The Collaborative in Action
There is persistent undercounting of people of color, young children and other populations at risk for being missed, declining response rates to the ongoing American Community Survey, emerging concerns about data quality for both the decennial census and the ACS, and decisions being made now about how the 2030 Census will be implemented. These are reasons why philanthropy needs to do all it can to improve the quality of the census.
Plan of Action
Our collaborative’s Plan of Action is based on lessons learned before, during, and after the 2020 Census. This Plan was developed after a six-month input process and includes four funding priorities. Contact us to learn more about how we are putting this Plan into action.
I. Improve census policies and operations
Numerous policy issues related to the decennial census and ACS are being determined now. CFC’s activities to support this priority include fostering collaboration between the U.S. Census Bureau and interested groups; monitoring federal government proposals that impact census policies and operations; and supporting organizations and coalitions that address those issues.
II. Strengthen state-based outreach and collaboration
A crucial part of the 2020 effort was the infrastructure developed within states and across local, state, and national efforts to Get Out the Count. To sustain collaboration and aligned action, CFC is supporting state nonprofit and funder coalitions to build trust and improve public education around the census.
III. Support research that can help census stakeholders in their work
CFC supports applied research to assist census partners in their work, with the objective of developing reports and analyses that drive other parts of the Plan of Action, from research on the undercount of young children to how census data informs the distribution of federal funds.
IV. Promote Get Out the Count (GOTC) outreach activities
CFC supports outreach activities to engage trusted voices at the community level to mitigate undercounts through efforts such as audience research, communications capacity building, media outreach, and rapid response and contingency planning.
As part of the plan’s implementation, CFC supports a variety of Working Groups composed of advocates, subject-matter experts, and other interested community members. These groups cover a variety of practice areas and industries, and they are critical to driving the core work within the Plan of Action. Contact us to learn more about these groups and to get involved.
