💰Data-Guided Donation for Infant Mortality

💰Data-Guided Donation for Infant Mortality

Can one, small action be so strategic and well-planned that it could make a difference to reduce infant mortality in the U.S.?

BroadStreet is donating $1000 spread across 3 different places and four different organizations.

Organizations

1. Capital Area Healthy Start, Healthy Start Program

2. CHEER - Center for Health Equity, Education, and Research

3. Jackson-Hinds Comprehensive Health Center, Healthy Start Program

4. Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition of Georgia

How did we get here? I’ll take you back to the beginning.

The Big Question

The big question is: How can we be sure that the action we take will reduce infant mortality? What's the best way to spend this money?

Here's an idea: If we donate to an organization with boots on the ground - an organization who is already doing work to reduce infant mortality - then, the money will give them a boost, they can do more of what they do, and our one, small action can make a big long-term impact.

3 Risks

Donating the money feels like a good idea, but this plan does have some risks. When resources like money are limited, by choosing to give to one, it means we're not giving to another, and we can make the wrong choice. Before we spend the money, let's first lay out 3 major risks.

Risk #1:

We give the money to an organization and they do nothing with it.

Risk #2:

We give the money to an organization and they do something with it. It's well-intended, but doesn't actually work to change the main thing we are interested in changing, which is reducing infant mortality.

Risk #3:

We give the money to an organization and they do something that works, but in a place that doesn't really, really need it. We're missing out on donating to a place that needs it more.

The Ideal Scenario

The ideal scenario is that we give the money to an organization, and they do something that works in a place that needs it.

Taking Action

Our team worked hard to look at the data to see where the need was high and to find organizations doing evidence-based solutions that worked. And now, we are going to donate.

More Info on Methods

Our team found 4 organizations who are doing evidence-based solutions (EBS) in places where resources are needed (i.e. "key places").

Places served by Organizations

1. Leon County, FL: Capital Area Healthy Start, Healthy Start Program |

2. Hinds County, MS: CHEER - Center for Health Equity, Education, and Research

3. Hinds County, MS: Jackson-Hinds Comprehensive Health Center, Healthy Start Program

4. Dougherty County, GA: Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition of Georgia

3 Places

How did we find the the place?

• Hinds County, MS - Highest infant mortality rate (HRSA 2020-2022) plus 📊3 additional criteria.

• Dougherty County, GA: - 2nd highest infant mortality rate (HRSA 2020-2022) plus 📊3 additional criteria.

• Leon County, FL - 3rd in infant mortality rate (CDC WONDER, 2018-2022).

  
  

3 Additional Criteria for finding places

1. high uninsured females 19-44 yrs vs U.S. average (11.7%),

2. low prenatal care vs. U.S. average (76.0%), and

3. over 1000 births per year on average.

Indicator data were downloaded from HRSA Maternal and Infant Health Mapping Tool and linked via County-level FIPS code Geo ID. Average rates were calculated from available data. Supplemental data from the American Community Survey (ACS) were used for benchmarking insurance rates (ACS 5-year estimates, table B27001, U.S. Census Bureau, 2023).

Data Caveats and Limitations

We used 2 different datasources: (1) HRSA Maternal and Infant Health Mapping Tool and (2) CDC WONDER Linked Birth / Infant Death Records. In CDC WONDER (2018-2022), Leon County had the 3rd highest infant mortality rate behind Caddo Parish, LA and Wayne County, MI. CDC WONDER reports infant deaths in counties with populations of 250k persons or more. Next steps would be to find ❤️ organizations doing evidence-based solutions that meet our selection and donation criteria (e.g. donated money goes directly to evidence-based program serving the key place📍) and to check for any updated datasets. Publicly-available data are time-delayed.

Project Update

We have successfully donated (update date: July 21, 2025) to the organizations in our donation portfolio! A huge thank you to the team that helped including planning team and donors!