I always return from the annual Nonprofit Technology Conference energized to do even more to support the nonprofit sector.  Why?   Because the people are amazing.   They are bringing dictionaries to students, helping people find volunteering opportunities, helping environmental organizations mobilize their communities, ensuring we have safe food and water from farmland that is local, and providing nonprofits with advocacy tools that they need to create change.

I left the nonprofit world a year and a half ago to join Azavea, but I would have never done so if I hadn’t found a company that was dedicated to creating true change which just so happened to be a for-profit.   This is one of the reasons Azavea became a B Corporation a year ago — to demonstrate just how committed we are to improving the community around us.

Azavea is not new to working with nonprofits and change makers.   We’ve helped a theater better understand their ticket buyers and supporters, a public arts program share their collection of murals and keep track of mural conditions over time, a sustainable business organization encourage the use of sustainable transit, and advocacy organizations to engage the public in redistricting through open source tools to name a few.

The projects we take on (whether for nonprofits or not) have three qualities:

• the project has social value
• the project is more than simply putting dots on a map
• the project leverages geography (and typically the web or mobile technology)

Here are four ways that we can help you, as a nonprofit, move beyond dots on a map:

1. Putting Maps to Work:  A Webinar for Nonprofits

My colleague, Tamara, recently put on a series of seminars at NPower PA to demonstrate the different ways that a nonprofit can utilize GIS software.   From helping you to better plan outreach to reporting program outcomes to funders, generating compelling maps can help your organization to tell your story more effectively.   Tamara and I are hosting a condensed, webinar version of the seminar on Thursday, April 21, 2011 from 1-2pm EDT.    Registration is free at the link below and we are planning to cover:

-  Best practices for collecting, managing and sharing geodata
-  An introduction to geocoding
-  An overview of key map types
-  Pointers to free and low-cost resources to get you started with mapping and GIS

2. Leverage Esri’s Software Donation on TechSoup

Azavea is a business partner with Esri, the market leader in geographic information systems (GIS) software.   Like most commerical software, Esri’s products are not free, but thankfully you are a nonprofit and can leverage their donation program on TechSoup which includes training.

Esri has different versions and extensions of their desktop software.   A good starting point is ArcView which will meet most nonprofit needs.  Your nonprofit can request an ArcView license on TechSoup.   The software has a bit of a learning curve if you are not familiar with GIS software, but where there is a will, there is a way. Esri includes online training with the product donation to help you get started and when you are ready to jump to web-based geographic analysis, we can help you figure out the right mix of software technology that will best meet your needs.

3. Leverage Azavea’s Cicero API Donation on TechSoup

A few years ago we built an elected official district matching API to meet the needs of a local nonprofit arts advocacy organization.  Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance wanted to reach out to city council members but there wasn’t a way to match an address to a council district and thus was born the Cicero API.     Today, the API provides true geographic district matching for 100 US city councils, state and federal legislatures, as well as non-legislative districts such as watersheds, school districts, and police districts.   Cicero has been used to power legislator look-up tools on websites, stamp databases with electoral districts for reporting, and power advocacy calls-to-action.

We’re pleased to announce that we are bringing the Cicero API to TechSoup Stock in a few weeks.   Stay tuned for more information or drop us a note to be notified when the donation program rolls out on TechSoup Stock.

Update:  You can find the Cicero API listed in TechSoup Stock here.

4. Nonprofit GIS Brainstorming & Assessments

Sometimes it’s hard to know where to get started and having the knowledge of what is possible and what questions to ask can help immensely.    We believe in being generous with our time, and are more than happy to spend an hour of our time answering your GIS questions or bouncing around the mapping idea you have.

Drop us a note and say hello, we’d love to get to know you better.