Problem: We only have text reports, tables and photos that describe what we’ve done – how can we better show what we've achieved?

Solution:  GIS can be used as a simple visualization tool, where a base map is created and features representing your work are overlaid on that map. This map can be printed directly or exported as a digital image (gif, jpg, etc.) for use in reports or presentations. When tracked over time, such maps can show the progression of your work, color coded by the year in which it occurred.

A more powerful approach to this is to use the database capacities of GIS to help design a tracking system that defines each element of your organization’s work in geographic terms (for a land trust, an acquisition project; for a social service agency, each visit to a client’s home, etc.), by giving it coordinates on a map. Then, any activity on that project can be relatively easily shown not just in tabular reports from the database, but also on corresponding maps.

For board members, other staff, decision makers and other key stakeholders, using GIS to show accomplishments is highly effective.

Examples of showing accomplishments (right, top to bottom).

• POST – The Peninsula Open Space Trust: POST is a highly successful land trust focused on open space conservation in the San Mateo-Santa Clara County area of the San Francisco Bay region. POST uses GIS to keep track of its acquisitions (as well as to help in assessing future opportunities), showing what it owns and what it has under option. This map is regularly updated and serves as a key part of fundraising proposals, as well as assisting in internal management.

•  Wetlands Recovery Project – Inventory of Wetlands Projects and Plans:  The Southern California Wetlands Recovery Project (WRP), a collaborative of public agencies working on coastal watershed issues, was in the process of cataloging potential wetlands projects in the 5-county Southern California region. They quickly recognized the need for a way to easily locate these projects and to more effectively display the results of their work. In response, GreenInfo Network modified the original WRP database to add a geographic component and then transitioned it into “geodatabase” framework. From there, GreenInfo developed a series of maps and tables to showcase the project’s work. WRP now has a more robust information system that can easily expand to include other aspects of watershed planning, such as locations of sensitive habitats, existing projects and plans, and potential threats to watershed and wetland health.

• Land Conservation – This map shows results over many years of efforts by The Trust for Public Land to protect the scenic beauty of the famous Columbia River Gorge.