What Big Data Can Tell Us About Government Awards to the Nonprofit Sector: Using the FAADS

Jesse Lecy, Jeremy Thornton

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

18 Scopus citations

Abstract

This article reviews the Federal Assistance Award Data System (FAADS), a comprehensive online archive of federal grant activity. Relatively few nonprofit scholars have used this extensive data source due to significant structural limitations in the data. This article aims to describe and mitigate those limitations while stimulating new research on government awards to nonprofits. The article profiles the process of federal award flows and reporting. We also identify the primary advantages and shortcomings in the current data structure. Finally, we post an electronic matching algorithm that links individual federal award records to recipient Form 990 financial data. This process allows researchers to analyze the influence of federal awards with greater fidelity than has been previously accomplished in the literature.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1052-1069
Number of pages18
JournalNonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly
Volume45
Issue number5
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 1 2016

Keywords

  • FAADS
  • awards
  • grants
  • matching
  • nonprofit

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Social Sciences (miscellaneous)

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