In March, I urged you and other Midwest residents to participate in the 2010 Census by mailing back your census forms. Why? Because doing so would help ensure that Midwest residents get our fair political voice over the next ten years, as well as our fair share of federal funding – at least $15,000 per person over the decade – for education, job training, the environment, law enforcement, and other issues.  

I’m delighted to report that, overall, Midwesterners did a great job on the critical mail-in phase of the census. At a time when Census Bureau leaders feared there would be a decline in responses nationally, and in the face of many forces working against participation:

• 72% of all American households returned their census forms, matching the 2000 participation rate. 
• Three Midwest states – Illinois, Ohio, and Minnesota – exceeded their 2000 rates, while Michigan matched its 2000 performance and Wisconsin was just a point under its 2000 rate.  
• Illinois’ Count Me In initiative, in which 10 foundations supported 60 nonprofit groups to educate hard-to-count constituencies about the value of census participation, appears to have been a particular success.  

Count Me In grantees helped Chicago boost its response rate 5 percentage points over its 2000 rate; amongst the 25 largest cities in the U.S., Chicago’s gain was the second biggest improvement over 2000.  

Across Illinois, the thirteen cities in which Count Me In nonprofits did census awareness work had participation rates that were on average 2 percentage points above their 2000 rates, while comparable cities without Count Me In grantees had response rates that were on average half a point below their 2000 rates. 

Many factors likely account for these favorable results. These include greater advertising and other efforts by the Census Bureau in hard-to-count communities, as well as city and state-led efforts. From the pattern of the results and the reports we got from the field, we’re confident that the efforts of nonprofit organizations that are seen as trusted voices in their communities also made a major difference.  We’d like to think that unprecedented support from numerous philanthropies played a role too. But at the end of the day, it was all the individuals – I hope you – who took 10 minutes to respond to 10 questions who really made the difference.  

The census isn’t over yet – now, the Census Bureau is going door-to-door to reach people who didn’t yet respond. But, we’ve done well so far.

Sincere thanks to all who did their part to help put our region on good footing for the next decade.

Sincerely,

Ellen S. Alberding, President
The Joyce Foundation