Frequently Asked Questions
Click Close to return to Phi.
Please see below for a list of our most frequently asked questions. If you don't find your query answered below, please email Marcus Low, Factary's Data Systems Consultant, or alternatively call us on 0117 916 6740 and we'll do all we can to help.
1. What is Factary Phi? show the answer
1. It's a database of donations and donors to
UK nonprofits, all of them reported in the public domain.
2. How is it researched? show the answer
We gather information from websites, accounts
and other public domain sources. The information is edited and
checked by Factary researchers.
3. Is it all in the public domain? show
the answer
Yes. For every record we show the website or
document from which the data comes.
4. What does it contain? show the answer
- It’s a database of donations and donors to UK
nonprofits, all of them reported in the public domain.
- “Nonprofits” includes charities,
universities, museums and arts organisations, as well as
political parties.
- The database includes the donor’s name, the
recipient organisation’s name, charity registration
number and postcode, the recipient organisation’s type
(for example – “Education” or
“Development”) and, for some records the donation
value or donation band (for example
“£5,000-£10,000.”).
- The database includes the names of trustees and patrons
of leading UK nonprofits.
- We include, for some records, notes on the donation.
- For every record we show the website or document from
which the data comes.
- The database is fully searchable on any of these fields,
and any combination of these fields. Users can search by name
or partial name, for example, or put together a search
combining recipient type (“Development”) with
amount (“More than £10,000”).
- Search results can be exported, instantly, into an Excel
file.
5. How can I search Factary Phi? show the answer
- The database is fully searchable on any field, and any
combination of these fields. Users can search by name or
partial name, for example, or put together a search combining
recipient type (“Development”) with amount
(“More than £10,000”).
- The search engine allows searches on a full name, or on
partial name. In the Quick Search box, click on
“Name” in the drop down box and enter all or part
of the name of the person you are searching for. (For
example, to find donors whose surname is Smith or Smithkins
or Smithson or Blacksmith, search for
“smith”.).
- Search results can be exported, instantly, into an Excel
file.
6. How will Factary Phi help my fundraising
or development programme? show the answer
- Find donations by cause:
-
- You can search on any cause, or “Type” of
charitable activity. So, for example, a search on
“environment” will find all the donations in
Factary Phi that have been made to environmental
organisations.
- Remember that you can instantly export your search
results into an Excel file. Just click on “Export
Results”.
- Find donations to a specific charity:
- In the Quick Search box, click on
“Recipient” in the drop down list and enter
the name of the charity, or any part of its name. Click
Search.
- If you know the charity’s registration number,
chose the Advanced Search page, put the charity’s
registration number into the “Charity Commission
Number” search box and click on
“Search” at the bottom of the page.
- Build lists of prospects who support a particular type of
cause:
-
- In the Quick Search box, click on “Type”
in the drop down list and enter the type of cause (for
example “environment” or “cancer”
or “development”). Click Search.
- Build lists of prospects who have given to nonprofits in
a defined geographic area:
-
- In the Advanced Search page, chose the “Left
Postcode” search box. Enter the first two letters
of the postcode for the geographic area that interests
you. For example, “EH” will find all the
recipient organisations in Edinburgh.
- Note that the search is for the recipient
organisation, not the donor.
- Check your donor’s other philanthropic
interests:
-
- You have a supporter or donor and want to find out
her other donations and affiliations.
- In the Quick Search box, click on “Name”
in the drop down box and enter your supporter’s
name. Click Search.
- Or, in the Advanced Search box, enter your
supporter’s surname in the Surname search box and
click Search.
- Check your strategy:
- Your organisation is planning a new appeal in, for
example, the field of animal welfare. Which other
organisations have had notable gifts in this field? How
much are donors giving? Who are our competitors? Who are
the prospects?
- By using combinations of Advanced Search options you
can see who’s giving to what, when and where.
- You can export the results, instantly, to Excel for
further analysis.
- Bear in mind that Factary Phi ONLY reports on
donations known in the public domain. It is not, and
cannot be, a listing of all donations to all causes.
7. Can I download information? show
the answer
Yes. It’s fast and easy.
- Just carry out a search, then click on the
“Export” button in the menu choices about half
way down the page.
- Your search results will be instantly exported to an
Excel file. Save the file in your desktop or folders in the
normal way.
Please don’t be tempted to try to
download the whole database. We know you won’t – it
would not be fair. But just to make sure we’ve imposed a
limit on the export facility.
8. How many records are there in Factary Phi?
show the answer
There are currently over 261,000
records, all drawn from public domain sources, listed in
Factary Phi. This number increases continually, as our research
continues.
There are approximately £14 billion in
donations recorded in Factary Phi. Again, this number increases
with our continued active research programme.
9. Can anyone subscribe to Factary Phi?
show the answer
Any nonprofit organisation in the EU can
subscribe to Factary Phi.
Special conditions apply to freelances,
consultants and other commercial users of Factary Phi. For
details, contact Shaun.
Special conditions apply to organisations
outside the EU. For details, contact Shaun.
10. What do I get for my annual subscription?
show the answer
- Unlimited access to the database, 24/7.
- Unlimited searches in the database.
- Fully searchable fields – text and numbers.
- Instant, free, download of information into an Excel
file.
- ...and a monthly newsletter on substantial donations in
the UK.
11. How much is a subscription? show
the answer
- For nonprofit organisations in the EU, annual
subscription to Factary Phi is £500+VAT.
- Special conditions apply to freelances, consultants and
other commercial users of Factary Phi. For details, contact
Shaun.
- Special conditions apply to organisations outside the EU.
For details, contact Shaun.
12. How do I subscribe? show the answer
Just contact Shaun, or phone us
on 0117 916 6740.
13. What are the Terms and Conditions
show the answer
Factary’s standard Terms and Conditions
apply. The “Specification” referred to in the Terms
and Conditions is as follows:
“Access, for one user, for one year from receipt of
payment, to the Factary Phi database, for the purpose of
promoting philanthropy by researching donations to UK
nonprofits. No part of the database may be used for any other
purpose, nor may any part of the database be sold, leased or
loaned on to third parties.”
14. I have a concern about this data!
show the answer
If you have any queries or concerns about our
data please contact Marc Low, Data Systems Consultant at
Factary, marc@factary.com.
15. Can I use this data for commercial
purposes? Or to make a mailing list? show
the answer
No. Special terms and conditions apply to
Factary Phi to ensure that we comply with the spirit and the
laws of data protection. You will have signed these terms when
you signed up for Factary Phi.
16. Where is the data held? show the answer
Our data is held on a secure, encrypted
server in the UK.
17. Who’s in charge? show
the answer
Do call us or email us if you have any
queries about any aspect of Factary Phi.
18. When did Factary start planning this?
show the answer
We started planning Factary Phi in July 2002,
calling it “Who Gives to Whom.” The ideas evolved
and we started testing and gathering data in 2007 under the
codename “Project Hugh.” As in “Hugh
Grant”. As in “Grants database.” This proves
(a) we have a sense of humour and (b) all good ideas take a
while to get right.
19. Why did Factary put this database
together? show the answer
- Prospect researchers in the UK have been asking us for
something like this for a long time.
- Prospect researchers and fundraisers have searched
through lists of donors to other, “competitor”,
organisations, since fundraising began. We knew we could help
charities save time and money by compiling this public domain
information into a central database.