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Greater Port land-Vancouver Indicators

September 27, 2010

Paul W. Mattessich, Ph.D.

Wilder Research

Saint Paul, Minnesota

Minnesota Compass:Measuring progress. Inspiring action.

www.mncompass.orgSeptember 2010

Working to change the equation

From:

To:

Good intentions +

No common base of information =

Inefficient decisions

Good intentions +

Sound, credible information +

Common sense of purpose =

Productive decisions for a strong region


wilderresearch.org

Longevity: When established?

Mid-1980s: Annual publications, with key indicators, for Twin Cities, 7 county region (about 2 million population)

Simple website developed in late 1990s Twin Cities Compass: 2007 7 counties (1 region)

Minnesota Compass: 2010 87 counties (8 regions)


For the future

North Dakota Compass South Dakota Compass Continuation of Twin Cities Compass and

Minnesota Compass, but: Greater emphasis on special projects and

“earned revenue”


Success factors

Broad stakeholder and funder involvement

Advisory committees Multiple funders Many vehicles: Conveying information Convening


FundersTwin Cities Compass: 3M Foundation Bush Foundation Greater Twin Cities United Way The McKnight Foundation B.C. Gamble, P.W. Skogmo Fund

of the Minneapolis Foundation The Saint Paul Foundation Travelers Foundation Wells Fargo Foundation

Minnesota Amherst H. Wilder Foundation

Minnesota Compass: Blandin Foundation Bush Foundation Initiative Foundation The McKnight Foundation Northland Foundation Northwest Minnesota Foundation Southern Minnesota Initiative

Foundation Southwest Initiative Foundation West Central Initiative


Topic areas & Co-conveners Aging

– Dawn Simonson, Metropolitan Area Agency on Aging

Civic Engagement – Sean Kershaw, Citizens League

Early Childhood– Barbara Yates,

Minnesota Early Learning Foundation Economy and Workforce

– Michael Gorman, Split Rock Partners

Education – Commissioner Alice Seagren,

Minnesota Department of Education Environment

– Steve Morse, Minnesota Environmental Partnership

Health– Mary Brainerd, HealthPartners

Housing– Commissioner Timothy Marx,

Minnesota Housing Finance Agency Immigration

– Bill Blazar, Minnesota Chamber of Commerce

Public Safety– Tom Johnson,

Council on Crime and Justice Transportation

– Robert Johns, Center for Transportation Studies

Disparities– Sandra L. Vargas,

Minneapolis Foundation Demographics


Important vehicles

Advisory groups Brochures “Champions” Forums convened

by the project Invited presentations Media

Newsletters Reports Web 2.0 venues

(Blogs, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc.)

Website Other?


Advisory groups

More than 400 people have participated in 14 advisory groups


Advisory groups = “Secret sauce”

1. Identify a high profile co-convener2. Invite a diverse group (35 or so)

3. Meeting one: Brainstorming4. Meeting two: Feedback on rough draft

Academic researchers State staff Business leaders

Advocates City & county planners Nonprofit leaders


Forums that we convene

Annual event Disparities Grant writers


In person presentations (hosted by others)

More than 150 during first two years of the project



Media

Media (continued)

“Champions”

Governance Committee(funders and key partners)


E-newsletter: “News from Twin Cities Compass”


Newsletters drive traffic (and do other things too)

Newsletters “Datablast”


Success factors

High standards for quality of information Relevant information Nonpartisan Easy-to-use website Willingness to partner with others on

initiatives


How is Compass funded?


Foundation grants Almost the sole source of revenue in

pre-Compass projects, and in first years of Compass

Earned income

What are the funding Issues?

Funders love us However, resources are scarce Need to increase proportion of

“earned revenue”


Governance


Managed and operated by Wilder Research Relatively autonomous

Governance Committee Foundation chief executives, plus a few other

community leaders Rules for quality: established by Technical

Advisory Committee

Equity


“Disparities” Special section of web site Part of every topic: comparisons of

indictors Much convening on topic: Immigration (with Minnesota Chamber of

Commerce) Health inequities Education Etc.

Twin Cities 7-county metro

7-county region, 2007 2.8 million residents live

in our 7-county region, centered around Minneapolis and St. Paul


Community initiatives


“Close the Gap” – documentary produced with public television (Compass as partner with Twin Cities Public Television and a coalition of business and government)

“CommUNITY” – cross-sector initiative to improve a portion of the region (Compass as a major partner)

Annual “State of Housing” – forum to foster progress on supply of affordable housing (Compass as partner with McKnight Foundation)

Early Childhood Business Plan Monitoring –statewide monitoring and annual forum, to foster progress on early childhood assessment and education

Community initiatives (continued)


Health Inequities Initiative – special study commissioned by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of MN Foundation

“Challenging Expectations” – documentary produced with Twin Cities Public Television and Travelers Foundation

“Results Minneapolis” – a public-friendly gateway to performance information on Minneapolis’ key issues, which aligns with Compass measures and information

Current budget (“all Compasses”)


2010 2011 (target)Annual revenue $550,000 $600,000* Philanthropic/grant funded 90% 80%* Contractual/ project based 10% 20%Expenses $550,000 $600,000* Salary & benefits 64% 64%* Web fees & programming 10% 9%* Meeting expenses including food & travel 2% 2%* Printing & mailing 1% 2%* Overhead, including rent & facilities 23% 23%

“Core” vs. Spin-off


Activities FundingCore •Information management

•Web site •General “newsletters”•Annual meeting

Foundation grantsOccasional sponsorsAdvertising?

Spin-off •Special studies•Community improvement initiatives•Consultation

ContractsSome foundation grants

Staying “top of mind”

Collateral in the 2.0 age


Written annual report


Why we don’t do one: Costly Outdated the day after publication Published report with press release = 20th

century 21st century = On-line, linked, viral,

interactive

Becoming an “essential ingredient”

… for efforts to improve the region


A. Data-informed reports on special topics

Example:Health Inequities Initiative, investigating local impacts of “social determinants of health” for the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota Foundation

Life expectancy by zip code


B. Web hosting for related content

Example:Cataloguing anti-racism resources for the St. Paul Foundation


C. Benchmarking & dashboarding

Example:CommUNITY project with community leaders in city of Burnsville

Benchmark against region, other cities using Compass key measures

Develop vision and workplan using our metrics to gauge progress


D. Community indicators counterpart to performance measurement

Example:Hennepin County (largest in our region) questioning the wisdom of publishing single county indicators reports

Compass emerging as the shared repository of regional community indicators


What data can be found in mncompass.org?

“Key Measures” in topic areas: 2-4 measures each “More Measures” Demographics

– Population, Race, Age, Immigration, Educational attainment, Median income, Poverty, Disability

Data about cross-cutting themes (multiple topics)– Disparities, Aging, Immigration, Children and Youth


What data can be found in Compass?

When possible, we provide “breakdowns” (258) – Region versus the US– Region versus other metros– Central cities versus suburbs– By county– By race and ethnicity– By gender– By income– By school district– And more


Documents

Minnesota Compass - Portland State University | Home · Minnesota Compass: Measuring progress. Inspiring action. September 2010 . Working to change the ... Steve Morse…