Data Transparency

The Impact Project prioritizes data transparency and accessibility.

This page outlines methods and sources used to build the Impact Map.

The Impact Project provides objective, transparent, and open-source data to help explain how federal policies, funding, and workforce changes affect our communities. Our first tool, the Impact Map, shows the local impact of federal decisions. Given the limited availability of reliable data, the Impact Map will evolve as new data becomes available. 

Map data is sourced from local and national news reports and crowdsourced testimonials from individuals directly affected. Story locations are approximate, and in many cases, represent the geographic center of the city or county where the impact occurred, which may include an office location or place where work was being done.

Stories were collected using methodologies described on this page. If articles meet the data needs for mapping (data specificity and location information), they are included. We make updates as frequently as possible subject to the availability of new and reliable data and team capacity to add new information. The data included in the Impact Map does not represent a complete picture of the impact of government policies actions and should not be construed as a complete depiction of impacts. We welcome suggestions about how we could better represent the impacts of government change. Please submit feedback via [email protected]. 

All data represented on this map is preliminary and non-binding. It is provided on an 'as-is' basis without warranties of any kind, either expressed or implied, including but not limited to accuracy, reliability, or fitness for any particular purpose. The Impact Project assumes no responsibility or liability for any errors, omissions, or inaccuracies in the data, nor for any actions taken in reliance on the data. Users assume all risks associated with the use of this information.

Third-Party Validation

We are actively seeking a third-party auditor to review and improve our data collection processes. Please reach out via [email protected] if you are interested in supporting this work.

Publicly Available Government Data

Some stories are drawn from publicly available government data, including archived databases, such as the following: 

The base of the Map relies on the following sources of government data and reports: 

The Impact Map’s geographic layers were derived from government definitions: 

  • Indigenous Lands: Defined by the U.S. Census Bureau, this includes sovereign lands belonging to native peoples in Alaska, Hawaii, and the contiguous United States. 
  • Rural Counties: Defined by the Office of Management and Budget, counties identified in this layer are those with fewer than 10,000 residents. When the applicable filter is turned on, green counties are rural.   
  • Poverty Areas: As defined by the U.S. Census Bureau, this layer identifies the counties where 20% or more of county residents live below the poverty line.
  • Communities of Color: This layer identifies the counties where 50% or more of county residents identify as “non-white,” as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau.

 

Data Sources & Notes

Stories collected about funding data may represent contract or grant obligations (total amount committed), not total potential value or total paid.

Locations are based on latitudes and longitudes of the impact, location of federal office, or courthouse location, depending on the content of underlying data.

Multiple data points in the same location are jittered, meaning they are visually staggered on the map.

Testimonials

Impact Map testimonials come from two sources: (1) direct quotes from newspaper articles, and (2) responses to Google forms available through our Share a Story link.

These testimonials reflect the views of the submitter, not the Impact Project. To ensure transparency and data integrity, consistent with our contribution guidelines, testimonials appearing on the Map are not cherry picked and quotes are not edited (except to protect personally identifiable information). 

If you have additional questions about our methods, please email us at [email protected]. 

Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) Data: Due to the rapid pace of federal change and lack of reliable federal reporting, significant gaps in understanding exist, despite DOGE reporting limited information about contract, grant, and lease cancellations (https://doge.gov/savings). In the absence of similarly comprehensive government data, DOGE data have been included when enough information has been provided to map it. However, questions have been raised about the accuracy and reliability of DOGE data. The Impact Map deals with these concerns in two ways: 1. There is a toggle in the legend that allows you to turn DOGE data on and off; and 2. We do not remove dots for validated reports of grant or contract cancellations from other sources. As a result, you may see more than one dot for the same terminated agreement. You can flag errors in this data by emailing us at [email protected].

Publicly available data used in this Map can be accessed and downloaded by clicking here.

If you reference, reproduce, or use data or content from this website, please include a citation and proper attribution. We ask that you cite The Impact Project with a direct link to our website. For example, “Data Provided by The Impact Project (2025) theimpactproject.org.”