Engage New York
Invites your Organization to Our Interactive Web Map
Project Overview
Engage New York has developed an interactive mapping tool to help nonprofit and foundation leaders better understand the nonprofit ecosystem across the state.
The Challenge
New York is a large state that is divided into ten diverse and distinctive regions. From our experience, nonprofits are often isolated from each other. This isolation furthers the upstate/downstate divide and harms the effectiveness of place-based work.
The Purpose of the Interactive Map
There are many uses for the interactive map, some include:
- Help campaign and coalition leaders working on state-wide issues diversify their memberships to build power
- Support place-based nonprofits in identifying state-wide campaigns and coalitions that can assist them to advocate to address community challenges
- Identify gaps in the nonprofit ecosystem
- Aid place-based nonprofits find peers and colleagues working on similar issues in other regions of the state
- Assist funders find grantees
Engage New York hopes that nonprofit leaders will use this map in conjunction with the Equity Gap Map, launched in 2020 by The Advocacy Institute and New York Civic Engagement Table. The Equity Gap Map was built to help nonprofit leaders understand the legislative landscape and voting trends using the Voter Action Network (VAN) to support advocacy efforts. We believe that access to these visual tools and data sets will result in more inclusive and diverse advocacy campaigns, will build power, and strengthen the community organizing infrastructure in New York.
Please scroll down for a presentation of the interactive map...
The Interactive Map
The goal of our interactive tool is to visually represent the nonprofit ecosystem in New York State. The following tabs are meant to help guide users on how the map works.
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We Start with Regions
To help make sense of the regional boundaries in the map, we used the New York State Department of Economic Development's regional definitions.
The first data you see in the Legend is the number of organizations in the region. The Regions Sum of Organizations is represented with color density.
Light Blue= Lower number of organizations serving area
Dark Blue= Higher number of organizations serving area
The mapping project focuses on showing where organizations are located geographically as well highlighting the following:
- Types of Activity/ Service Provided
- Focus Area
- Target Audience
of organizations in each region.
The demo shows that when you click on a region in the map, you will see how many organizations serve that area. You will also see a pie chart of the predominant categories.
When you hover your mouse over each color in the pie chart you will see the category and percentage per region.
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An Example: Long Island
Learn about how regions and counties can use this map to advance their work.
Recent social movements and progressive policy wins reflect the importance of grassroots community groups.
Yet, on Long Island, like regions across the State, many of these organizations remain under the radar hindering their ability to connect with like-minded organizations and foundations to advance shared goals and increase impact.
Long Island’s large urban, suburban, and rural geography, and numerous fragmented municipalities make coordination more difficult and more necessary, especially for strengthening the civic participation of communities most affected by injustice.
This interactive map is a response to that need identified by our local community groups, and we are optimistic that it will lead to new and strong partnerships.
We anticipate this resource will be a floodlight for funders seeking to drive more dollars to grassroots organizations.
The shared below link shows a report of data collected from organizations that serve the Long Island Region.
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Counties
From regions, a user can find more detailed information at the county level. New York State has 62 counties.
The map provides a profile of each participating organization and shows the following information:
- Types of Activity/ Service Provided
- Focus Area
- Target Audience
The colors are represented the same as regions:
Light Blue= Lower number of organizations serving area
Dark Blue= Higher number of organizations serving area
To see county-level information, simply click on a county. A pop-up window will be displayed and will show information about organizations in that area. The user will also see a pie chart of the predominant categories, similar to regions. This information comes directly from the survey that each organization completed.
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Organizations
Each organization that participates in the survey is prescribed a location on the interactive map. Organizations can enter a full physical address or a zipcode for a general primary location. To protect organizations at risk, we limit the map users' ability to zoom in. The map does not show exact locations of organizations.
By clicking on the organization pin, the user can see a detailed profile.
The information entered in the survey will appear on the organization profile on the map exactly how it is entered. This includes a website link, social media link, contact information, etc.
*It is important for the individual staff person who is completing the survey to follow instructions. It is equally important that the staff member is careful and judicious when entering information into the survey. Due to capacity limitations, there is limited ability to correct spelling errors. To avoid this issue, it is important that information is carefully reviewed before the survey is submitted.
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Search Feature
The map features a tool to query data collected from the survey to display on the map. The tool will search by categories the user selects, such as: search by county, region, campaign, statewide memberships, organization name, target audience or focus area.
Campaigns and Statewide Memberships
To help the field understand the membership of statewide advocacy campaigns, the map collects membership in the various campaigns, coalitions, and membership organizations.
Focus Area and Target Audience
The data collected in the survey will be represented as a predominance map of different organizational focus areas and target audiences across the state. In an effort to keep the map as simple as possible, we have condensed a list to include 19 Focus Area categories and 16 Target Audience categories.
See charts below.**
Focus Areas
Target Audience
The Survey
Follow instructions exactly. All of the information you enter should not have typos.
How you enter the information in the survey, is how it will appear in your profile.
For this interactive map to be useful, leaders are encouraged to complete the survey so their organizations can be included. The survey takes 10 minutes to complete. While the map is in the development phase, it will be refined as the technology team analyzes the data collected. The more surveys that are accurately completed, the more we can discover what is possible with the map.
Data is only as helpful if it is accurate, therefore we are asking the CEO or Program Director to complete the survey.
Have you already filled out a survey? Find Your Organization in the Map
Engage New York Interactive Map
Frequently Asked Questions
Why should my organization be represented on the map?
Without a resource like this, it can be difficult for nonprofit leaders to find peers, and coalitions campaigns working on similar issues. Engage New York values relationship building, collaboration, and cooperation and there was a recognition that without a tool to help identify and map the nonprofit ecosystem organizations may remain isolated from each other.
Who will have access to the map?
The map will be accessible to both nonprofit leaders and foundation officers.
Where will the map be located?
The map will be hosted on the Engage New York website. In the future, the map could be hosted and supported by a statewide nonprofit that supports the mission and vision for the tool.
Is it safe for my organization to be located on the map?
Organizations interested in being included on the map will not have to list a physical address to be on the map. For organizations worried about listing their office address for security reasons, the survey tool will allow the organization to be listed by the County instead.
Will people be able to comment on or rate my nonprofit on the map?
People visiting the map will not be able to write or leave comments on the map, nor will the map rank organizations. This tool is meant to provide information to build relationships and encourage cooperation and collaboration.
Take the Survey!
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About Engage New York
WHO WE ARE
Engage New York is a network of foundation leaders across the State who seek to develop an action agenda that advances equity, social justice, civic and community participation to advance the lives of all New Yorkers.
VISION STATEMENT
We envision a state where foundation leaders from every region are engaged in aligning and leveraging resources, developing and implementing intersectional approaches to community challenges, and being allies to advocates and community organizers who are addressing the needs of communities impacted by injustice in New York State.
