PLATINUM2023

Candid

See the World. Make it Better.

aka The Foundation Center, Foundation Center, GuideStar, GuideStar USA   |   New York, NY   |  candid.org

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Mission

Candid gets you the information you need to do good.

Notes from the nonprofit

Foundation Center was the largest source of information about philanthropy globally, and GuideStar was the largest source of information on U.S. nonprofit organizations. In 2019, the two organizations joined forces to become Candid, enabling us to enhance the services we offer to the millions of people who rely on us to help them make the world a better place. Please note, this profile will continue to maintain historic data on Foundation Center’s financials, annual reports, and organization demographics. For information on GuideStar’s financials and organization demographics, please visit GuideStar’s legacy profile (EIN: 54-1774039).

Ruling year info

1957

Chief Executive Officer

Ann Mei Chang

Main address

32 Old Slip 24th Floor

New York, NY 10005 USA

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EIN

13-1837418

NTEE code info

Philanthropy / Charity / Voluntarism Promotion (General) (T50)

IRS filing requirement

This organization is required to file an IRS Form 990 or 990-EZ.

Sign in or create an account to view Form(s) 990 for 2022, 2021 and 2020.
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Communication

Blog

Programs and results

What we aim to solve

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Now more than ever, open access to timely, nonpartisan data and intelligence is critical to the ability to solve increasingly complex social issues. Our field needs a data-driven institution with the scale to support and advance the work of social sector stakeholders as we traverse a period of closing political space, technological upheaval, and global opportunity.

Our programs

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?

Real time

Goal: Build a real-time global data collection system to capture funding flows, news, and outcomes.

To accurately describe the sector at scale and to provide actionable information to the field, we need a more robust, active, stable, and current data collection system. Candid is working to expand our data collection efforts by building global partnerships, improving our news scraping capabilities, and increasing the number of organizations that share their data with us.

Population(s) Served

Goal: Establish common profiles with key information on social sector organizations to optimize transparency and reduce redundancy.

The social sector is fragmented, leaving individual organizations culturally and operationally isolated. Through a common profile we can increase the throughput of basic organizational information, reduce waste, reveal diversity, and build shared identity. Our Candid profiles on GuideStar represent the world’s largest source of information on nonprofit organizations. It currently includes data on 1.8 million nonprofits, making it easier to understand who they are and what they do. Donors can explore organizations and the issues that they want to support, while nonprofit leaders can benchmark their organizations among peers. Candid’s profiles provide users with the information they need to make smart decisions, build connections, and learn from each other to achieve their missions.

Population(s) Served

Goal: Create place-based networks to access Candid data and connect with other changemakers.   

We provide those seeking to improve the world with knowledge and training, whether they visit one of our Candid Community partners or visit us virtually. We aim to increase efficiency in the sector, lower the barriers to entry, and enhance opportunities for those who depend on our services to succeed.

Through our Candid Community partnerships, we reach local communities and make access to our core tools like Foundation Directory and GuideStar freely available. Our Candid Community partners are deeply embedded in the local communities they serve. Strengthening and expanding our network will allow us to have a greater local impact. This year, we will intentionally focus on serving historically marginalized organizations, including BIPOC-led, BIPOC-serving, rural and early-stage nonprofits by actively seeking new Candid Community partners in underserved communities.

Population(s) Served

Goal: Weave Candid datasets together to share all that is known about the social sector accessibly and intuitively.

One of our promises to you, as an integrated organization, was to build a hub for the future of data, information, and knowledge for the social sector, and develop a new generation of tools designed to champion the causes, organizations, and knowledge that power civil society worldwide. By creating a unified platform, we are working to deliver on this promise.

We are currently building Candid’s unified platform, a state-of-the-art site which brings together key features of flagship products such as Foundation Directory, GuideStar/Charity Check, Seals of Transparency, 990 Finder, Philanthropy News Digest, Candid Learning, Foundation Maps, and more. The unified platform is our vision for a single destination that enables us to collect, analyze, and distribute data and insights from across our products, providing users with a comprehensive view of the social sector.

Population(s) Served

Goal: Explain the social sector’s contributions to society through fresh insights grounded in a multi-year research agenda.

Strategic decisions are only as good as the research that goes into making them. Our researchers analyze and interpret the most current philanthropic data so our users can tap into it. In addition to our own research, we support ongoing learning and research in the social sector through Issue Lab. We leverage the knowledge in our Issue Lab collections to help foundations build on the experience and expertise of their colleagues. We will continue to increase Issue Lab’s freely accessible knowledge base.

Candid delivers accurate and timely information on institutional philanthropy through a variety of communications vehicles, including Philanthropy News Digest, our daily news service, which publishes philanthropy-related articles and features culled from print and electronic media outlets nationwide. Candid’s staff also provides thought leadership pieces.

Population(s) Served

Where we work

Videos

Our results

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.

