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For Policy Makers & Advocates
Welcome! This section is designed for policy makers, advocates, researchers, and community organizers who want to use Open Navigator to drive change.
Data at Your Fingertips
Open Navigator gives you access to comprehensive accountability data across the entire United States:
Coverage Breakdown
- 🏛️ Jurisdictions: 925 tracked across 5 states
- 🏙️ School Districts: 306 districts with financial data
- 🏫 Churches: 4,372 congregations mapped
- 🗺️ States: 5 states with complete IRS BMF data
All data is free and public - sourced from official government registries and IRS filings.
:::tip[Complete Data Source Citations] All data sources are properly cited with licenses, BibTeX references, and attribution.
Includes:
- Academic Research: MeetingBank, LocalView (Harvard), Council Data Project, City Scrapers
- Government Data: U.S. Census Bureau, NCES, IRS Tax-Exempt Organization Search
- Civic Tech Standards: OCD-ID, Popolo, Schema.org, CEDS
- Fact-Checking: N/A (not currently integrated)
- Nonprofit Data: IRS BMF (43,726 orgs from 5 states)
- Churches & Congregations: 4,372 congregations from IRS data
- Enterprise Partnerships: Microsoft, Google, AWS, Databricks for data infrastructure :::
What You'll Find Here
Use the left sidebar as a simple path from mission to outcomes. The same flow is summarized here:
1. Define your cause / mission
- Nonprofit resources — Sector context and mission-aligned organizations
2. Identify who to engage
Learn who and what the data covers so you can target the right officials, organizations, and forums:
- Data overview — What data is available and where it comes from
- Citations & Data Sources — Licenses, methods, and full source list
- Nonprofit data — Financial and program signals for organizations
- Video sources — Meeting channels and video discovery
3. Choose a strategy
Frameworks for accountability and advocacy:
- Budget-to-minutes analysis — Correlate rhetoric with spending
- Accountability strategy — Track gaps between talk and action
- Impact navigation — Find opportunities for policy change
4. Define what success looks like
See end-to-end examples and implementation patterns:
- Tuscaloosa complete analysis — Full data sources and statistics
- Tuscaloosa discovery process — How we found the data
- Tuscaloosa pipeline guide — Step-by-step implementation
Common Use Cases
1. Government Accountability
Challenge: Elected officials say one thing, fund another.
Solution: Compare meeting rhetoric with budget allocations to expose gaps.
City Council: "School dental programs are our top priority"
Budget Reality: Dental funding decreased 20%
→ Advocacy Angle: "City cut screenings 20% despite calling it a priority"
2. Nonprofit Verification
Challenge: Verify that nonprofits allocate resources according to their mission.
Solution: Compare board meeting minutes with Form 990 spending patterns.
Board Minutes: "Expanding access to underserved communities"
Form 990: Only 12% of budget on direct services
→ Donor Alert: "Organization claims to serve underserved but allocates <15% to programs"
3. Finding Existing Solutions
Challenge: Officials claim "we can't do X - it's too risky/expensive/complex."
Solution: Find nonprofits or nearby jurisdictions already doing it successfully.
Official: "We can't do dental screenings - legal liability"
Reality: 3 local nonprofits already providing screenings
→ Response: "Here are 3 organizations doing it safely. Can we support their expansion?"
4. Opportunity Cost Analysis
Challenge: Show what wasn't funded when money went elsewhere.
Solution: Highlight spending on non-essentials vs. cuts to critical services.
City spent $200K on new city hall landscaping
While cutting $150K from children's dental programs
→ Impact: 800 kids now without dental screenings
Getting Started
Step 1: Explore the Data
Visit http://localhost:5173 (Open Navigator application) to:
- Search meetings by location, topic, and date
- View the heatmap of advocacy opportunities
- Look up nonprofit organizations in your area
- Filter by urgency and policy topic
Step 2: Understand the Analysis
Read the Budget-to-Minutes Analysis guide to understand how the platform correlates rhetoric with spending.
Step 3: See It In Action
Review the Tuscaloosa case study to see a complete analysis of one city.
Step 4: Apply to Your Area
Use the search and filter tools in Open Navigator to find:
- Upcoming votes and hearings
- Budget discussions
- Gaps between priorities and funding
- Local nonprofits providing services
Key Concepts
Budget-to-Minutes Analysis
The platform compares what organizations say in meetings with what they fund in budgets:
| Meeting Rhetoric | Budget Reality | Analysis |
|---|---|---|
| "Critical priority" | +5% increase | ✅ Aligned |
| "Essential program" | Flat funding | ⚠️ Lip Service |
| Rarely discussed | +25% increase | 🔍 Hidden Priority |
| Heavy debate | -15% cut | ❌ Performative Talk |
Urgency Levels
Opportunities are classified by action urgency:
- 🔴 Critical - Vote imminent, immediate action required
- 🟠 High - Active debate, high engagement needed
- 🟡 Medium - Moderate discussion, monitoring recommended
- 🟢 Low - Early stage, awareness building
Data Quality
All data comes from 100% free, public sources:
- Government meeting minutes (required by law to be public)
- IRS Form 990 filings (public records for tax-exempt organizations)
- Government budgets (published on official .gov sites)
- YouTube videos (publicly accessible government channels)
Need Help?
Non-Technical Questions
- What data is available? → Data Sources Overview
- How does the analysis work? → Political Economy Guide
- Can I see an example? → Case Studies
- How do I use the interface? → Dashboard Guide
Technical Support
If you need help setting up or accessing data:
- Visit the Developer Documentation
- File an issue on GitHub
- Contact: johnbowyer@communityone.com
Next Steps
- Explore the Application - Visit http://localhost:5173
- Learn the Framework - Read Budget-to-Minutes Analysis
- See Examples - Review case studies
- Start Your Research - Search for your jurisdiction in Open Navigator