As your state nonprofit association, we are here to provide resources to strengthen your organization.
As your state nonprofit association, we are here to provide resources to strengthen your organization.
Alaska is one of the most difficult states to count in the constitutionally mandated decennial U.S. Census. With the lowest population density of any U.S. state—spread across a land mass the size of Texas, California, and Montana combined—the Census Bureau has its work cut out in counting Alaska. A limited road system covers only a portion of its 586,000 square miles, including over 240 remote villages. Barriers include limited internet connectivity, varied language access, and the prevalence of historically hard-to-count populations only adds to the challenges of counting every Alaskan.
The Census is critical for Alaska. As of 2017, Alaska receives over $3.2 billion in federal funding each year based on Census data. This is funding for housing and healthcare, roads and other critical infrastructure. Census data is also critical for organizations to plan for the future, from government entities to nonprofits to businesses. And Census data are also used to draw legislative districts and local political boundaries that affect political representation.
Certain groups are especially at-risk of undercount in the Census. We know from past U.S. Censuses that lowincome Alaskans, non-English speakers, renters, children under age 5, and non-white Alaskans, especially Alaska Native people, are at-risk of being undercounted.
The Alaska Census Working Group formed in 2017 to lead statewide advocacy and communications efforts for the 2020 Census. The Alaska Census Working Group formed in 2017, as a group of nonprofit, philanthropic, private, local government, and Alaska Native entities committed to the 2020 Census in Alaska. The cross-sector, nonpartisan Working Group led the statewide advocacy and communications efforts around the 2020 Census. The Foraker Group, Alaska’s statewide nonprofit association, and Cook Inlet Housing Authority, the largest regional housing authority in Alaska and the tribally designated housing entity for the Cook Inlet Region, organized and staffed the Alaska Census Working Group.
In 2019, the Alaska Census Working Group launched Alaska Counts, a nonpartisan education initiative to help ensure that every Alaskan would be counted in the Census. As an education initiative, Alaska Counts informed public, private, nonprofit, and Native entities across the state about the 2020 Census. This effort focused on a core message: that the Census is safe, critical, and easy to complete. Alaska Counts officially launched in the summer of 2019, with a website, logo, and communications materials for organizations across the state to use. Over the course of 16 months, Alaska Counts led communications, language access, and direct outreach efforts for the 2020 Census in Alaska.