Data in Action

NCoC’s Civic Health Index (CHI) is at the center of our work. We think of “civic health” as the way that communities are organized to define and address public problems. Communities with strong civic health have higher employment rates, stronger schools, better physical health, and more responsive governments. 

Leveraging civic data, we have partnered with dozens of states, cities, and issue groups to draft reports and action plans to strengthen civic life. NCoC works with lead CHI partners to develop a broad network of stakeholders to support a civic health initiative within their state or city. 

By using data- driven approaches to strengthen civic health, NCoC’s partnerships have contributed to the following successes in community problem-solving.


About This Series History has shown that large-scale crises accelerate pre-existing trends and permanently change societies and civic life. While most of the nation’s attention is currently focused on the response to Covid-19, we must ensure that recovery efforts in…

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Many nonprofits rely on data to inform their stakeholders, measure their impact, and to prioritize their resources. However, traditional data analysis, visualization, representation and reporting do not reflect the real-time information stream that stakeholders have become accustomed to receiving. Technology…

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Achieving more education strongly predicts the likelihood that a person becomes civically engaged. The civic gap between young people without high school diplomas and college graduates is quite large; and in some cases, a college graduate is four or five…

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According to research by the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), volunteering  can positively influence both physical and mental health, as it can help to build confidence, provide a sense of purpose, prevent depression, and decrease mortality. “People’s engagement…

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NCoC research has demonstrated the relationship between civic engagement and economic resilience. It found that the density and type of nonprofit organizations in a community, as well as a community’s social cohesion, are important predictors of its ability to withstand…

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