Dear friends and colleagues,
As we return from the Thanksgiving holiday, each of us reflects on what we value and what we are thankful for. We are thankful for you – our funders, partners, and supporters who transform our data into action for the improvement of this region. We invite you to reflect on what you consider to be valuable. Today, November 28th, is #GivingTuesday, a day dedicated to giving in over 70 countries, where you can make a difference by joining the growing ranks of individuals who contribute to the impact and expansion of The Data Center.
We use data to make a difference.
The Data Center begins with a key ingredient – community. Since 1997, we have been an organization about the community for the community. Over and over, The Data Center heard from all sectors – nonprofit, neighborhood, university, government, and media – “I need data. I’m looking for data. Thanks for meeting with me, did you bring data?” And, we would reply, “Yes, we have data for you.”
In the last year alone, The Data Center has made data accessible to our users at a tremendous rate, with over 114,000 downloads of our content, approximately 280,000 pageviews and over 1 million impressions, link clicks, and likes through social media. What started as 5,000 hits per month on our Neighborhood data pages multiplied to more than 80,000 hits in September 2006. Over the next eleven years, we included analysis of New Orleans’ post-Katrina recovery culminating in The New Orleans Index at Ten Collection, which covered 10 different topic areas. It has been downloaded nearly 80,000 times since its publication in August 2015. Today, our research extends beyond our neighborhoods to include our region and economy, particularly within the growing water management sector. Most recently we have been working on a follow up to the New Orleans Index at Ten called the Tricentennial Prosperity Index - an examination of the demographics across New Orleans’s 300 year history, as a foundation for understanding historical and current inequities and disparities as the key to unlocking long term, sustainable growth in New Orleanians.
Why does this matter?
Just like in all of our reports, we ask, "Why does this matter?" Because New Orleans matters; and because you matter. Our data is about you. The people, the neighborhoods, the businesses and entrepreneurial enterprises, government, the community, and social service organizations of New Orleans – we all matter in this push to make New Orleans and the surrounding metro all that it can be. Data is core to making smart and informed decisions toward building a more prosperous, inclusive, and sustainable region.
The Data Center matters.
Our data is referenced, viewed, downloaded, or leveraged hundreds of thousands of times every year. You use it to inform your decisionmaking, to drive your missions, to support your reporting, to apply for funding, to advocate for your communities, and to aid in policy development. We would be grateful to count you among our financial supporters who make The Data Center’s work possible. Please consider donating now in honor of #GivingTuesday and show what matters to you.
