# 360Giving creates free funding database featuring £8 billion of grants - Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2016/10/05/360giving-creates-free-funding-database-featuring-8-billion-grants/ - Published: 2016-10-05T23:08:36+01:00 - Author: Howard Lake **Fundraisers and grantmakers can now search for free a large funding database that lists over £8 billion of grants. 360Giving, the charity that supports organisations to publish their grants data in an open and standardised way, has made this combined funding data available for free as open data.**   [GrantNav](http://grantnav.threesixtygiving.org/) can be searched by fundraisers or indeed anyone at no charge. It has been developed to help charities save time and money by making more informed and targeted applications. ## Advertisement   You can search by sector, region or funder.   It is also designed to help funders make better decisions. They can use the database to compare and contrast the [grants made by other organisations](https://fundraising.co.uk/2016/11/15/google-grants-for-charities/), and find out more about who is funding whom.   360Giving puts grants data in a standard spreadsheet form and then publishes it openly where others can find it. Users can search the database or download the data to analyse and use themselves. It also shares its data and workings on open source respository [GitHub](https://github.com/ThreeSixtyGiving).   ## Open data funding source   The creation of an open data source for funding information isn’t new. [Open Charities](http://opencharities.org/) has been demonstrating the potential for several years. But this is on a bigger scale, involving more funders, and with appropriate funding itself, plus support from funders.   Setting the development of the service in the context of a time of austerity and increased financial pressure on charities, Fran Perrin, Founder and Chair of 360Giving said:   > “360Giving was founded to give greater visibility to where and how funders spend > their money, making it easier to identify shared opportunities and challenges, > and work together.”   ## Participating UK grantmakers   At launch over £8 billion of grants is detailed in the data. UK grantmakers who have shared their data with the site include major funders such as:   * Big Lottery Fund * BBC Children in Need * City Bridge Trust * Comic Relief * Esmée Fairbairn Foundation * Gatsby * Lloyds Bank Foundation * Paul Hamlyn * the Wolfson Foundation.   In addition, some local and government grantmakers are sharing their data, including:   * Oxfordshire Community Foundation * Macc * Trafford Council.   360Giving is inviting other grantmakers to share their data so it can make GrantNav more comprehensive.   Caroline Mason, Chief Executive of the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation said:   > “We are proud to support the development of the GrantNav search tool and open > up our data so it can be shared and compared more easily. This new tool makes > it possible, for the first time, to explore our grants in context with other grantmakers > and to build a fuller understanding of the UK funding ecology and where our funds > can make the most impact.”   360Giving received early support from innovation charity Nesta. Geoff Mulgan, Nesta’s Chief Executive, said:   > “We’re very excited to see the progress 360Giving has made since Nesta incubated > it in 2014. GrantNav opens up thousands of grants worth billions, and makes grant- > giving more accountable and easier to interrogate and analyse – another great > example of the power of open data standards.”   ## Reactions to the launch of GrantNav   > Great stuff: New free tool from [@360Giving](https://twitter.com/360Giving?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) > allows access to over 180k UK grants in one place [https://t.co/SYENymVUUt](https://t.co/SYENymVUUt) > [#GrantNav](https://twitter.com/hashtag/GrantNav?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) > [#opendata](https://twitter.com/hashtag/opendata?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) > — NPC (@NPCthinks) [September 30, 2016](https://twitter.com/NPCthinks/status/781791976463237120?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)   > Proud to be a part of [@360Giving](https://twitter.com/360Giving?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)' > s new [#opendata](https://twitter.com/hashtag/opendata?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) > [#GrantNav](https://twitter.com/hashtag/GrantNav?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) > tool supporting effective UK grantmaking, launched today! [https://t.co/PEdo8oNh5C](https://t.co/PEdo8oNh5C) > — Lloyds Bank Foundation (@LBFEW) [September 30, 2016](https://twitter.com/LBFEW/status/781792441951199232?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)   > A standing ovation for [#opendata](https://twitter.com/hashtag/opendata?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)– > [@360Giving](https://twitter.com/360Giving?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) [#grantnav](https://twitter.com/hashtag/grantnav?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) > [pic.twitter.com/9zSj3DRJiO](https://t.co/9zSj3DRJiO) > — Nick Booth (@podnosh) [September 30, 2016](https://twitter.com/podnosh/status/781786412928630785?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)   > Here's a screenshot of the new [@360Giving](https://twitter.com/360Giving?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) > [#grantnav](https://twitter.com/hashtag/grantnav?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) > tool – go check it out at [https://t.co/zhHQ5qRtuv](https://t.co/zhHQ5qRtuv) ( > congrats to the team & participants!) [pic.twitter.com/th5jOvioFr](https://t.co/th5jOvioFr) > — Sameer Padania (@sdp) [September 30, 2016](https://twitter.com/sdp/status/781791547520061440?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)   > Thank you to everyone for joining us today for launch of [#Grantnav](https://twitter.com/hashtag/Grantnav?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)– > great discussions! [pic.twitter.com/8jybavnUF4](https://t.co/8jybavnUF4) > — 360Giving (@360Giving) [September 30, 2016](https://twitter.com/360Giving/status/781787417468604417?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) ![Loading](https://fundraising.co.uk/wp-content/plugins/page-views-count/ajax-loader- 2x.gif)