Data is getting weird, or maybe it always was. Sometimes the “big data” releases come on time, sometimes they don’t, sometimes they get adjusted, 100% of the time they get spun.In a K-Shaped economy, or economic recovery, which many feel we are experiencing now, “average” data is especially problematic, because we are averaging from extremes.
It’s a given that we will use the most optimistic data we can find in marketing, stopping just short, hopefully, of causing eyebrows to raise and our credibility to plummet.
Quietly, though, just amongst ourselves, I’ll offer this thought. If you want data on what’s happening in your community that may be less visible, have some chats with your local non-profits. Nationally, organizations such as Feeding America release an annual report called “Map the Meal Gap” – your local food insecurity groups can tell you how things are trending and I can promise you the picture isn’t pretty. What do the people who work with the unsheltered have to say about the changes in demand for their services? The United States Interagency Council on Homelessness tells us that as many as 40-60% of unhoused people have a job.
You can no doubt find out how that looks today in your community, and you probably already know who to ask.
I’ve worked for several years as a grant reviewer for Impact Grants Chicago, and one thing that is great about grassroots nonprofits is their vision of what to do about the challenges of the populations they serve. Of course they fundraise, but they also problem solve, often creatively and with very demonstrable return on investments.