I want to use Google Sheets & the ProPublica Non-Profit Explorer API but I don't even know where to begin or what I should be learning in order to this
I have no background in programming so please bear with me.
For my job, I have to sort through a lot of form 990s. I found the ProPublica Non-Profit Explorer API page here and tried to read through the instructions, but because I have no baseline understanding. I don't even know where to begin. It seems as if I understood how to use the API, I could tell it I want X piece/s of information from 3 specific org's 990s, and it could give me the results. If that is the case, it would be extremely helpful.
I tried doing Google Sheets JSON tutorials on Youtube to try to learn how to use the API, and I understand what was happening in the videos to an extent, but I don't know how to apply it to what I want to be able to do with the Non-Profit Explorer API.
I am open to learning how to do this and I am not asking for someone to teach me step by step, but I really just do not know where to begin. I am trying to ask this question in a way that details my issue, but like I said, I just really don't know where to begin. I've been re-writing this post for 15 minutes because I'm trying to ask this question in a concise way and I'm just drawing blanks.
If anyone could provide me with just some type of guidance or path to go down, It would be extremely helpful. Even if all you did was just look at the Non-Profit Explorer API link above and then told me what I should be googling if I want to use it with Google Sheets, it would be a huge step forward.
Posted Apr 26, 2019, 8:22 PM UTC
APIs like this are just web requests. It's fairly easy to understand once someone shows you.
But there's a problem that you haven't broached yet, and that's how you're going to connect the two APIs. You can't just "use" one with the other. You will need to write a program that pulls information from the one, and pushes it to the other.
So, before you can make any real progress in this project, you need to pick a language and start learning how to use it.
This isn't something that you'll figure out overnight or over a weekend. It's a commitment to learn what you'll need to make this happen.
I recommend using/learning Python, as it's one of the most approachable languages to learn. I recommend using the "Automate the Boring Stuff" tutorial as a learning source. I believe that also covers using web APIs, but I'm not sure.
Ok this is a helpful start, thank you.
You mention needing something to connect the APIs, could google sheets be used?
I’ve seen tutorials on YouTube for creating scripts to get JSON data and for pulling data from APIs. Would that be the connection you’re referring to? Does that mean I could use Google Sheets?
If not, will it be possible for me to then integrate python with google sheets?
I don't know, I haven't seen the tutorials you've seen. Apparently Google Sheets scripts can make API calls; so I guess you can use Google Sheets for that.