Frequently Asked Questions
What is Grantsfire?
Grantsfire is an aggregator of syndicated grants information. It allows grantseekers and funders to search for and aggregate information about grants in real time -- as foundations publish this information on their web sites.
Why is it needed? How is it different from what other organizations such as the Foundation Center already do?
Grants information is published by foundations routinely on their web sites (as is RFP information), but it is not currently aggregated, searchable, or amended with useful meta data that would allow grantees and fellow funders to better understand and target their fundraising and funding. GrantsFire takes what is made available already by many funders and puts it into a format that is useful immediately to the nonprofit community. Other organizations have different systems for aggregating and disseminating data.
What would it take for an individual foundation to participate? What kind of resources would this take in rough terms?
Great question. Putting data on the web with machine-readable meta data is simple, and any foundation with a web master can do it at a marginal additional cost. In fact, all of the large foundations put their grants made on the web already.
The trick is the coding of grants by a set of meta data so that they can be searched and aggregated. This requires working with the program officers and grants managers who manage this data. We have convened a Working Group of CIOs and technical managers of foundations and thir web sites and are publishing a "Cookbook" that will detail step-by-step how to publish grants data to be compatible with Grantsfire.
What is the ultimate benefit to foundations? Why would they invest the time and other resources to participate?
Good PR. Better proposals. Greater accountability/transparency/nonprofit citizenship. More good PR. Less time spent by foundation grantees hunting for good data, or even paying for data (with foundation dollars, no less). Finally, an understanding of what program officer peers are funding in real time, and maybe greater collaboration, joint funding efforts, and conversion of efforts.
But how would the world be different if this happens? I know grants information would be posted much more quickly than they are now, but how else would the world be different?
Great question. We can have a long conversation about how technology is enabling, how its makes processes and data transparent, and the its potential impact of this on time and ultimately costs saved for grantees to find good data in their hunt for the next grant.
But we'd rather give you a few answers that we got from a quick recent survey we conducted (all direct quotes):
- "I have a strong personal interest in seeing the patterns of how and where resources (and talent) flows in our region. I wonder if technology would help us recognize gaps and how to redirect resources to more effective areas?"
- "A service like this could be the equivalent of stock quotes - something that used to be published on paper, after the fact, (and in even more local/obscure venues) that is now lifted up into the light, made transparent and in near-real-time to intererested observers. A great use of the 'distributed knowledge' collecting that Jay Rosen has been talking about at his Press Think blog, and a great way to make taxpayer-supported grantmaking activity more accessible and visible. Think how many newspapers would be able to do better articles on local philanthropy! Think how much more responsive and accountable the local RAGs could become. I think even if you don't get a lot of foundations who want to give you raw data, it would be a great project to post on Craigslist or CharityChannel and get some talented amateurs to manually aggregate one region's grants, just for illustrative purposes. It's like the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities or the Ford-funded state fiscal analysis initiative from a few years ago -- a bird's-eye view of where the money is flowing. Would be very, very informative."
- "Great idea. I think this would add value for lots of organizations -- especially small NPOs that don't have time, staff or money for other research."
- "I can't think of anything that would be more helpful to grantwriters and fund developers than a central, unified source for funding deadlines -- the Chronicle of Philantrophy's deadline site is valuable but it is by no means comprehensive. Thank you for working on this needed resource."
What do you think is the critical mass for something like this to catch on? How many of the 100 largest foundations would need to participate, for example? How many others?
What is the tipping point here? We think that the 10 leading foundations and smart PR will generate a LOT of interest, enough to get other engaged. This is a community organizing, marketing, evangelizing, prodding, showcasing, celebrating effort once we have a prototype up and running. We currently have six large foundations on board and have an ambitious but attainable marketing and outreach plan for Q3 and 4 of 2007.
Funders will come on board if the process of amending grants data very clear and VERY easy to participate in and there are have some key champions on board. Working with Independent Sector, the Foundation Center, the Council on Foundations, and foundation affinity groups is key, as is working with the Grantsmanagers' Association.
Would there be any subscription fee for grantseekers (or anyone else) to get the Grantsfire feed?
No, absolutely not! Grantsfire data will be made available in common web standards such as RSS. No one can or ought to charge for it -- the point is to make this data that is already out on the web rich and usable data so that it is easily accessible to the end users.
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RSS_(protocol) for more on RSS.
Would this put Foundation Center out of business?
No, absolutely not. We believe that they other organizations will enthusiastically embrace this and use it, and support and evangelize it. We believe that GrantFire will make organizations like the Foundation Center even more relevant.
See, for example: http://foundationcenter.org/gainknowledge/research/specialtrends.html. This is highly valuable, especially with Grantsfire when the information is more timely and accurate than it is now.
We, as the Foundation Center and other watchdog and data analysis organizations, want to get the best information out to nonprofits on who funds what where in real time (see the Foundation Center's mission at http://foundationcenter.org/about/.)
All of the beliefs and values stated:
- Philanthropy is vital to our democratic society.
- Transparency and accountability are key to earning the public trust.
- Knowledge about philanthropy starts with accurate information.
- Access to accurate information about philanthropy advances responsible and effective use of philanthropic resources.
- Grantmaker and nonprofit effectiveness is enhanced by shared information and understanding.
We fully and whole-heartedly and enthusiastically support and endorse all of these tenets. Grantsfire is a manifestation of this set of core values in EVERY way.
How can I learn more? How can I fund this project? How can I get my grants information on my web site in a way that Grantsfire can aggregate?
If you are interested in a proposal from us as we are seeking funding to develop Grantsfire, please contact us. We welcome your inquiries about how YOU can put your grants information on your web site in a format that Grantsfire can aggregate -- please be in touch and we will tell you in very user-friendly detail how.