The 2020 Census is coming up. This is an incredibly important process that happens in the US every ten years. The results determine how much federal funding is allocated to each state, as well as how many seats in the US House of Representatives. States lose thousands of dollars of federal funding from each person who is undercounted, along with political influence, and it has wide implications for our sector. And this time, more so than others, there is a severe risk of vast communities being under-counted, for several reasons. Among them:

  • General fear and anxiety among immigrant and refugee communities.
  • Potential new questions about citizenship will increase fear even further.
  • Online process will make it harder for low-income people and non-English speakers.

This is a pressing problem that should unite us—nonprofits, funders, and donors—as a sector. Although two years seem a long way off, the 2020 Census has already started, in fact. The addresses to be included in the 2020 Census mailing list are being determined this year.

Non-profits need to organize. For example, Great Nonprofits and other organizations in California mobilized for funding, and as a result, the State has allocated $3M for coordination and outreach. Additionally, several organizations have collaborated to create Census Outreach, a nonpartisan website with tools, language, sample letters for funding, and reports on the success of outreach efforts in the past.

As for funders and donors: If people are undercounted, it means there will be lots of money lost in allocations from the federal government. When that happens, there will be higher demands for social services from nonprofits, which means we nonprofits will increase our requests for funding from you all. You can help mitigate this by funding efforts to accurately count people.

Read the full article about the U.S. Census at Nonprofit AF.