USAFacts is a

not-for-profit organization A not-for-profit or non-for-profit organization (NFPO) is a Legal Entity, legal entity that does not distribute surplus funds to its members and is formed to fulfill specific objectives. While not-for-profit organizations and Nonprofit organ ...

and website that provides data and reports on the United States population, its government's finances, and government's impact on society. It was launched in 2017.

History and background

USAFacts was founded by former

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...

CEO and owner of the

Los Angeles Clippers The Los Angeles Clippers are an American professional basketball team based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The Clippers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. The ...

Steve Ballmer Steven Anthony Ballmer (; March 24, 1956) is an American businessman and investor who served as chief executive officer of Microsoft from 2000 to 2014. He is the owner of the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He i ...

. Ballmer invested his own money in the project. USAFacts was launched on April 18, 2017

Tax Day In the United States, Tax Day is the day on which individual income Tax return (United States), tax returns are due to be submitted to the Federal government of the United States, federal government. Since 1955, Tax Day has typically fallen on ...

, with the goal of making government data about tax revenues, expenditures, and outcomes more accessible and understandable. USAFacts's platform is designed to provide information to the public about government spending and impact at all levels, from federal to local. It includes information about border apprehensions, climate, immigration, active shooters, medicare, education, military spending and opioids. It also helps entrepreneurs to figure out the best location to launch or invest in businesses. At launch, the website gathered data from over 70 government agencies and pulls data from more than 130 US government statistical databases and reports. Only official government data is included in the site. In September 2018, USAFacts launched a new Voter Center. This compares government data with the positions members of Congress state publicly and shares information about education, healthcare, tariffs, jobs, immigration, economy, guns, etc. Partners of the Vote Center are Countable, BallotReady and TurboVote. In November 2018 USAFacts partnered with GeekWire, to produce the podcast Numbers Geek. In October 2019, USAFacts linked up with U.S. News & World Report. This provided an outlet to share their data in visual form and in the context of the relevant daily matters to and at the same time increasing U.S. News' 2020 election coverage. In November 2019, USAFacts in cooperation with AP-Norc, conducted a poll which showed that more than 50% of Americans glean their government-related news from social media, while only 11% would trust its correctness and 64% saw it as untrustworthy information. During the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, USAFacts launched its USAFacts COVID-19 impact and Recovery Hub. It uses information of government sources, the

Bureau of Economic Analysis The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) of the United States Department of Commerce is a U.S. government agency that provides official macroeconomic and industry statistics, most notably reports about the gross domestic product (GDP) of the United ...

and the

Department of Labor A ministry of labour (''British English, UK''), or labor (''American English, US''), also known as a department of labour, or labor, is a government department responsible for setting labour standards, labour dispute mechanisms, employment, workfor ...

. On March 20, 2020, USAFacts announced its

Coronavirus Coronaviruses are a group of related RNA viruses that cause diseases in mammals and birds. In humans and birds, they cause respiratory tract infections that can range from mild to lethal. Mild illnesses in humans include some cases of the comm ...

Hub and Map which gives a frequently updated metrics on the daily spread and effect of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

throughout America. In 2020, USAFacts partnered with the global nonprofit Earth Day Network. President Poppy MacDonald testified in front of the

United States House Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress The House Administration Subcommittee on Modernization and Innovation, is the successor to the House Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress, a select or special committee (United States), select committee that was established by H.Res. ...

in an October 2021 hearing called Strengthening the Lawmaking Process: How Data Can Inform and Improve Policy. She urged the government for datasets that are timely, contextual and relevant to Americans, and talked about the need for more cross-agency and cross-government collaboration.

Awards and recognition

In May 2020, USAFacts won the 2020 Webby Award for Government & Civil Innovation in the category Web. In August 2021, ''

Fast Company ''Fast Company'' is an American business magazine published monthly in print and online, focusing on technology, business, and design. It releases six print issues annually. History ''Fast Company'' was founded in November 1995 by Alan Webb ...

'' named USAFacts 14th on its third-annual Best Workplaces for Innovators list.

References

External links

*{{Official website, https://usafacts.org/
"CEO Conversation with Steve Ballmer and Patrick Steel"
by ''

Politico ''Politico'' (stylized in all caps), known originally as ''The Politico'', is an American political digital newspaper company founded by American banker and media executive Robert Allbritton in 2007. It covers politics and policy in the Unit ...

'' (2018) Demography Organizations established in 2017 American political websites Internet properties established in 2012 Fact-checking websites

History and background

Awards and recognition

See also

References

External links