Semi-Automation of Philanthropic Giving

Process

I am semi-automating my philanthropy to exemplify the purpose of my Trust and ‘walk the talk’. I have finished four software suites as part of this plan. Those software suites are open source and freely accessible via GitHub (click here to be taken to my GitHub repository).

Data Sources

IRS Form 990s

My program scores IRS Form 990s with an algorithm inspired by the Piotroski F-Score. The program:
  1. Downloads the IRS Form 990s (which must be submitted by 501c3 entities annually).
    2. IRS 990
    IRS website that offers all filed Form 990s.
  2. It also downloads the IRS Business Master File for non-profits and filters from that the kind of entities which interest the user (specified in an input file).
  3. From the 990, specify desired attributes to extract. My default is 30 attributes. The program stores one row per 501c3 and 30 columns for the 30 attribute values. For the year 2024 this leads to 360,000 rows (the IRS has more 990s, but my program excludes some, such as 990-EZ).
  4. The program reads a text file specifying 16 rules and applies the rules to each 501c3. Each rule produces a 1 or a 0 for each of the 16 rules for each of the 360,000 501c3s. For any given 501c3, the maximum score is 16 and minimum is 0. The rules have a simple syntax and semantics that is described in the GitHub README, and you can modify the rules to create your own scoring criteria.
  5. For each 16-point 501c3, determine its conditions for a named, endowed, targeted award.
  6. With the most appropriate 501c3s, negotiate agreements for a donation.
While the last step is manual, it will be semi-automated.

My efforts are small compared to those of the 501c3 evaluator giants of Charity Navigator, GuideStar, Give.org, and GreatNonprofits, but my results are free, open source, and designed for a donor to tailor to his fit.

Labor Department Scholarship Directory

The US Labor Department maintains a directory of 10,000 scholarships. I wrote a Python program to Some 501c3s offer hundreds of scholarships and some exactly one. I then
  1. study the entities which award the most scholarships,
  2. identify the most suitable for my purposes, and
  3. enter into negotiations for donations.
Some substeps can be described as algorithms.
Labor Scholarship Directory
The Labor Department Scholarship Directory is part of the Labor Dept's CareerOneStop website.

Next Steps

The next steps are
  1. bring the Form 990 and Scholarship parts together,
  2. semi-automate the obtaining of further information about attractive entities, and
  3. semi-automate the negotiation of Agreements for donations.
My Rada Research Trust is a Revocable Living Trust but I want to finalize my plans, implement an operational website, and convert the Trust into an Irrevocable Trust. Part of this process could create a private, non-operating foundation. This foundation would be automated and would give awards to 501c3s. If public interest exists, then the private foundation could be converted into a public charity.