In the last decade, there has been a heightened interest in developing norms of transparency for nonprofit organizations and foundations. The key to transparency is demographic data – it allows the field to glean the sector's commitments on matters of equity, and provides the opportunity to uplift the work of BIPOC-led organizations and increase investment in groups that reflect the communities they serve. The results of a transparent sector are innumerable and compounding. For starters it reduces administrative strain for grantees who are asked to collect, organize, and provide the same data over and over again in different formats, creating a duplicative and time-consuming burden. This is a particularly unwanted outcome for those that are already under-resourced.
To address this issue, EGA is further operationalizing our Racial Equity Point of View by aligning our collection of demographic data with Demographics via Candid. This campaign is a realization of our broader commitment to promote genuine transparency in the field and expand our collective knowledge . This effort is a continuation of EGA’s partnership with Candid to integrate demographic data submitted to Candid by organizations in the Tracking the Field database. This joint effort avoids duplication and waste by sharing data, once , through the Candid profile on GuideStar. Funders, researchers, and other stakeholders across the field can more easily access this information and reduce the burden of requests to nonprofits, to avoid taking time away from mission work.
Candid’s organizational demographic data section includes key inputs on race & ethnicity, gender identity and disability status of organizations’ board and staff. As more funders commit to increase support to organizations led by Black, Indigenous and all People of Color, women nonbinary, transgender, disabled, and all marginalized peoples, this data is critical in helping funders understand who they’re funding, identify BIPOC-led grantees and eventually increase funding to these grantees. Increasingly, funders have been collecting this data in myriad ways. Grantees often need to submit their demographic data multiple times in various formats for different funders. This campaign will create a central repository for this demographic data and alleviate grantee burden. Demographic data submitted to Candid will be publicly available on Candid’s GuideStar nonprofit profiles accessible by all funders, researchers, and field practitioners.
By joining this campaign, you will
- Receive a free baseline assessment of your grantees’ demographic data to aid you in measuring diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in your funding portfolio;
- Access real-time demographic data submitted by your grantees via Candid;
- Help reduce grantee burden by asking all grantees to complete only one standard demographic survey; and
- Foster sector-wide collaboration on racial, gender and disability equity by contributing to a central repository of demographic data accessible to all funders, researchers and field practitioners.
How to Participate
Step 1: Get Your Free Baseline Report
Reach out to EGA Program Director, Michelle Velez at mvelez@ega.org to express interest. EGA will connect you with Candid’s campaign team to set up a preliminary call and provide a free baseline report of your grantees’ demographic data currently available on Candid.
Step 2: Reach Out to Your Grantees
Using the DEI Survey Guide, reach out to your grantees to encourage them to complete the demographic data section of their GuideStar profiles on Candid. Candid will provide a step-by-step campaign guide and grantee outreach toolkit for funders. Candid will also provide free ongoing support to grantees with questions about how to submit their data.
Step 3: Access the Demographics Data
All demographics data collected in this campaign will be publicly searchable in Candid’s GuideStar nonprofit database (EGA members’ grantee data will also be available in the Tracking the Field database). Funders participating in this campaign will also receive the full set of demographics data submitted by their grantees in a downloadable format.
Contact Michelle Velez today at mvelez@ega.org to participate or learn more!