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Mar 05 2020

Why should I pay for MapDash when I can get the same data free? (Hint: You can’t.)

By Ken Howard

We’ve been getting this question a lot these days from our Episcopal clients: 

“Why should I pay for MapDash or Neighborhood Missional Intelligence Reports (NMIRs) when I can get the same data free off the Episcopal Church (TEC) website?”

The short answer is, “You can’t.” While all three are valuable tools for missional decision-making and there is certainly overlap between them, there are differences in the purpose and scope of each. The Know Your Neighborhood (KYN) report, the Neighborhood Missional Intelligence Reports (NMIR), and a subscription to a fully-equipped MapDash for Faith Communities platform each allow the user to ask and answer progressively broader and deeper questions. 

Here is a brief description of each of the above (click here for more detailed descriptions and comparisons):

[Read more…]

Written by Ken Howard · Categorized: Books and Resources, FaithX Blog, Ministry Development and Redevelopment, Posts by Ken Howard · Tagged: analytic platform, church demographics, data trends, Demographics, drivetime analysis, infographic report, Know Your Neighborhood, lifestyle data, map-based analysis, MapDash, MapDash for Faith Communities, Neighborhood Missional Intelligence Report, the Episcopal Church

Oct 10 2019

Who Are The People In Your Neighborhood? From Market Analytics to Missional Context Reports

This post is the last of a seven post series on MapDash Analytics

by Ken Howard

One of the many features of MapDash for Faith Communities that makes it unique among other faith-based demographic tools is an analytic report that we call a Missional Context ReportTM. MCRs were developed by FaithX as a way for faith leaders at the congregations and judicatory level to better understand the lifestyles of the people in their neighborhoods in order to better engage them. 

MCRs are one-page reports that translate market segmentation data into ten areas of key information and practical programmatic and ministry opportunities that congregations can use to better target their engagement strategies to the unique lifestyles of the dominant population segment in each of the neighborhoods that form the community they serve. These areas are:

  1. Communications and Technology
  2. Education and Formation
  3. Hospitality and Fellowship
  4. Leadership/Doership Skill Set
  5. Midweek Involvement
  6. Neighborhood Characteristics and Issues
  7. Outreach Opportunities 
  8. Stewardship and Finance
  9. Theological/Political Orientation
  10. Worship

You can find a sample MCR here

[Read more…]

Written by Ken Howard · Categorized: FaithX Blog, Posts by Ken Howard · Tagged: analytics, MapDash, MapDash for Faith Communities, market segmentation data, missional context analysis, missional context assessment, Missional Context Report, population segments, strategic missional planning, tapestry

May 30 2019

Neighborhood Missional Intelligence – Report or Assessment?

The 2nd of 8 posts on MapDash Analytics

by Ken Howard

FaithX Strategic Missional Services now offers two resources to explore missional opportunities at the local community level. The first is a Neighborhood Missional Intelligence Report. The second is a Neighborhood Missional Intelligence Assessment.

Think of the difference between the Report and the Assessment as the difference between taking a “selfie” and sitting for a portrait, except the subject is not you but your community and both are much more detailed than you might expect.

[Read more…]

Written by Ken Howard · Categorized: FaithX Blog, Posts by Ken Howard · Tagged: analytics, church demographics, Demographics, FaithX Strategic Missional Services, MapDash, MapDash for Faith Communities, Neighborhood Missional Intelligence Assessment, Neighborhood Missional Intelligence Report

May 16 2019

An Introduction to MapDash Analytics

To fully understand location-based data we need to organize and examine the data in four different ways. We have to:

  1. Visualize – Get your faith community’s data on an map, so you can explore it visually.
  2. Contextualize – Find your faith community’s place in the data, so you can examine its missional context.
  3. Analyze – Interrogate the data, to reveal what it means for your faith community.
  4. Socialize – Share your data, with leaders, members, the community, funders, and other stakeholders

Today’s post is about step 3, and the analytic tools MapDash for Faith Communities provides that help you reveal what demographic, lifestyle, and other data mean for your faith community or judicatory.

[Read more…]

Written by Ken Howard · Categorized: FaithX Blog, Posts by Ken Howard · Tagged: Congregational Sustainability Index, congregational vitality assessment, Congregational Vitality Index, drivetime analysis, Map Layers, MapDash, MapDash for Faith Communities, missional context analysis, missional context assessment, Missional Opportunity, missional opportunity index, MissionWeb, Neighborhood Missional Intelligence Report

Apr 11 2019

Using Science to Find the Faithful: FaithX and MapDash Feature in WhereNext eMagazine

FaithX and MapDash for Faith Communities were featured in an article published this week in WHERENEXT, an online eMagazine of Esri, the international GIS company that provides much of the data that powers MapDash. The author’s team interviewed FaithX founder Ken Howard, and faith leaders representing several FaithX clients, including:

  • Kammy Young, Canon Missioner for Development, Episcopal Diocese of Central Gulf Coast
  • Scott Slater, Canon to the Ordinary, Episcopal Diocese of Maryland
  • Tom Brackett, Manager for Church Planting & Mission Development, Episcopal Church

Scroll down for an excerpt from and a link to the WhereNext article…

[Read more…]

Written by Ken Howard · Categorized: FaithX Blog, Posts by Ken Howard · Tagged: demographic change, Esri, faithx, Kammy Young, MapDash, Scott Slater, Tom Brackett, WHERENEXT

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