Without Federal Data, Nonprofits Are Flying Blind. Funders Must Act.

Who’s going hungry? Who needs housing? Who’s getting sick? Do we have enough nonprofits to serve those and other crucial needs?

Answering such questions is critical for nonprofits, foundations, donors, and policymakers who must determine where their dollars and energy will do the most good. But federal cutbacks in data collection mean that increasingly we don’t have reliable answers to those questions and many others. 

Without that visibility, nonprofits struggle to plan, funders can’t direct resources strategically, and policymakers lack the evidence needed to make informed decisions. And as these losses mount, we need collective action by funders, nonprofits, and others to find new ways to replace what we can no longer count on federal agencies to do.

The problem we face today is vast. Gaps are emerging across housing, health care, education, climate, and other critical areas where nonprofits operate. At the same time, Internal Revenue Service data about nonprofits and their funding is also at risk as the agency’s budget remains unclear and 990 grants data, which foundations rely on to understand who is funding what across the sector, continues to go missing from public records.

As an example of what’s at risk, let’s consider the issue of hunger.  In September 2025, the Department of Agriculture canceled publication of its annual Household Food Security Report, a dataset that had guided food assistance programs and nonprofit responses for decades. The decision eliminated a critical source of information about who needs food aid today — and will likely need it in the future. That means the 15,236 food aid nonprofits across the country are left guessing where needs are greatest, and the 42 million Americans who rely on federal food benefits, known as SNAP, become harder to see in the data that shapes funding decisions.

Data drives decision-making across every sector, but for nonprofits, numbers tell us about real people who are getting ignored. Reliable data allows organizations to allocate resources wisely, identify areas of need, and respond quickly to changing conditions, creating a shared understanding of where problems are most acute.

Harming the Most Vulnerable

When access to data falters, organizations must operate with partial information. They misdirect resources and detect problems too late. And people with the greatest needs are often the first to disappear from view.

The future impact is clear: Outdated or missing SNAP data, for example, will make it difficult to know which communities are losing benefits and how many families are going hungry. For example, a food bank in Queens can track how many people are coming through its doors each week. But without federal data, it can’t know whether demand is rising three miles away, or whether another organization is already filling that gap. 

Lost data also makes it difficult to bridge divides by explaining who actually uses government-subsidized benefits and for what purpose. 

That shared understanding shaped how many Americans — regardless of political affiliation — collectively responded to the potential loss of SNAP benefits in 2025, putting immense pressure on the federal government to address the problem before it became a catastrophe.  While the federal government has long been the backbone of data collection and distribution, other players have also emerged — and it’s those segments of society that need to step up.

Nonprofits and foundations can take steps to ensure data remains usable, credible, and resilient. And they can allay fear and anxiety people and organizations have about sharing information by developing and maintaining systems to anonymize sensitive information, allowing contributors to control or remove their data, and putting strong privacy and security safeguards in place.

Collective Steps

As federal data sources become less reliable, the nonprofit sector’s own data — the information organizations generate about their work, impact, and the communities they serve — becomes increasingly vital in filling critical gaps. We urge the sector to take the following collective steps now to safeguard nonprofit data for the long term.  

Funders: Support the collection and maintenance of high-quality data and the infrastructure required to sustain it. 

When government datasets disappear or become unreliable, well-maintained nonprofit data can help fill crucial information gaps about community needs and program effectiveness. This includes investing in organizations that collect and distribute nonprofit data, privacy-preserving technologies, and projects that make data more accessible to small organizations. It also means supporting efforts like the Data Foundation’s Evidence Act Hub, which is centralizing federal data and evaluation resources at a moment when they are most at risk.

Funders can also reduce administrative burdens on nonprofits by accepting information on financials, programs, and demographics through shared platforms where it is already available. For example, Cuyahoga Arts & Culture in Ohio accepts data from Candid’s nonprofit profiles in their application and reporting processes, sharply reducing duplicative work that consumes staff time at even the most well-resourced organizations, let alone small nonprofits. 

Data collectors and providers: Continue to improve systems that protect privacy, reduce demands on staff, and expand access. It’s not enough for funders to reduce duplicative demands for information; we also need better platforms than we have today. 

Candid, Aleda’s employer, is not the only organization that focuses on ensuring privacy while encouraging data sharing. The MacArthur Foundation, where John works, and many of our peers, also advance this goal through grants, gatherings, and collaborative projects such as the Philanthropy Data Commons. The Commons is designed to ensure broad access to accurate and timely information — always with the data owner’s consent — so that everyone working for social good can collaborate more effectively and with greater transparency. 

As the Philanthropy Data Commons expands, it will enable nonprofits to reuse their information securely, allow funders to coordinate efforts and identify gaps, and boost efforts to ensure everyone involved in using and providing social sector information embraces widely accepted data standards and protocols. to

Nonprofits and funders: Contribute by sharing your own data responsibly and consistently. Every organization that provides accurate, up-to-date information helps fill gaps left by disappearing public datasets. Transparency about operations, finances, and impact makes it possible for the sector to see itself clearly and act accordingly. Whether that’s on your own website, via Candid, or another platform, posting your own information significantly alleviates the pain point of the nearly two-year delay typically expected for the release of IRS 990 data.

Beyond taking steps on their own to invest in better data, foundations, nonprofits, and everyone else who cares about advancing the common good should also speak up so policymakers understand the profound impact of the loss of federal data. Without good information, we can’t expect nonprofits to be as informed, resilient, and effective as they must be in these fast-changing times.