Funding Community Indicators Projects

We briefly touched on the problem of funding community indicators projects last year when a news article reminded us of the difficulty in obtaining and maintaining financial partners for this work.

Here's a recent example of the tough time some folks are having in securing funding for their indicators projects. The line I cringed at what this one: "The mayor noted that usually such projects get DECREASING amounts of money from year to year, lest they become a permanent burden on the budget."

I suspect that, especially in this economic climate, many of us are thinking about the financial sustainability of our community indicators efforts. We know that even talking about data can make people less likely to open their wallets.

Our organization has been publishing a community indicators report annually since 1985. We've seen a number of shifts in funding patterns in the community, but have managed to maintain funding for indicators (even when every other project we do has taken hits.) I'd be interested to hear from you, the readers, if it would make sense to begin a conversation among ourselves about challenges and effective strategies in funding community indicators projects. All those interested in joining that conversation, please make your interest known by replying to this message.

Thanks!