Fostering Equitable Grantmaking- Integrating Demographic Data with Grants Management Software

Grantmakers are distributing billions of dollars each year to programs that align to their mission, many with the goal of supporting underrepresented communities and demographics.  This makes them the top advocates for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), and the decisions they make on where to fund can have a real impact on many communities.  

The challenge, however, has always been collecting this data in a meaningful way;  many have had to collect this information manually for each nonprofit they fund, or those that are applying for grants.  This is now changing through the power of technology and data standardization, thanks to Candid and their new Demographics platform., 

About Candid:  Democratizing Data to Promote DEI

Candid is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that provides the most comprehensive data and insights about the social sector. 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. Candid was formed in 2019 when GuideStar and Foundation Center merged. Candid combined GuideStar’s tools on nonprofits and Foundation Center’s tools on foundations with new resources to offer more comprehensive, real-time information about the social sector.

With a mindset behind this data first initiative. Candid has taken the next step to promote more diversity, equity and inclusion within the sector.  Demographics via Candid launched in 2023 as a sector-wide initiative that empowers U.S. nonprofits to share staff and board member demographics on their Candid profiles, and then makes that data freely accessible in a standardized format. As of this writing, more than 62,000 nonprofits have already submitted demographic data to Candid. The initiative provides a central source of up-to-date data that can be accessed directly by funders, eliminating the burden placed on grantees who would otherwise have to enter their information multiple times via multiple platforms as part of the application process.   

Fluxx’s partnership with Candid to Integrate Demographic Data

Fluxx, in an effort to help advance the progress of their data-driven approach, has recently  released a new integration with Candid to provide nonprofit demographic data within the Fluxx Grantmaker platform. The integration allows Fluxx to deliver beautiful, color-coded visualizations to grantmakers so they can understand grantee demographics at a glance, and it makes it easier for funders to establish benchmarks for their diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.

“We are very excited to partner with Candid on this important step toward more equitable grantmaking,” says Kristy Gannon, CEO of Fluxx. “We recognize that our customers want their giving to be representative of the communities they hope to serve. Candid collects and standardizes the data, and our system then puts it at the fingertips of funders so that it’s easier than ever for grantmakers to take a data-driven approach to equity.”

Leading the Way for Data Standardization in Grantmaking

Fluxx is one of the first grants management systems to incorporate Demographics via Candid into their solution– and it’s the second integration with Candid that Fluxx provides to every customer at no additional cost. Only a handful of GMS solutions are building this functionality, making Fluxx one of the leaders in helping to standardize data across the entire sector.  “Fluxx has always strived to provide a holistic, function-first solution that ensures users don’t need to leave the system to get their work done,” says Fintan Kelly, Fluxx VP of Product and Support. “This integration allows Fluxx to provide meaningful context around our customers’ giving and enables them to track their progress around equity and make better decisions going forward.” 

For more information, you can read the press release here.