organizationsand

Organizationsand is a global research platform and directory focused on cataloging organizations and the networks they form. It aims to provide standardized metadata about organizational forms, governance, funding, programs, and partnerships to support analysis of how organizations operate within civil society, government, and markets.

The project collects data on types of organizations (nonprofit, for-profit, governmental, hybrid), jurisdictions, board composition and leadership tenure, funding sources, program areas, and notable collaborations. It emphasizes interoperable data through open schemas and unique identifiers to enable cross-referencing across datasets and time series.

Founded in 2014 by researchers in sociology and information science, Organizationsand began as a regional pilot and gradually expanded to global coverage. It is maintained by an international consortium of universities, think tanks, and independent researchers, with governance guided by a publicly accessible charter.

Data quality and ethics are central to Organizationsand. Metadata is collected with transparent methodologies, and privacy considerations limit exposure of sensitive operational details. The platform encourages community edits and subject-area reviews to improve accuracy, while preserving accountability.

Services include a public directory, an API for data access, and analytics tools for network visualization and trend analysis. Researchers, policymakers, journalists, and civil society organizations use the platform to study governance patterns, collaboration ecosystems, funding landscapes, and organizational lifecycles.

Critics note gaps in coverage, language biases, and uneven data timeliness, pointing to ongoing efforts to improve participation from underrepresented regions and sectors.