Proposed extension to the grantProgramme object of the three sixty giving data standard

grant-programme-extension.md

Proposed extension to Grant Programme fields

This proposal is for an extension to the 360Giving Standard which will allow grantmakers to publish details about the programmes that projects and organisations (and individuals?) can apply to for funding.

The principle is that it would contain enough information for a potential applicant to be able to discover:

• whether they meet the eligibility criteria for the grant programme (e.g. applying for the correct amount)
• whether they are suitable for the grant programme (e.g. overlapping priorities with the funder)

Title	Description	Type	Required	Note
code	An identifier for this grant programme.	string	False	Existing field
title	The title of this grant programme.	string	False	Existing field
description	A description of this grant programme.	string	False	Existing field
url	A web link to more details of this grant programme.	uri	False	Existing field
dateModified	The date and time when information about this grant programme was last updated.	date-time	False	Existing field
keyCriteria	Text describing the criteria that applicants must meet (this will often include "What we will fund" and "What we won't fund")	string	False
openCall	Are unsolicited applications allowed? Values should be "Yes" or "No"	enum Yes/No	False
active	Is the fund currently accepting applications	enum Yes/No	False	(need to clarify relationship with fundingRounds)
startDate	The date the programme was first set up	date-time	False
endDate	The last date the fund accepted applications	date-time	False	Should not be used for temporary pauses, i.e. between funding rounds. Should only be present if active == 'No'
fundingRounds	A list of fund deadlines/periods when the fund is accepting applications	array Event	False
currency	Grants can be awarded in this currency	Currency	False	Could be array?
minAmountAwarded	Smallest amount that can be awarded	number,null	False
maxAmountAwarded	Largest amount that can be awarded	number,null	False
minPlannedDatesDuration	Smallest length of time for projects	number,null	False	Number of months
maxPlannedDatesDuration	Longest length of time for projects	number,null	False	Number of months
fundingType	A list of types of funding available through this fund (eg "Revenue", "Capital")	array Classification	False
organisationType	Types of organisations that are allowed to apply for the fund	array Classification	False
eligibilityCriteria	List of criteria an applicant must meet to be eligible for the programme	array string	False	Could be a Classification vocabulary
restrictions	List of criteria an applicant must not meet to be eligible for the programme	array string	False	Could be a Classification vocabulary
allowedLocations	List of locations where funded activities can take place	array Location	False
classifications	Any classifications or tags for the programme	array Classification	False
relatedDocument	Documents that may be useful for applying to the fund - application guidance, etc. Can be links to webpages	array Document	False

Standalone specification

This could be turned into a "standalone" specification that allows data to be released separately to lists of grants in the 360 giving format. This would require a number of additional fields, which would otherwise duplicate what was found in the

Title	Description	Type	Required	Note
fundingOrganization	Details of the funder	array Organization	False
dataSource	A web link pointing to the source of this data. This may be an original 360Giving data file, a file from which the data was converted, or an organisation website.	uri	False
grants	A list of 360Giving Grant objects which have been funded by this programme	array Grant	False	Could instead be called exampleGrants or recentGrants if we didn't want to assume that the list was comprehensive

The proposal would be that an organisation hosts a file on their website with an array of GrantProgramme objects describing their available funds (and any historic ones if they want to).

Sub-funds

A number of programmes have "programmes-within-a-fund" - i.e. streams within a fudning stream. An example might be a grant Programme that is split into "Small Grants" and "Main Grants" with a difference in the amounts that can be applied for, and perhaps different application forms, eligibility.

My proposal is that there is a subFund field which allows an array of GrantProgramme objects. Any details not included in these objects would be assumed to be the same as the parent object, allowing them to be reduced to just the fields that differ from their parent object, without duplication.

There would have to be indication in the guidance about whether the parent fund should be ignored when displaying the funds if sub-funds are present, or whether they are in addition to the parent fund record.

Title	Description	Type	Required	Note
subFund	Any streams within this programme that differ from the main	array GrantProgramme	False	Missing details would be overridden by the main object

Vocabulary specifications

The standard will require stricter adherence to classification vocabularies for a few fields to be helpful. These include:

fundingType

Potential entries:

• Capital
• Revenue
• Core costs
• Project costs

organisationType

Potential entries:

• Registered Charity
• Registered Company
• Public Body
• School
• Hospital
• Local Authority
• Housing Association
• Community Interest Company

(NB this one is much more difficult!)

Should this allow for funding of individuals?

documentType (for Documents in relatedDocument)

Potential entries:

• Application
• Eligibility Quiz
• Guidance

To-do

• Should be mapping to JSON format like this
• Need to crosscheck with open contracting standards to see if there's any fields that could be brought across/other inspiration.
• Decide on which fields are required