506 Philanthropic Leaders Say Do Not Cut the 2020 Census Short

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Accurate 2020 Census data is critical to determine Texas’ federal funding. Read this letter from 506 philanthropic leaders — including our President, Dr. Shari Albright — demanding that the census count not be cut short by a month so everyone has the opportunity to be counted.

August 5, 2020

The Honorable Wilbur L. Ross
U.S. Department of Commerce
1401 Constitution Avenue N.W.
Washington, DC 20230

The Honorable Steven Dillingham
Census Bureau
4600 Silver Hill Road
Suitland, MD 20746

Dear Secretary Ross and Director Dillingham:

We write in response to the Census Bureau’s announcement that it intends to drastically cut short 2020 Census operations and subsequent, critical data improvement, processing, and review activities. We urge the Census Bureau to maintain its constitutional responsibilities to enumerate every household that has not responded on its own, in order to achieve a fair and accurate count. Given the pandemic, there is every reason to believe the Census Bureau will need to collect data through October 31, a date the Census Bureau itself had earlier announced was needed to meet its obligations.

We are leaders of nonpartisan philanthropic institutions from across the country, large and small, giving hundreds of millions of dollars each year to advance the common good and improve the quality of life in the United States. We have different funding approaches, are ideologically diverse, and do not always share the same priorities. But we have come together to support a fair and accurate 2020 Census, with a focus on historically undercounted communities, including people of color, low-income and immigrant families, and young children. We all oppose cutting short the 2020 Census in the midst of a global pandemic.

Across our varied institutions, we share a belief that reliable and accurate data are a necessary foundation for a well-functioning government, robust civil society, and thriving business sector in the United States. We rely on accurate census data to help identify community needs and prioritize grantmaking, and our grantees and partners rely on accurate census data to advocate for and improve our communities, through their work on various issues, including poverty, health care, criminal justice reform, racial equity, education, homelessness and housing, and infrastructure.

Collectively, many of our institutions have invested more than $100 million in rural and urban communities across the country in support of the Census Bureau’s efforts to educate and persuade households about the importance of participating in the 2020 Census. The census has already faced numerous hurdles this decade, including a pandemic that required operational modifications in order to prioritize the health and safety of the census workforce and the American public. The pandemic has created unprecedented challenges for the Census Bureau to recruit, train, and retain enumerators, and is still preventing in-person contact in many areas.

According to an analysis by the Center for Urban Research at City University of New York’s Graduate Center, only four states and 14% of the country’s counties have achieved their 2010 level of self-response — and they had nearly three extra months when compared to 2010. With nearly four out of ten households still to be counted, many of us have deepened our engagement and made additional grants to organizations in support of outreach plans that rely on the Bureau’s announced October 31 end date for field operations.

Rushing the census would unnecessarily impair our nation’s collective efforts to achieve a fair and accurate 2020 Census. It would hurt a diverse range of rural and urban communities, leaving them underrepresented locally and in Congress and cutting their fair share of federal funding for Medicaid, economic development, child care, schools, road and public transit improvements, home heating assistance for senior citizens, and many more vital services.

For all the reasons stated above, we urge you to maintain the October 31 end date for the door knocking and self-response operations and ensure that the subsequent quality checks and data processing work is done thoroughly and in accordance with the Census Bureau’s own quality standards. Thank you for your attention. If you have any questions or need any further information, please contact Gary Bass at the Bauman Foundation ([email protected]).

Sincerely,

Katey Kennedy
Executive Director
1440 Foundation
Scotts Valley, CA

Anne Bartley
President
AB Fund
San Francisco, CA

Alexie Torres
Executive Director
Access Strategies Fund
Cambridge, MA

Heather Peeler
President & CEO
ACT for Alexandria
Alexandria, VA

Cali Brooks
President & CEO
Adirondack Foundation
Lake Placid, NY

Ann Mills
Executive Director
Agua Fund
Washington, DC

John T. Petures, Jr
President & CEO
Akron Community Foundation
Akron, OH

Bradford Robb
Executive Director
Anderson Charitable Foundation
Austin, TX

Janet L Delaney
President/Trustee
Andrew Delaney Foundation
Austin, TX

David Goodman
Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors
Andrew Goodman Foundation
Upper Saddle River, NJ

