CMAP: Mapping Services for the Nonprofit Community

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CMAP: Mapping Services for the Nonprofit Community
By Steven Romalewski
CMAP Project Director NYPIRG (New York Public Interest Research Group Fund, Inc.)

When a nationwide retail chain wants to know exactly where to locate a new store, it's likely they'll use geographic information systems (GIS), computer mapping technology. But when a local youth group wants to know where budget cuts targeted at youth services will hurt most, they don't have access to the same powerful tools that many for-profit firms and government agencies use regularly.

That's why NYPIRG has launched CMAP. Our goal is to enable New York nonprofits to use GIS technology without being burdened by its often prohibitive costs.

How GIS Can Help Nonprofits
Many New York nonprofits have already used CMAP to enhance the performance of their missions. They can determine what social services are geographically near their clients, see in what legislative districts their members are located, examine demographic patterns and how they match their organizations' service areas, and select from a wide array of spatial analysis techniques.

For example, CMAP has:

Identified and portrayed the locations of foster-care facilities by Community District, for agencies seeking contracts from New York City's Child Welfare Administration

Shown the distribution of emergency food providers by Community District, City Council District and State Legislative District

Mapped patterns of pesticide use by County across New York State.

Through CMAP, nonprofits can access the power of GIS without having to spend the considerable time, effort and money it can take to obtain, understand and use the technology on their own. GIS software is expensive, acquiring and mapping large amounts of data is costly and time-consuming, and understanding the concepts of spatial analysis presents users with a steep learning curve. The services of for-profit GIS consultants can also be expensive, especially if the nonprofit needs access to computer mapping on an ongoing basis.

How CMAP Works
CMAP combines data sets from local client organizations with geographic data such as streets, administrative boundaries or ZIP Codes, and then provides computer-generated maps, graphs and reports based on client organizations' needs. Our fees are nominal, in order to be affordable by other nonprofits of any size. In some cases, with foundation support our services are free.

CMAP is well suited to provide mapping services to the nonprofit community:

Because of our close ties to local, regional, statewide and national nonprofits, we understand nonprofits' needs From our organizing efforts and coalition work with a broad array of nonprofits, we have a solid grasp of political geography.

We provide a high level of technical expertise regarding computer mapping, using the latest GIS and database software, powerful computer hardware, interactive maps over the web, and up-to-date geographic data.

Maps Over the Web
The most recent addition to CMAP is a web site that gives nonprofits the ability to see their data on maps over the Internet, at www.cmap.nypirg.org, or by clicking on the CMAP link from NYPIRG's home page at www.nypirg.org.

You can use CMAP Web site to learn more about computer mapping and CMAP, view map samples to determine the type of map that's best suited to your needs and goals, and click on samples of CMAP's interactive maps on line.

CMAP's mapping services have been supported by the Rockefeller Family Fund, the Long Island Community Foundation, the Long Island Unitarian Universalist Fund, the Consumer Federation of America, and in-kind support from ESRI-a GIS software vendor, Hewlett-Packard and ShowcaseNY.

Contact Steven Romalewski or Marty DeBenedictis at NYPIRG - CMAP, 9 Murray Street, New York, NY 10007, telephone (212) 349-6460, fax (212) 349-1366, or e-mail cmap@nypirg.org.

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