It was Christmas in August for a select set of policy wonks, researchers, economists, and statisticians as the U.S. Census Bureau released its American Community Survey results a few weeks back. The data set provides 2005 demographic information for communities larger than 65,000, offering the first such updates for many since Census 2000.
The less data-inclined among you might say, “so what.” But, those with a true curiosity for their market area and their organization’s role in its community will be warming up their Excel skills, and digging into the American Factfinder for the fresh insights on ethnic mix, economic status, family size, and other population trends.
So much of our decision-making in the nonprofit arts (or anywhere else, for that matter) is driven by hunch and vague speculation. It’s always exciting (trust me, it’s exciting) to get real data on the people we claim to serve.