Number of organizations who share enough information to earn a Seal of Transparency on GuideStar

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Increasing

Number of Funding Information Network Partners

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Type of Metric

Input - describing resources we use

Direction of Success

Increasing

Number of research reports and white papers available on IssueLab.org

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Increasing

Number of websites and organizations (outside of our organization) that share our resources and information

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Increasing

Our Sustainable Development Goals

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.

Goals & Strategy

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.

Charting impact

Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.

Candid provides trusted information, data-driven tools, research, analysis, best practices, and trainings to help the social sector increase its ability to affect change and transform lives. We represent the world’s largest repositories of trusted historical and present-day information on nonprofits, foundations, and the capital flows that bind them. We aim to create the future of data, information, and knowledge for the social sector. We will also work to enhance the services we offer to the millions of people who rely on us to help them make the world a better place.

Candid will develop a new generation of products and services that are technologically sophisticated and designed to champion the causes, organizations, and knowledge that power civil society worldwide. We will leverage our stores of talent, data, indicators, research, news, and capacity-building resources to improve philanthropic systems and practices in the U.S. and around the world, and will enable knowledge sharing with the potential to transform how civil society and the social sector learns and improves. We will continue to learn from our stakeholders to determine how to improve our offerings and provide tools that will help nonprofits, foundations, giving platforms, and other social sector stakeholders achieve their missions.

With more than 80 years of collective experience supporting the social sector, Candid has the staff expertise, organizational capacity, and leadership to provide new resources and services for those in the social sector and beyond.

We are fortunate to have a staff of 200+ dedicated professionals skilled in building tools and delivering services to nonprofits, foundations, professionals, and individuals; stable financials and a plan for continued sustainability; an engaged board of directors from a wide variety of disciplines; and a large group of committed funders. Our staff leadership has a long track record of expanding our service to the field, often by capitalizing on new technologies. By developing the skills and knowledge base of our staff, we ensure that we can continue to innovate, and effectively identify and meet needs in the sector as they arise.

Candid’s combined history of serving nonprofits, grantmakers, researchers, and do-gooders of all kinds provides us with unique insights into the the evolving needs of the social sector. These insights help us shape our offerings and ensure that we keep our finger on the pulse of what our users need to help them do good. We have long held that increasing transparency in our sector would increase its effectiveness, and that democratizing access to data, knowledge, and resources would level the playing field for those working to improve their communities and champion their causes. The combination of a trusted history of providing non-partisan data and knowledge and the ability to create cutting edge technology to propel the social sector forward gives us a unique vantage point from which to serve those who are working to build a better world.

How we listen

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.

done We shared information about our current feedback practices.

  • How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?

  • Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?

    We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive

  • What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?

    It is difficult to get the people we serve to respond to requests for feedback

Financials

Candid
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Operations

The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.

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Connect with nonprofit leaders

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Build relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.

  • Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
  • Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
  • Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations

Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.

lock

Connect with nonprofit leaders

Subscribe

Build relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.

  • Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
  • Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
  • Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations

Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.

Candid

Board of directors
as of 08/01/2023
SOURCE: Self-reported by organization
Board chair

Rhett Mabry

The Duke Endowment

Term: 2023 -

Ana Marie Argilagos

HIP-Hispanics in Philanthropy

Melissa Berman

Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, Inc.

Stephen Goodall

J.D. Power

Neal Hegarty

Charles Stewart Mott Foundation

Deborah Hoover

The Burton D. Morgan Foundation

T. Sylvester John

Massmart (Walmart Africa)

Brian Trelstad

Bridges Fund Management

Naila Farouky

Arab Foundations Forum

Rosa Gallego

Asociación Española de Fundaciones (AEF; Spanish Association of Foundations)

Matt Gee

BrightHive

Rhett Mabry

The Duke Endowment

Mosun Layode

African Philanthropy Forum

Kami Dar

Uniti Networks

Kenneth Jones

MacArthur Foundation

Donna Murray-Brown

Michigan Nonprofit Association

Ann Mei Chang

Candid

Angela F. Williams

United Way Worldwide

Esther Benjamin

World Education Services

Romanita Hairston

M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust

Board leadership practices

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.

  • Board orientation and education
    Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes
  • CEO oversight
    Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes
  • Ethics and transparency
    Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes
  • Board composition
    Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes
  • Board performance
    Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes

Organizational demographics

SOURCE: Self-reported; last updated 5/4/2023
info Candid has made improvements to the race and ethnicity options.

Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.

Leadership

The organization's leader identifies as:

Race & ethnicity
Asian/Asian American
Gender identity
Female, Not transgender (cisgender)
Sexual orientation
Gay, lesbian, bisexual, or other sexual orientations in the LGBTQIA+ community
Disability status
Person without a disability

Race & ethnicity

Gender identity

 

Sexual orientation

Disability

Equity strategies

Last updated: 06/26/2023

GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more

Data
  • We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
  • We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
  • We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
  • We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
Policies and processes
  • We have a promotion process that anticipates and mitigates implicit and explicit biases about people of color serving in leadership positions.
  • We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
  • We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
  • We measure and then disaggregate job satisfaction and retention data by race, function, level, and/or team.
  • We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.