Data sources
Candid provides users with accurate, comprehensive, and timely information about nonprofits and funders in the United States and around the world. This includes information about organizations’ programs, staff, financials, grantmaking or other types of funding.
To do this, we compile data from several sources. Data from these disparate sources are cleaned, harmonized, and then coded according to our Philanthropy Classification System (PCS).
This page will be continuously updated as we add new sources of data to our databases.
Sources of data on U.S. nonprofits and funders include:
- IRS information returns (such as Forms 990 and 990PF)
- IRS Exempt Organizations Business Master File (BMF)
- IRS Publication78 data
- IRS Failure to File Revocations
- IRS Internal Revenue Bulletin
- Department of Treasury, Office of Foreign Asset Control
- California Attorney General Registry of Charities and Fundraisers
- California Franchise Tax Board, Revoked exempt organizations list
- Individual funders who choose to share information about their organizations and/or grantmaking with Candid directly
- Nonprofits who choose to share information about their organizations with Candid directly
- Organization websites
- News and press releases
Sources of data on nonprofits and funders outside the United States include:
- Individual funders who choose to share information about their organization and/or grantmaking with Candid directly
- Organization websites
- News and press releases
- Partnerships with funder networks or our counterparts in other countries
Details on specific sources by country are provided below:
360Giving: A significant portion of our data on grantmaking by UK funders comes from funders who publish to the 360Giving standard. 360Giving supports organizations to publish their grants data in an open, standardized way and helps people to understand and use the data in order to support decision-making and learning across the charitable giving sector. Candid processes data from funders who have published their data under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, a Open Data Commons Public Domain Dedication and Licence 1.0, or an Open Government Licence 3.0 (United Kingdom)