Frequently Asked Questions

There is no one single dataset available that has the data that all our partners collect. Many partners do make some of their local data available for download, when possible on their own websites. NNIP as a partnership is working on a “shared indicators” system to create a standard set of indicators that every partner will strive to collect. Please see the cross-site project page on Shared Indicators for more information on this effort. Data for selected national datasets are available through the Urban Institute National Data Repository.

No, each partner must be able to obtain and sustain their own funding sources. Partners receive funding from a variety of sources including contract revenue, government agencies at all levels, and local or national foundations.  Partners may receive a small amount funding for participation in a cross-site project.

There are several steps to becoming a NNIP partner, beginning with sending a statement of interest to Kathy Pettit, the Co-Director of NNIP at [email protected]. The next step is for your organization to get to know better how NNIP works and for the NNIP leadership to learn more about your organization and its work with neighborhood data systems and building capacity in local neighborhoods. For the other steps of the process please visit the page on becoming a partner.

We recognize that regions have many organizations doing good work with neighborhood data - whether visualization, analysis, or technical assistance for the community groups.

In general, the NNIP model is that our designated partner disseminates lessons from their participation in the NNIP network to its local collaborators.  We encourage people interested in building local tools and capacity around neighborhood data to reach out to the existing partner to discuss the potential for collaboration.

In a few cases, two or more organizations have applied jointly to join NNIP when they serve unique roles that combined fulfill the partnership requirements.

The geographic coverage of NNIP partners varies. Some partners are organizations with just a few staff and only focus on the city in which they are located. Other partners are much larger and focus on multiple jurisdictions. In a few cases, the regional council of governments is part of the partner, extending their focus to the metropolitan area. However, because the nature of the work of NNIP involves neighborhoods and building relationships with organizations and residents in the community, we believe it is important that NNIP partner sites are not operated from locations remote from the communities that they are serving.

NNIP as a network does not endorse any product or service.  For commercial and non-profit firms that contact UI/NNIP staff, we share information about the product or service within the network through a section on the NNIP website accessible to partners only.
 

The Urban Institute, as the NNIP Coordinator, does not play any role in setting local agendas for NNIP Partners. Local agendas are determined by the needs of the community and the strengths of the partner organization. However, to join NNIP, partners must demonstrate that they are involved in more than one issue area.