Sampriti Ganguli
Chief Executive Advisor
Arabella Advisors
Washington, DC

Anna Lefer Kuhn
Executive Director
ARCA Foundation
Washington, DC

Vanetta Abdellatif
President & CEO
Arcora Foundation
Seattle, WA

Steve Seleznow
President and Chief Executive Officer
Arizona Community Foundation
Phoenix, AZ

Laurie Liles
President and CEO
Arizona Grantmakers Forum
Phoenix, AZ

Susan W. DeVenny
President & CEO
Arras Foundation
Lancaster, SC

Peter Taylor
President and CEO
Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation
Sheffield, MA

Sara Kay
Chief Executive Officer
Bernard and Anne Spitzer Charitable Trust
New York, NY

Kenneth Kuchman
Executive Director
Bernard E. & Alba Witkin Charitable Foundation
Berkeley, CA

Ami Aronson
Executive Director
Bernstein Family Foundation
Washington, DC

Claire M Solot
Managing Director, President & Founder
Bigglesworth Family Foundation
San Francisco, CA

Liz Hamburg
CEO
Black Hills Area Community Foundation
Rapid City, SD

Yolanda McCray
President & CEO
Black River United Way
Georgetown, SC

Lisa Adkins
President/CEO
Blue Grass Community Foundation
Lexington, KY

Debbie I. Chang
President and CEO
Blue Shield of California Foundation
San Francisco, CA

Antonia Hernandez
President & CEO
California Community Foundation
Los Angeles, CA

Sandra R. Hernández, MD
President and CEO
California Health Care Foundation
Oakland, CA

Michelle D. Monse
President
Carl B. & Florence E. King Foundation
Dallas, TX

Vartan Gregorian
President
Carnegie Corporation of New York
New York, NY

Kathleen D Edwards, Ph.D.
President
Cedarmere Foundation
Seattle, WA

JoAnn Turnquist
President & CEO
Central Carolina Community Foundation
Columbia, SC

Mark Brewer
President/CEO
Central Florida Foundation
Orlando, FL

Caryl Turnow
Executive Director
Central Minnesota Community Foundation
St. Cloud, MN

Peter A. Dunn
President and CEO
Central New York Community Foundation
Syracuse, NY

Merle C. Chambers
Founder
Chambers Initiative
Denver, CO

David J. Scullin
President and CEO
Communities Foundation of Texas
Dallas, TX

Tatiana Hernandez
Chief Executive Officer
Community Foundation Boulder County
Boulder, CO

Theresa Grimison
President and CEO
Community Foundation for Brevard
Melbourne, FL

Alicia Philipp
President
Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta
Atlanta, GA

Amy E. Owen
President/CEO
Community Foundation for Loudoun and Northern Fauquier Counties
Leesburg, VA

Margaretta Andrews
Executive Director
Community Foundation for Nantucket
Nantucket, MA

Eileen Ellsworth
President and CEO
Community Foundation for Northern Virginia
Oakton, VA

Mariam C. Noland
President
Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan
Detroit, MI

J Clinton Mabie
President and CEO
Community Foundation for Southern Arizona
Tucson, AZ

Robert M. Fockler
President
Community Foundation of Greater Memphis
Memphis, TN

Megan Barber Allende
President/CEO
Community Foundation of Mendocino County
Ukiah, CA

Hans Dekker
President
Community Foundation of New Jersey
Morristown, NJ

Terra V. Winter
President and CEO
Community Foundation of Southern New Mexico
Las Cruces, NM

Rose Meissner
President
Community Foundation of St. Joseph County
South Bend, IN

Brian Fogle
President/CEO
Community Foundation of the Ozarks
Springfield, MO

Stephen P Warren
President
Community Foundation of West Texas
Lubbock, TX

Katie Allan Zobel
President and CEO
Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts
Springfield, MA

Sally J. Cross, CFRE
President & CEO
Community Foundations of the Hudson Valley
Poughkeepsie, NY

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