If you are attending the Nonprofit Technology Conference in Washington D.C. this year (an NTEN event), don't miss the workshop and demo session featuring our mapping junkie Steve Spiker along with folks from Ushahidi, Techsoup and more. This will be a heavily applied session looking to provide an overview of the mapping tools that eixst for nonprofits and live demos to get you thinking and learning about how to use GIS in your organization. This session is on Saturday March 19th at 1:30PM.

Powerpoint deck from this presentation available here.

To see a great writeup of this session with our notes, slides and resources check out Elliot Harmons article on Techsoup here.

Session Description:

Mapping systems have gained a lot of prominence in the nonprofit community in recent years. Traditional Geographic Information Systems (GIS) platforms like ESRI ArcView continue to play a major role in research and advocacy, but they've been joined by a new generation of lightweight, web-based systems like Ushahidi, designed for aid workers and volunteers to share geographic information in real time. Together, these mapping technologies are bringing major shifts in how nonprofits advocate, educate, organize, and plan.

This panel will feature live demonstrations of various GIS systems as applied to real-world scenarios. Panelists will give hands-on tours of mapping projects they've had success with.

Participants will leave not only with some positive anecdotes about GIS and mapping in the nonprofit sector, but also with a clear understanding of what GIS systems look like from an admin perspective. Participants will learn how to evaluate different systems for their needs, and what skills and competencies they'll need to carry out a mapping project. The presentation will include an evaluation checklist and sample budgets for projects.

Session Takeaways:
1) Learning the differences between desktop and web-based mapping engines and evaluating which approach is appropriate for a project.
2) How to find and use publicly available geodata, including 2010 US Census data.
3) Understanding the core skills, competencies, and budget needed for a GIS project..