Join the open grants movement

We are a charity that helps organisations to publish open, standardised grants data, and supports people to use it to improve charitable giving

Rachel Rank

  • So long, and thanks for all the data*

    I’m leaving 360Giving this week, and I’ve been reflecting on our progress over the past four years. When I started as CEO in November 2015, I was the organisation’s first employee. The initiative had been incubated by Nesta under the watchful eye of Alice Casey. It had recently registered as a charity and a handful of […]

  • How to build a data culture

    To make the best use and impacts from data, organisations often need a culture shift. We talk a lot about the benefits of developing a data culture, but what does that mean? Here, Rachel Rank sets out the characteristics and how grantmakers can embed them in their own organisations. A group discussion at the launch […]

  • Standing down as CEO

    After four hugely rewarding years at 360Giving, I have decided it’s time to hand over the reins to someone new. I’ll be leaving the organisation in spring 2020 once a new CEO has been appointed. I have very much enjoyed my time building 360Giving. After a year of incubation at Nesta under the watchful eye […]

  • More and better data, but can we follow the money?

    Last month NCVO launched its 2019 Civil Society Almanac, which they describe as “a treasure trove of voluntary sector data” – and it is. As NCVO’s Stuart Etherington says in his introduction, “…such dispassionate analysis is an important way of holding a mirror up to what we do”. I agree, and I’m a huge fan […]

  • Open data in London

    In this joint blog, first published as London Plus’s launch blog post, Manny Hothi, Director of Policy at Trust for London, and Rachel Rank, CEO of 360Giving, outline the work our organisations are doing to open up data about London, making it easier for civil society, researchers and policymakers to access information about poverty, inequality and funding […]

  • Unlocking funders’ treasure chests of data

    This is a repost from Civil Society Futures, where it was included as part of their final findings report.  Philanthropist Fran Perrin, from the Indigo Trust, found it hard to see who else was funding the initiatives she was interested in. She felt she was “giving in the dark” as she couldn’t get the information she […]

  • Patchwork Philanthropy

    This blog was written by Rachel Rank, 360Giving and Helen Goulden, CEO of Young Foundation. The blog is cross-posted from the Young Foundation’s website (original can be found here) Patchwork Philanthropy – What can funding and spending data tell us about communities and place? Funders are increasingly ‘turning to place’ as the answer to addressing inequality. This […]

  • Government must deliver on its open data promise

    On Open Data Day 2018, we call on the UK Government to open up its grants data for every one of its departments in order to increase its value to civil society. In May 2016, the Government committed to publishing more granular level data on its grants expenditure in line with the open data standard […]

  • Charities must embrace open data with open arms

    Ahead of Open Data Day tomorrow, Rachel Rank explains why charities cannot ignore the trend. This is a cross-post from Civil Society (original can be found here) Tomorrow is Open Data Day but most charities may not appreciate the relevance of open data to their work or the role it will play in their future. Data […]

  • More data, more use, more answers

    2017 ended on a high note for 360Giving with a UK first. Following the sharing of over £4 billion worth of grants data by two government departments – the Ministry of Justice and the Department for Transport – for the first time ever in the UK it’s possible to compare government grants with those made […]

  • Keeping it local – why I’m sponsoring a bicycle this Christmas

    Today is local charities day, giving us a chance to acknowledge and celebrate all the important work that charities do in their communities throughout the UK. Local charities by their nature tend to be small, and we know that small charities have had a tough time recently, with the government’s shift to issuing more contracts […]

  • Happy 1st birthday to GrantNav – come and join the party!

    A year ago we launched a UK first with GrantNav, the free to use search tool that lets anyone easily explore and download grants data for some of the UK’s largest charitable funders. The platform has put grantmaking on a new trajectory that has the potential to crank up the sector’s impact. GrantNav has experienced […]

  • The need for good data, not just more data

    It’s been an interesting couple of weeks for 360Giving, with three different but complementary events emphasising the need for good quality funding data. Firstly, there was the launch of the excellent Giving Trends report, co-written by ACF and CASS. As a newbie to the world of philanthropy, Giving Trends is my go-to report for learning […]

  • Big Lottery Fund confirms support for 360Giving

      As part of its commitment to modernising grant making, the Big Lottery Fund has provided 360Giving with a £50,000 development grant so it can take forward its ground-breaking work on open data in the grant making sector. Currently every funder has a different approach to capturing and managing data about those they support, making […]