Community Data & Research Lab at the Johnson Center

The Dorothy A. Johnson Center for Philanthropy (Johnson Center) is an academic center of Grand Valley State University, established in 1992 with support from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. The Johnson Center's mission is to be a global leader in helping individuals and organizations understand, strengthen, and advance philanthropy. The vision of this work is to support a smart, adaptive sector that helps create strong, inclusive communities.

The Johnson Center's core work includes the following:

• Resources and tools to make data and research useful to practitioners and students, providing context and insight for philanthropy. Through blog posts, webinars, articles, speaking engagements, data tools, and more, Johnson Center staff share core concepts and new frameworks to explore key questions that shape the sector. Community Insight, an online data platform for visualizing communities and advancing equity, is a key offering.
• Applied research and evaluation publications and services, including program and strategy evaluation and primary data collection designed to help organizations and individuals bridge the gap between the information they need and the change they want to make. This work includes publication of The Foundation Review the nation's first peer-reviewed journal of philanthropy, and the Johnson Center’s annual 11 Trends in Philanthropy report.
• Competency-based professional development and capacity building for individuals and organizations.