Improving Nonprofit Data Capacity to Strengthen Proposals to Serve Local Communities

n June, the National Neighborhood Indicators Partnership (NNIP) at the Urban Institute and Microsoft released a collection of resources and recommendations on extending and expanding training opportunities for staff at civic organizations and governments to help them leverage data and technology to tackle local priorities.  To illustrate the foundations, learnings, and impacts that informed the NNIP study, we are delighted to have NNIP partners from around the U.S. sharing their experiences in developing and operating their local training programs in a series of guest blogs.  Below is one of these experiences. Previous posts in this series are available from the Urban Institute and the Oakland, Pittsburgh, and Detroit partner organizations.

— Elizabeth Grossman, Director of Civic Projects, Microsoft

What can we do to help public agencies understand community needs and fund strong programs to address them? Communities Count in Washington state’s King County, is working with local governments and philanthropies to develop trainings to improve the grant-making process for public investments in health and neighborhood development.