Data Commons Capital Campaign

BUILDING NEXT GEN DATA INFRASTRUCTURE FOR THE SOCIAL SECTOR

Read our leaflet
Read the detailed prospectus
A group of Panamanians wearing teal shirts and posing in a group photo after a beach cleanup. Some people have their hands in the air, some are holding rakes and buckets.
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“The work that GivingTuesday has put into modernizing the ways that data can be securely analyzed at scale is one of the unsung watershed moments of not-for-profit technology in the last 25 years. Not only has this helped provide clear business benefits to individual data providers like [our company], but also demonstrates a shining example of how we should be doing this as an entire sector.”

- Tim Sarrantonio, Director of Corporate Brand, NeonOne
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“The Data Commons is an exciting development for the nonprofit sector. It serves as critical infrastructure for practitioners, policymakers and researchers to better understand social sector data. I'm especially excited about the Data Commons Research Hubs, which have potential to inform the development and evaluation of effective social sector strategies. Ultimately, I think this open platform will enable us all to work together more effectively in learning to build stronger and more resilient communities." 

– Allison Grayson, Director, Policy Development and Analysis, Independent Sector;
University of Maryland
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“Thanks to the Data Commons, we are getting real-time insights on donor behavior that have the potential to transform philanthropy and drive much-needed resources to organizations on the front lines of the world’s biggest challenges." 

– Agus Galmarini, program officer at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
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What is the
Data Commons?

The social sector desperately needs what the commercial sector has long benefited from: big data to drive better decision-making and increased revenues.

That’s why we’ve created the GivingTuesday Data Commons.

With over 300 organizational collaborators and 50 global data chapters this is already the largest philanthropic data collaboration ever built. And yet we’ve only scratched the surface of our potential to change the world.
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Our Data
Commons will:

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Enable a dramatic increase in individual giving

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Build a more resilient and effective social sector

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Accelerate equitable social innovation

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Increase giver agency and engagement

Help us build the Global Data Commons, a transformative global platform for good.

Read our leaflet
Read the detailed prospectus

Who and how we help

Four Tanzanian women smiling and sitting next to each other at a conference. They are wearing dark blue shirts with the GivingTuesday logo on it
Our stakeholders can be divided into four categories:

The Social Sector – For organizations and groups doing good in the world we provide actionable
insights to inform practice with a holistic view of the marketplace based on timely data.

The Giving Economy – For companies and organizations that support giving we provide a data
marketplace that supports innovation, including benchmarking and analysis that adds value to
collective data.

The Research Community – For academics and institutions that are driving learning we provide
data that supports new fundamental research in a community of practice that includes the
tools and a platform to connect datasets and findings.

The Public – For individuals, policy makers, and journalists seeking information we provide
accessible insights for any user, including visualized data and context that deliver insights to
inform public discourse.
  • The most complete data and samples ever collected
  • Broad participation accross the sector from data providers
  • Holistic and comprehensive data about giving of all kinds
  • Inclusive participation and view of the marketplace
  • 300+ organizational collaborators across sectors and around the world
  • Distributed and collaborative model and infrastructure
  • Environment and data inputs to challenge received wisdom
  • Growing generosity without agenda or stake in status quo
  • Most significant convener, uplifting new perspectives
  • Tools & resources for practical interpretation of data
  • Access to timely data, trends, and indicators
  • Enabling data-driven decision making
  • Connecting leaders, researchers, enterprise & policymakers
  • Helping practitioners access and integrate learning
  • Informing research with real-word needs & situations

