Analyzing grants and other philanthropic transactions is a comprehensive guide to help researchers understand and analyze Candid's database of tens of millions of philanthropic transactions (aka grants) from hundreds of thousands of funders.
This guide covers:
How Candid gathers transaction data from its primary sources: government filings (IRS Forms 990/990-PF), direct funder reporting, and public sources (websites, news, social media), and explains collection timelines and reasons why comprehensive data for recent years takes 2-3 years to materialize.
Key Research Considerations: The critical factors to understand before conducting research with transactions data, including: Candid's dynamic data system, methodological changes over 20+ years of data collection, limitations of recent data, and reasons why specific transactions might be missing.
Research Datasets: A detailed comparison of two main datasets: the Transactions set (comprehensive view of nearly all collected data) and the Foundation 1000 (a curated annual subset of 1,000 largest U.S. foundations' grants $10K+ for trends analysis).
Important Variables & Best Practices: Guidance on key data fields including transaction types, paid vs. authorized amounts, funder types, geographic location, and internal/pass-through funding.
Who should read this: Researchers, data analysts, and anyone conducting analysis on philanthropic giving using Candid's grants data. Essential reading before performing trends analysis or drawing conclusions about funding patterns