector, through our peer networks and partnerships, sharing learnings and offering direct support.
Annual Report 2020-21
In a highly unusual year, the pandemic highlighted the importance of data for decision-making and to support collaboration, and we therefore had more interest in our work than ever. We ended the year with over 50% more funders publishing their grants data (190 in total), including – for the first time – every central Government department. We also hit a major milestone, with over £100bn in grants available to explore in 360Giving’s tools.
During this period we prioritised supporting funders responding to the pandemic.This meant that a number of planned projects were delayed and were successfully delivered in 2021-22.
Annual Report 2019-20
2019-20 was a pivotal year for 360Giving and we made good progress on our strategic goals, including reaching a critical mass of 126 funders publishing their grants data, the launch of our Data Champions programme in November 2019, bringing 22 funders together to learn how to build a data culture and the development of the COVID-19 Grants Tracker – a dashboard to track and report on COVID-19 grants.
Please email info@threesixtygiving.org if you would prefer to read any of these reports in a different format.