Systemic challenges

Our
solutions

"Sector data are incomplete"
Both data & insights are siloed, opaque
Research is biased, reinforces assumptions
Lack of actionable insights. Data are stale.
Research is disconnected from practice.
A group picture of students in Africa, approximately ages 6-9. They are wearing school uniforms and masks and posed in front of a pile of school supplies, toiletries, and diapers that they collected to benefit a local organization
The Social Sector
  • Actionable insights to drive broad sustainable support 
  • Ability to respond with agility and effectiveness to emergent trends and sudden crises
  • Understanding of the giving ecosystem and marketplace to increase resources and resilience
The Giving Economy
  • Collaborative tools that foster innovation
  • Market analytics that identify and promote best practices
  • Optimized systems and support networks for growth in giving
The Research Economy
  • Timely data that enable new fundamental research
  • A community of practice connecting research to action
  • Measurable interventions creating a cycle of learning
The Public
  • Information and insights that drive more individual and collective giving
  • Increased agency for givers to build a more equitable social sector
  • Accessible data to drive informed public discourse and policy

Building the Future

A man wearing a mask and a Carhart jacket holds a sign that says GivingTuesday $200,000 raised, 1M meals served.
The Global Data Commons is structured to generate an ongoing cycle of learning and impact. Our data products and pipelines provide comprehensive and timely data about giving and the technical tools and analysis to make them actionable.

We deploy these through a community of practice that facilitates cross-sector collaboration on research and the identification of best practices. The learning is deployed through our network, empowering funders, organizations, social enterprises, and policy makers to effect real change for stronger communities.

The measurement and evaluation of the resulting experimentation and interventions serve as data inputs to continue the cycle of improvement.

Our work is divided into four action areas: Core Infrastructure, Community of Practice, Giving Behavior Trends and Giving Insights.

Systems, Resources & Tools

What we've built:
Collaboration platform
Comprehensive dataset 
Knowledge mobilization systems
What's next?
More data assets
New analysis tools
Products and systems to access data and learning

300+ collaborating orgs

What we've built:
50 global chapters
9 working groups
15 research labs
What's next?
Enhanced academic access
New cross sectoral research hubs
More global support and participation

Comprehensive data and insights about giving 

What we've built:
New analysis methods
Timely reporting
Market intelligence dashboards
Data provider relationships
What's next?
Broader visibility of generosity trends
More granular, timely reporting
Technical tools and products
Measures of community impact

Analysis of behavior, attitudes and values 

What we've built:
Surveys to contextualize giving
Access to data, methods, and standards
Connection to direct measures of action
What's next?
Real time behavior trends
Access to data and reporting for all user types
Direct support for innovators and social enterprise

Why a Capital Campaign?

We are building state-of-the-art solutions for the social sector.
The social sector suffers from the absence of evidence-based strategic infrastructure, resulting in resistance to innovation, assumption-based planning and anecdotal and/or siloed evaluation of strategic initiatives.
The Global Data Commons offers dynamic systems-level sectoral understanding enabling agile and resilient growth based on leveraging learning for action. No longer will for-good organizations be faced with the choice between defending ‘what we’ve always done’ and jettisoning the known in favour of an unknown limited by untested assumptions and guesswork.
Two dark skinned African men holding trees that they are about to plant

By using our timely, relevant and validated data-driven insights, organizations seeking to generate giving behaviors will now be equipped to confidently adapt and embrace proven innovation models that map to contemporary giving behaviors.

Our Supporters

National Philanthropic Trust logoPayPal logo
Craig Newmark Philanthropies logoSchwab Charitable logo
Fidelity Charitable logo
MacKenzie Scott
Laurence and Carolyn Belfer
Jennifer and Jonathan Allan Soros
Walker Family Foundation
Heinz Family Foundation

The GivingTuesday Data Commons
Advisory Commitee

Asim Ijaz Khwaja
Asim Ijaz Khwaja
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Tony Bowen
Tony Bowen
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Phil Chow
Phil Chow
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Oktay Dogramaci
Oktay Dogramaci
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Alix Guerrier
Alix Guerrier
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Mario Lugay
Mario Lugay
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Tyesha Maddox
Tyesha Maddox
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Junueth Mejía Martell
Junueth Mejía Martell
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Aarti Mohan
Aarti Mohan
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Una Osili
Una Osili
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Ben Soskis
Ben Soskis
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Joel Straker
Joel Straker
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Asha Curran
Asha Curran
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Woodrow Rosenbaum
Woodrow Rosenbaum
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