Conclusion

NNIP is a collaboration of the Urban Institute and local partners to further the development and use of neighborhood-level data in community-building and policymaking. This guide was created to encourage partners develop an efficient and effective data help desk--one of the most common strategies to help city and community leaders find and use the data they need for decisionmaking.  Help desks not only serve to answer the immediate questions posed, but more importantly build relationships between the data intermediary organization and its customers.  This guide documents current practices and sets a higher standard for how to manage intake and responses to ad hoc inquiries for data assistance.   By sharing lessons across partner organizations, partners can reflect on and improve this key community service.  The network will continue to document innovations in how partners implement and measure the value of their data help desks.