Featured Speakers
[ess_grid alias=”open-990″]
Date & Time
October 12, 2017
11am-12pm Pacific / 2-3pm Eastern
The annual tax forms for U.S. nonprofits – known as “Form 990s” – are now available to the public in digital, machine-readable form when they are filed electronically.
Researchers, journalists, giving platforms, infrastructure organizations and others are coming together to make it easier to access and use this data, which provide unique insights into nonprofit financials, grantmaking, income, spending and overall fiscal health.
Digitizing the 990 is one step in what has been a long process to open up the data in these forms. Practitioners and policymakers are now navigating the many questions and challenges these data present.
Lucy Bernholz, Director of the Digital Civil Society Lab (DCSL), will lead a conversation with:
- Cinthia Schuman Ottinger, Nonprofit Data Project and Deputy Director for Philanthropy Programs for the Aspen Institute‘s Program on Philanthropy and Social Innovation;
- Beth Simone Noveck, Director of The GovLab, Professor at New York University and former Director and U.S. Deputy Chief Technology Officer for the White House Open Government Initiative;
- David Borenstein, Director of Data Science at Charity Navigator; and
- Neville Vakharia, Assistant Professor and Research Director of the Arts Administration Program at the Westphal College of Media Arts & Design, Drexel University.
The panel will discuss the origins of the push to open Form 990 data, the ways researchers are already using this resource, and the implications for nonprofits and funders, including the impacts on social sector research, policy and practice.
Panelists will also address questions from the virtual audience.
Join us for the first in a series of conversations in the Digital Impact community on the challenges, opportunities and next steps for U.S nonprofits in an age of open data.
Have questions about this topic that you’d like to see covered by the panel? Send your questions in advance to hello@digitalimpact.org.
Can’t make it to the discussion? All registrants will receive an invitation to access the recorded video and podcast.