Azavea Atlas » Nonprofit

Webinar Recording: Putting Maps to Work for Nonprofits

Jeremy Heffner — Mon, 16 May 2011 17:22:39 +0000

Last month, my colleague, Tamara presented a webinar to give nonprofits an introduction to using maps within their work. In particular we wanted to touch on how GIS can improve planning, reporting, and advocacy. Below you can find our recording of the session.

While we covered a broad overview of the types of maps and uses for GIS in the nonprofit sector, we didn’t have time to dive into the topics deeply. If you are interested in how to use geographic analysis to support fundraising efforts, you may want to register for the NTEN webinar that we are presenting this upcoming Thursday (5/19/2011). You can find more information online here:

http://www.nten.org/events/webinar/2011/05/19/geographic-gap-analysis-leveraging-census-open-and-proprietary-datasets-fundraising

Download Video: MP4 WebM

#11NTC & Nonprofit Technology Mapping Resources

Jeremy Heffner — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 23:13:52 +0000

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.

Time to Give Back: Azavea Staff Allocate 2010 Charitable Contributions

Rachel Cheetham-Richard — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 14:39:37 +0000

As a certified B Corporation, Azavea is held to a high set of corporate and environmental standards. We’re committed to keeping the interests of employees, our community and the environment at the core of our mission. We strive to create a challenging and intellectually stimulating environment for our colleagues and seek out projects with social value that help clients create more vibrant, sustainable communities (learn more here).

In addition to carefully selecting the types of projects with which we engage – public health, crime analysis, elections, human services, cultural resources, economic development, and land conservation, to name just a few – Azavea operates a pro bono program and gives away a portion of its annual profits to nonprofit organizations each year. Each of our 25 staff members is given the opportunity to allocate the contributions. Each person receives 10 points they can distribute across a list of organizations that match our areas of interest including:

Ecosystem Services
Local Arts and Culture
Open Government and Rule of Law
Internet and Open Data
Sustainable Transportation
Growing Underdeveloped Markets

We’re pleased to announce that our staff selected the following organizations for our 2010 charitable contributions. We believe that the work they are doing is well worth our support, and we hope you’ll take a moment or two to learn more about them.

Ecosystem Services

Local Arts and Culture

Open Government and Rule of Law

Internet and Open Data

Sustainable Transportation

Growing Underdeveloped Markets

Nonprofit Tech Conference 2011 Sessions: Gap Analysis & Vendor Tips

Jeremy Heffner — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 16:05:28 +0000

Washington, DC here we come — well, in a few months, but we’re excited to start thinking about the 2011 Nonprofit Technology Conference. The conference is the hub of activity for nonprofit technology and we’d encourage all technology vendors that deal with nonprofits to attend. We’ve met some great people and always come home energized to continue to serve the nonprofit sector. For this year’s conference we’ve proposed two sessions. We’d appreciate your votes (and feedback):

Staff Allocate 2009 Charitable Contributions

Robert Cheetham — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 22:05:51 +0000

This article is a bit late, but I wanted to wait until after we made the announcement about our becoming a certified B Corporation, and that got pushed aside by the name change thing.

While Azavea is organized as a for-profit company, our mission also includes other significant elements. In particular, we also seek to:

create a challenging and intellectually stimulating environment for our colleagues;
work on projects with social value; and
impress the heck out of our customers.

In addition to carefully selecting the types of projects with which we engage – public health, crime analysis, human services, cultural resources, economic development, and land conservation, to name just a few – Azavea also operates a pro bono program and gives away a portion of its profits to non-profit organizations each year. In the past, the executive team has decided how to allocate these contributions, but this year we are trying something new. We have asked each member of our staff to allocate the contributions we will make. This was done by giving 10 points to each of our 25 staff so they could distribute across a list of organizations that matched our areas of priority including:

Ecosystem Services
Local Arts and Culture
Open Government and Rule of Law
Open Data and the Internet
Sustainable Transportation
Growing Underdeveloped Markets

Our staff picked the following organizations to receive contributions this year. We think these are worthy organizations, so if you are wondering where to spend part of that year-end bonus check, we hope you’ll consider these folks.

Ecosystem Services

Local Arts and Culture

Open Government and Rule of Law

Internet and Open Data

Sustainable Transportation

Growing Underdeveloped Markets

Our NTEN Blog Post: Technology is all about the Eyeballs

Jeremy Heffner — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:35:48 +0000

Nonprofit technology is about eyeballs — attracting eyeballs, engaging eyeballs, and reporting on eyeballs. Whether the goal is to raise funds, advocate for a cause, or engage constituents, it is all about eyeballs. And here is the thing, we don’t spend enough time figuring out how to analyze those eyeballs.

Read the full post on NTEN’s blog: Technology is all about the Eyeballs