The countdown to Census 2020 is now less than a year away and the U.S. Census Bureau is ramping up operations.

In preparation for efforts to ensure a fair and accurate count, Dr. Steven Dillingham, the newly appointed director of the U.S. Census Bureau made a stop in Detroit to meet with key stakeholders in the Michigan Nonprofits Count Campaign (NPCC).

The statewide campaign is led by the Michigan Nonprofit Association (MNA) in partnership with CMF and is supported by more than 40 CMF members. It launched in 2017 with support from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation (WKKF).

The campaign framework leverages the community leadership and grantmaking expertise of community foundations, United Ways and other community-based organizations as regional hubs connecting the state level activities with the grassroots organizations that are closest to the people who are hardest to count. 

There are 13 regional hubs in total, covering every region of our state; they will receive mini-grants to grant to grassroots organizations doing on-the-ground outreach efforts. Eleven CMF member community foundations are serving or partnering as regional hubs through the NPCC in their area.

While in Detroit, Dillingham met with the NPCC, the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan (which is serving as one of the largest census hubs in the state through the NPCC), WKKF, CMF, MNA, the Dorothy A. Johnson Center for Philanthropy, lawmakers and other key stakeholders.

“We appreciate the interest in Michigan by the director and staff from the Chicago census office,” Mariam Noland, president, Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan said. “Their visit signifies how important it is to communicate about the impact of the census and the importance of participation. We’re encouraged by the coordinated and growing efforts of nonprofits, cities, and regular people across the region and the state.”

 “The Census Bureau understands they need strong partners to get a strong count, so he was there to introduce himself and to talk about the operations,” Joan Gustafson, external affairs officer for MNA said. “It was a show of support for the census. We want the census to be successful and we want to work together. We said, ‘we’re here, we’re ready, we’re ready to work, this is very important to us’ and thanked him for coming and acknowledging all the work we’ve been doing.”

Dillingham said the bureau is working on hiring census workers, preparing for messaging and providing clarity around questions on the census form.

The director stressed that the census is “easy, safe and important.” In response to concerns about privacy, the Census Bureau shares that census responses are secure and the law is clear - no personal information can be shared.

The bureau provided several resources to the NPCC that address these and other barriers facing participation, including the internet-first model.

The bureau shared that households will not receive a form in the mail but instead will receive a mailing that provides directions on how they can complete the census form.

Census Invitations:

• Every household will have the option of responding online, by mail or by phone.

• 95 percent of households will receive an invitation in the mail to complete the census.

• About 5 percent of households will receive their census invitation in person from a census taker.

• The first wave of invitations to participate will go out starting March 12, 2020.  

Dillingham discussed how important messaging and outreach will be to ensure participation in the census, particularly in hard to count communities.

As CMF has reported, the census hubs, through the NPCC, are rolling out their plans for grant applications for organizations that serve hard to count communities. Once selected, those grantees (grass roots organizations) will share messaging and do on the ground outreach.

Gustafson said the NPCC will focus on customized messaging and leverage the existing messaging and resources from the U.S. Census Bureau.

“The messaging and communications are so critical now as the get out the count plans and activities are put into place and ready to go next year,” Gustafson said. “We want to make sure we are working very closely with the Census Bureau. They’ve spent a lot of time and research in developing these materials and developing messaging, and to the extent we can use that, we will.”

At this time, there’s no word on whether the citizenship question will be included on the form, but Dillingham told the NPCC the bureau is prepared to move forward with or without the question, once that’s determined by the courts.

Want more?

Connect with the Michigan Nonprofits Count Campaign.