In a quiet Irish town in 1985, coal merchant Bill Furlong faces a life-altering choice: maintain the status quo or risk everything to do what’s right.

This is the heart of Claire Keegan’s Small Things Like These, a novella that feels like it was written for anyone who’s ever faced an ethical dilemma in their work or life.

In this holiday episode, you’ll hear the quiet but powerful lessons this story holds for nonprofit leaders like you. Whether you’re fighting for funding, advocating for change, or simply trying to show up every day for your community, you’ve likely felt the tension between doing what’s easy and doing what’s necessary.

Skip Ahead:

(02:01) What a coal merchant in 1980s Ireland has to teach us about courage, compassion, and standing up to injustice

(04:19) How do the quiet, often overlooked moments in nonprofit and public sector work mirror acts of bravery in Small Things Like These

(06:28) What ripple effects could your smallest, most courageous actions have in the year ahead

Resources Mentioned:

• Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan

  
  

Housing has become a silent crisis that's reshaping lives across America, with each rising rent bill and rejected application chipping away at people's sense of stability and hope.

In this episode, I'm sitting down with Jeffrey Smythe, executive director of the Atlanta Regional Collaborative for Health Improvement (ARCHI), to explore a different approach to rental assistance.

Jeff explains his innovative technology solution that's changing how people access housing support, the critical connection between housing and health, and how nonprofits can build strong partnerships to tackle this challenge.

Getting housing right is fundamental to improving health outcomes and supporting community well-being.

You’ll Hear:

(02:35)  How housing instability traps families in cycles of poverty and hardship

(05:30) What is unique about housing instability in the Atlanta metro area

(08:39) What is ARCHI and how it supports rent, mortgage, and utility relief

(13:05) What was the process like for creating ARCHI, and what did it take to build the necessary partnerships across organizations to share data

(16:59) How ARCHI tracks whether someone has been served after a referral is made

(18:36) What led 18 members to say ‘yes’ to joining ARCHI

(21:43) How housing instability and homelessness are connected to negative health outcomes

(25:20) Some examples in Atlanta where the conversation around housing is integrated into the client-provider relationship, using terms like a “prescription” for housing assistance

Connect with Jeff Smythe and learn more about ARCHI.

What if the key to improving educational outcomes was already in front of us, hidden in the data schools collect every day?

Attendance records, test scores, and family surveys offer insight into equity gaps, systemic barriers, and opportunities for intervention—but too often, this data isn’t used effectively.

In this episode, we’ll discuss how nonprofit professionals can collaborate with schools to analyze and apply data in ways that close gaps in access and achievement.

You’ll learn how to identify disparities, interpret data within the community context, and use it to inform programs that directly support students and families.

This episode highlights ways nonprofits can use data to advocate for resources, measure impact, and drive equitable education initiatives.

You’ll hear:

(02:30) How achievement data like standardized test scores and graduation rates can help organizations identify trends and support curriculum improvements.

(08:57) The importance of using behavior data such as suspensions and discipline referrals to understand and address classroom disruptions and bullying patterns.

(15:19) How attendance data—like chronic absenteeism rates and daily attendance records—can be used to develop targeted intervention plans and support student engagement.

(20:11) Where to find publicly available school data and how organizations can use it to demonstrate their impact effectively.

Finding accurate, localized demographic data can be a daunting task, especially when working on grant proposals, community assessments, or strategic plans.

Publicly available data often falls short—either it’s outdated, too broad, or not specific enough to capture the unique characteristics of a particular community.

Fortunately, the Social Explorer is a user-friendly platform that transforms complex U.S. Census data into accessible maps, visualizations, and reports for nonprofits, researchers, and community organizations.

In this episode, we’ll explore how to use the Social Explorer to quickly and effectively access the data you need.

You’ll hear:

(00:47) What is the Social Explorer and what types of census data does it use

(03:30) A demonstration on how to access the Social Explorer.

(08:26) How to look at community demographics, such as race/ethnicity at the census-tract level

(12:34) How to track changes over time, like the percentage of foreign-born residents.

(15:15) Three elements that make for a good map

Resources Mentioned

• Visit the Social Explorer

• Read the blog post - Standards for Collecting Race and Ethnicity Data Are Changing. Are You Prepared?

• Download the free Data & Evaluation Made Simple Toolkit

Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at Common Good Data! As we take a break this week to relax and enjoy time with family and friends, we’re excited to share one of our favorite interviews from 2024.

In this episode, we speak with Sil Ganzó, founder of Our Bridge for Kids in Charlotte, North Carolina, an organization that supports immigrant and refugee families through culturally responsive educational programs.

You'll hear Sil talk about the importance of community-centered practices such as organizing focus groups in the languages of the participants, and how the program fosters cultural pride and identity in students.

Read the original show notes HERE.

How do you measure the strength of the connections in a community—the trust, relationships, and bonds that hold people together.

Social capital plays a powerful role in impacting everything from economic mobility to civic participation. But how do we actually quantify these unseen networks?

The Social Capital Atlas can answer that question, mapping out data across U.S. counties and zip codes to show where social capital is strong and where it is lacking.

Using sources like Facebook connections, census data, and voting records, the Atlas paints a picture of how connected communities really are.

It explores three distinct forms of social capital: economic connectedness, or how people from different income backgrounds interact; cohesiveness, reflecting trust and the strength of local relationships; and civic engagement, which looks at volunteerism and community participation.

In this episode, Drew walks you through how to use this tool effectively.

You’ll hear:

(03:19) What social capital actually refers to, including bonding vs. bridging social capital

(07:29) Why should nonprofits care about social capital

(09:33) What is the Social Capital Atlas and what exactly does it measure

(12:08) How to navigate the Social Capital Atlas

Download the Data & Evaluation Made Simple Toolkit

Young people are facing an epidemic of loneliness. Despite being the most connected generation, students still feel isolated, disconnected, and uncertain.

This lack of connection impacts many areas of their lives—from school attendance and graduation rates to risky behaviors that prevent them from reaching their full potential.

For 35 years, Right Moves for Youth has been tackling this issue head-on.

Through weekly group meetings led by staff, school resource officers, and sometimes community volunteers, Right Moves provides teens with the opportunity to connect, build relationships, and gain the support they need to overcome life’s challenges.

Ryan Grammatico, from Right Moves for Youth, joins us to talk about how the organization is helping students not only achieve academic success but also become better employees, better citizens, and more prepared for the future ahead.

You’ll Hear:

(05:28) The challenges that youth in schools in Charlotte are facing right now

(08:03) What young people are sharing about their experiences with rising mental health challenges and feelings of disconnection

(14:06) What makes Right Moves for Youth so different from other after-school programs or youth mentoring programs

(22:26) How they demonstrate the impact of their work through measurable results

(33:23) A success story of a young girl who, after participating in the program, now works at the organization

Connect with Ryan and learn more about Right Moves for Youth.

Download the Data & Evaluation Made Simple Toolkit.

Read the full show notes HERE.

As Election Day approaches, the importance of voting is at the forefront of many conversations.

However, a healthy democracy relies not just on ballots cast, but on active, connected, and informed communities—what we refer to as civic health.

Today, we’re taking a closer look at the concept of civic health and how data—from voting rates to social trust—can reveal a lot about the strengths and challenges our communities face.

We’ll also discuss how nonprofits can help promote civic health without stepping into partisan territory.

You’ll hear:

(0:59) What civic health is and the challenges it faces

(03:57) National trends in civic engagement

(09:07) State-level insights from Georgia and North Carolina

(12:51) Five ways nonprofits can strengthen civic health