October 01, 2026 By Patrick Barnes
In the social sector, transparency is the practice of making information accessible, understandable, and useful to the people and communities and all stakeholders who have a legitimate interest in it. For the Dyson Foundation, transparency is more than merely a principle; it’s an intrinsic part of how we understand our responsibility as a philanthropic institution. It’s just one of the reasons why we annually share our grantmaking data with Candid. And why your foundation should consider sharing data, too.
A commitment to transparency: Sharing data that’s up-to-date and complete
You may be thinking: “But don’t foundations already share grantmaking data on their Forms 990-PF?” Yes, and the “required information” Candid asks for is mostly what you list on your IRS filings: the recipient organizations’ name, address, grant amount, fiscal year, and basic grant description. The benefit of sharing data with Candid is that it’s made available to the public much more quickly than Forms 990-PF. The IRS can take up to two years to publicly release those filings.
Philanthropy doesn’t happen in isolation. Foundations, nonprofits, community leaders, and other funders are all part of a larger network, and our collective ability to understand that network makes all of us better—not only at our work, but also as humans. Directly sharing our grant information helps make that picture more timely and complete.
Sharing data isn’t just about making our own grantmaking visible: It’s about contributing to a resource our peers and the nonprofit community can use. Nonprofits considering potential funders can better understand what funding opportunities and connections are available; foundations can identify organizations working in a related or compatible field or geographic area; researchers and other funders can study trends and patterns that may help inform their own decisions.
To ensure the sector has the most complete data available, we share additional data to help Candid accurately code our grants—information such as the grant subject area(s), population(s) served, support strategies (e.g., general operating support), geographic area served, and transaction type (e.g., cash). We’re committed to doing our part to advance the sector—by revealing patterns in where resources are going, who is receiving them, and where there may be opportunities or gaps.
Sharing information: A commitment to collaboration
Our commitment to transparency is closely connected to our commitment to collaboration and engagement with our peer funders. No single foundation has all the answers, and no foundation operates independently of the work of others. Sharing our resources creates greater impact, and sharing information creates opportunities for learning, coordination, and collaboration. It helps us see not only what we’re doing but also how our work fits within the broader philanthropic landscape.
Access to grants information also greatly helps staff at resource-strapped nonprofits. Organizations invest enormous amounts of time and effort researching grants and funders. Access to shared data helps nonprofit fundraisers identify potential partners, understand who is funding work like theirs, and spend less time trying to decipher an often opaque system.
Helping build a stronger sector
And yet, only a relatively small number of grantmakers have taken the step of proactively sharing their grantmaking data with Candid. The Dyson Foundation is proud to be among them. We’re sharing data because transparency builds trust, because better information can lead to better grantmaking, because being a responsible funder means recognizing that our work is not only about the grants we make but also about contributing to a stronger, more informed, and more collaborative sector.
