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Strategic decisions are only as good as the research that goes into making them. Candid's researchers analyze and interpret the most current philanthropic data so you can tap into it. Hundreds of full-text reports published over decades are available to download here in our frequently updated open access repository.

Also available: a collection of reports that use Candid data. Access the Candid data in the field library.

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Philanthropy and HBCUs: Foundation funding to historically Black colleges and universities

May 2, 2023

Historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) have played a central—if underappreciated—role in the United States. The earliest HBCUs were founded before the legal enslavement of Black people ended. Since then, they have been critical in educating Black people, developing Black leaders, and addressing inequality. Although researchers have studied the government's role in financing HBCUs, there has been little research on private philanthropic support. This report seeks to fill that gap by examining U.S. foundation funding to HBCUs and exploring the relationship between foundations and HBCUs. Through quantitative analysis leveraging Candid's comprehensive grants data and qualitative interviews with HBCU staff, students and funders, this report strives to understand the philanthropic funding patterns and experiences of HBCUs.

FAQ: Candid's nonprofit demographic data

December 1, 2023

This FAQ answers commonly asked questions about the nonprofit demographic data that Candid collects for those looking to better understand this data set and use it in their own work. The brief FAQ provides background on what the data represents, where it comes from, and how it is collected. Information about data completeness and representativeness is also included.

In Every County, Across All Budget Lines: White Overrepresentation in New York City’s Nonprofit Leadership

April 26, 2023

Nonprofit New York, Candid, SeaChange Capital Partners, and Thomas Economic Policy and Data Consulting, with the support of Robin Hood, conducted a comprehensive assessment in 2022 of the current leadership demographics of the nonprofit sector in New York City using demographic data from nonprofit organizations' Candid nonprofit profiles. This report seeks to establish updated baseline data to inform our understanding of racial and other demographic representation within nonprofit leadership in the New York City area. Eight New York counties are included in the analysis, including Bronx, Kings, Nassau, New York, Queens, Richmond, Suffolk, and Westchester Counties.Our research questions include:What are ways for determining BIPOC-led, as defined by BIPOC communities?What are the current racial, gender, sexual orientation, and (dis)ability demographics of nonprofit sector leaders in New York City?How do the demographics of New York City's nonprofit sector compare to the total population? How do the demographics of New York City's nonprofit sector compare to low-income New Yorkers?How are leadership demographics reflected in various nonprofit subsectors, including poverty alleviating organizations, and organizational sizes?Is there a relationship between the demographic makeup of an organization's leadership and its financial position?This report used a participatory research design to inform our definitions and data analysis. The project sought the perspective, expertise, and thought partnership from Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color (BIPOC) nonprofit associations, BIPOC-led poverty-alleviating organizations, nonprofit racial justice researchers, and BIPOC-identified nonprofit capacity builders.

Candid Annual Report 2022: Steering towards impact

March 1, 2023

2022 was a year of learning and growing for . We focused on creating the foundation for our path forward as an integrated organization and fulfilling our bold aspirations for Candid 2030. Our 2022 annual report, Steering towards impact, centers on the work being done to get you the information you need to do good as we navigate the evolving needs of our sector. 

Funding to bridge the digital divide: U.S. philanthropic giving to digital equity causes

September 7, 2022

Almost one in two people on the planet still don't have access to the internet. 120 millionAmericans still live without broadband. As the pandemic moved many of life's essential services online, the steep human costs of this digital divide came into sharp focus.With governments and economies rapidly digitizing, achieving digital equity — a state in which all individuals have the digital access, tools, and skills they need to operate in our digitizing society — is essential for civil society to deliver programs and achieve missions. Ensuring everyone has fast, reliable, affordable internet access is fundamental to progress on the causes we care most about — from education and economic development, to health and civic participation — within the communities we most care about.With digitalization so profoundly impacting the issues funders invest in, philanthropy must build an understanding of how the digital divide impacts its work and develop strategies to tackle it. To that end, this brief seeks to understand the extent to which philanthropy has invested in digital equity. As you'll see, the results suggest that the volume of grants awarded up to 2020 falls far short of what is needed. There is a huge opportunity for philanthropy to get involved in the digital equity space and make a significant impact. 

Key Facts on U.S. Nonprofits and Foundations, 2021

June 17, 2021

The Key Facts on U.S. Nonprofits and Foundations 2021 is an annual publication from Candid, combining the wisdom from Foundation Center's former Key Facts on U.S. Foundations report and GuideStar's former Nine Things You Might Not Know about U.S. Nonprofits. It offers at-a-glance information about the nonprofit sector. Where does nonprofit revenue come from? Is foundation giving growing? We answer these questions and more.

2019 Columbus Survey Results

October 1, 2020

The data, findings, and rankings throughout this dashboard are based on FY 2017 Columbus Survey responses from 238 community foundations.

Key Facts on U.S. Nonprofits and Foundations

April 22, 2020

The Key Facts on U.S. Nonprofits and Foundations is a first-ever publication combining the wisdom from Foundation Center's former Key Facts on U.S. Foundations report and GuideStar's former Nine Things You Might Not Know aboutU.S. Nonprofits. It offers at-a-glance information about the nonprofit sector. Where does nonprofit revenue come from? Is foundation giving growing? We answer these questions and more.

Candid Annual Report 2019: Its been a year

March 3, 2020

In February 2019, Foundation Center and GuideStar joined forces to become Candid. Every year, millions of nonprofits spend trillions of dollars around the world. Candid finds out where that money comes from, where it goes, and why it matters. Through research, collaboration, and training, Candid connects people who want to change the world to the resources they need to do it.This is the 2019 annual report from Candid.

Teaming Up For Advocacy: How To Effectively Use A Collaborative To Drive Change

January 22, 2020

This guide captures the wisdom of philanthropic leaders who have participated in multi-party advocacy collaboratives. It synthesizes information to dig deeper and understand the pain points and levers of success tied to funding advocacy and donor collaboratives. Examples have been anonymized to ensure candor and clarity, as well as to broaden the appeal and applicability of wisdom derived from a specific collaborative example. Each bite-sized chapter is intended to make this work easy to reference and share, and to read as a full body of work or in pieces as is helpful and relevant to your work.

Giving in Illinois 2019

November 14, 2019

Illinois is home to over 5,200 active grantmaking foundations spanning all types—independent or family, corporate, community, and operating—sizes, and issue areas. The community includes many foundations that only give locally or within the state, as well as those that fund nationally and even internationally. Giving in Illinois provides an overview of the scale and composition of the Illinois foundation community and grantmaking priorities of foundations funding in Illinois.

Southern Trends: 50 Years of Philanthropy in the Southeast Region

November 13, 2019

Southeastern Council of Foundations (SECF) partnered with Candid to develop key findings that highlight data and trends on philanthropy in the South. This edition of the Trends Report captures the 50-year history of SECF, focused on the ways Southern philanthropy has changed since its founding in 1969. The data presented here tells a powerful story. In the last five decades, Southern philanthropy has grown significantly by every measure.A region where giving was once dominated by family foundations is now host to a diverse network of funders, including some who did not even exist 50 years ago. That change shows no signs of slowing, either–this century alone has seen significant growth in assets and giving.Overall, the information provided here shows that Southern philanthropy is stronger than ever–and more ready than ever to transform communities and improve lives.