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Donate Now!An Overview of GIS for Nonprofits
heather | 23 Apr 2007 - 14:54
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During the past few months I've been learning a lot about GIS (mapping) software. I've also spoken to quite a few nonprofits who would like to use GIS software to map out their constituents and relevant data, but don't know what steps to take.
As the lone accidental techie at the SF Tech Center, I am no means an expert on this subject, however I thought I'd share what I'm learning about GIS for Nonprofits.
In February, I attended a very geeky GIS session at the Nonprofit Software Development Summit where I learned about what GIS tools are out there, here are the notes from that session, scroll down to references.
This past weekend I was very much enlightened when I attended the GIS session at the West Coast Nonprofit Data conference. I learned about the amazing work of Healthy City that provides a free GIS mapping service to nonprofits in the LA area. They can map practically any type of data at the neighborhood, city, and regional level.
However, I was quite frank with the folks from Healthy City—and said, "you have a great service, but what about nonprofits in other locations, how can they utilize GIS software in their work?" Conference attendees shared with me several other resources for GIS mapping.
- Boston Indicators Project—Nonprofits in the Boston area can utilize this service
- The Dataplace-Serves NY Nonprofits.
- National Neighborhood Indicators Partnership
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There does seem to be a lack of resources out there for nonprofits interested in GIS. There are however some local based groups who can help you find access to resources, data and independent advice on the most suitable software to consider for your non profit. Urban Strategies Council from Oakland, CA has been a leader in the use of GIS in the non profit sector and GreenInfo in SF are really in touch with environmental/conservation type nonprofit GIS use.
We are a founding member of the NNIP you mentioned and also worked with UCLA to develop NKCA which is a great resource. The Dataplace site is a national platform and not just limited to NY as you mentioned. We also have two local sites- www.infooakland.org and www.infoalamedacounty.org with a lot of useful, local level data for the east bay.
Techsoup will be running an online webinar for GIS use in nonprofits late Feb to show folks how ArcGIS especially can be used for typical nonprofits. This is a free event but has limited space available.
We also run trainings for nonprofits, advocacy groups and public agencies on how to use the various free and commercial products available and can guide groups through the process of implementing any type of GIS.
More GIS info
There was a recent discussion on the 501 Tech Club listserv—a nonprofit was looking for a tool where they could do online mapping. Here are the tools that the techies on the listserv recommended:
Also, Kevin Rafter from USF recommended that I look at Policy Link's recent report about Community Mapping: Using Geographic Data for Neighborhood Revitalization which provides an overview of Community mapping efforts and also shares best practices and resources for GIS.
There is so much to learn!