GISCorps Volunteers Assisting TechSoup with Conducting GIS Training

GISCorps has partnered with TechSoup, an organization focused on empowering nonprofits with technology to build GIS capacity and support through engagement with volunteers. TechSoup’s Quad.org community, established in 2022, is exclusively designed as a communication forum for TechSoup’s member organizations. It offers them access to a vibrant peer-to-peer network and valuable educational resources. A key feature of Quad is its dedicated Mapping & GIS space, where members learn about GIS and discover how GIS can support and enhance their missions.

One objective of the partnership between GISCorps and TechSoup is to further TechSoup’s library of GIS educational materials and help guide TechSoup members in future GIS projects. To accomplish this goal, two GISCorps volunteers led engaging conversations around GIS and helped educate nonprofit organizations on impactful ways GIS technology can be applied within their organizations. The volunteers provided general consultation to individual organizations, participated in public discussions, led webinars with live demos, and informed nonprofits on what services GISCorps can provide.

TechSoup and GISCorps volunteers developed a set of goals and action items to produce GIS literature and media. These items would then become part of TechSoup’s Quad library of technology topics that members can access. Two webinars, one focused on introductory GIS concepts and GISCorps’ mission and another focused on data-sharing, GIS tool usage, and outreach using a live demo, were broadcast and recorded to be viewed by Quad members. Several articles focused on the topics of data acquisition and open-data, addressing nonprofit challenges, and creating engaging map-based stories. Additionally, GISCorps volunteers would participate in discussion boards, welcome new Quad members who might benefit from GIS, and provide general consultation to individual organizations interested in growing their GIS capacities.

Outcomes

Educated Quad members and grew GISCorps awareness

GISCorps first engaged the Quad community through a presentation event titled “Getting started with GIS”. This presentation provided an introduction to GIS concepts, tools, and available data while identifying potential opportunities for nonprofits to use GIS technology to support their organizational goals. This event was recorded, ensuring these resources will remain available to Quad members in the future.

The event included an introduction to GISCorps by founder Shoreh Elhami, presenting its mission to coordinate volunteers in short term GIS projects to address the needs of underserved communities and highlighting several past GISCorps projects. Following Shoreh’s discussion, Roma Hicks educated members on the history and fundamental principles of GIS. He also identified relevant sources of GIS data and GIS software options that are available to nonprofit organizations.

Volunteers also authored several posts on Quad’s Mapping & GIS page that discussed the many benefits GIS can provide to nonprofits, covering four themes: spatial data sources, spatial analysis, community engagement, and storytelling. These posts included detailed explanations, examples of work done by others in the nonprofit space, academia, and the nonprofit sector, and some historic examples. They also contained calls to action to engage members and ideas to get started. 

Demonstrated relevant GIS technology

The intention of this collaboration between GISCorps and TechSoup was to raise awareness of GIS technologies and impart knowledge that could empower TechSoup members to implement GIS solutions to meet their organizational needs. To guide members as they got started using GIS, GISCorps presented the event: “Beyond the Basics: Hands-On GIS for Nonprofits”. This presentation focused on hands-on examples of GIS tools in action to demonstrate the collection of real-time observation data, storytelling, and community engagement that is possible with readily available GIS tools. The demonstration provided a brief view of the configuration and use of ArcGIS StoryMaps and Survey123, showing Quad members how they can create their own resources, regardless of their technical background, using drag-and-drop tools.

Roma Hicks demonstrated the use of Survey123 to create data collection tools without the need to build and manage geodatabases, schemas, and tables. The demo showcased the form builder, field configuration, and use of workflows using a variety of form fields. Roma showed the form in action, collecting mock data that simulated field operations and how Survey123 can automate data quality assurance. Finally, the Survey123 demo ended with a viewing of data entered by not only Roma but also by the audience members who chose to participate in the mock data collection exercise.

Monarch Butterfly Migration – Survey123

Jill Derwin then demonstrated how to create engaging multimedia experiences with the data collected through Survey123 by using ArcGIS StoryMaps without needing to know HTML or CSS. Jill provided a tour of the StoryMap editor, showcasing many of the tool options by creating a website following Monarch butterfly migration as an example. She showed Quad members how this tool can combine maps and other media to produce a professional website to effectively engage their audience.

Monarch Butterfly Migration – StoryMap

As before, this presentation was recorded by TechSoup and added to their library of technology resources for members to review.

Provided direct assistance to Quad members

In addition to formally engaging with the Quad community through events and articles, GISCorps volunteers communicated directly with some members to provide information and assistance related to GIS technology. Roma introduced himself with a post to Quad early on in the volunteer term. He also actively engaged with 11 new Quad members and provided helpful information and resources related to GISCorps by commenting on their introductory posts as well.

One member of Quad reached out to GISCorps volunteers expressing interest in creating an interactive map for her organization’s website. She was looking for a GIS solution that could engage her community, manage data from various sources, and create a record of information that would outlive the current members of the organization by incorporating forms to add and maintain data as needed. Volunteers worked with this Quad member through email discussion, virtual meetings, and example reviews of similar GIS products. Finally, volunteers created a needs-assessment for her organization by researching similar map products, connecting with the organizations that managed them, and gaining better understanding of the resources and processes required to make this type of map a reality. GISCorps volunteers also assisted in connecting her with Esri’s nonprofit licensing team to help her set up an account. Finally, volunteers engaged other GISCorps staff to assess if her GIS needs would be a good candidate for a volunteer project.

Increased community engagement in GIS topics on Quad

As described above, GISCorps volunteers engaged the Quad community through virtual events and blog-type articles on Quad’s Mapping & GIS page as well as through post comments, emails, and one-on-one meetings. These efforts led to an increase in community engagement related to GIS topics within Quad as summarized below.

Events:

The volunteers’ interactions with the Quad community through events, posts, comments, and direct communications reached at least 27 members. The live events presented in August and September were well-attended with 27 and 16 viewers respectively. An engagement report provided by Quad summarizes the impact of these events stating that the events were “…highly successful… reflecting strong interest in introductory GIS content for non-profits…” and “…demonstrat[ed] steady community interest in learning advanced GIS concepts.” The report lauded the volunteers’ role in planning and presenting these events as it “…played a key role in the success of these events, and both contributed significantly to promoting the sessions and ensuring strong participation.”

Posts:

During the volunteer term, which lasted from July to November 2025, volunteers created a total of 9 posts on the Mapping and GIS page. This represents 32% of all posts to that page. These posts garnered 15 likes, 8 comments, and 96 total views, as highlighted in the table below. 

The effect that the GISCorps volunteers’ participation had on Quad’s Mapping and GIS page was significant. As seen in Table 3, they increased the average posts per month by 80% during their term, while increasing the number of likes/month by 58% and the number of comments per month by 33%.

Outreach:

Additionally, GISCorps volunteers reached out to new members who may benefit from GIS technologies by way of other Quad posts and by email. Volunteers identified and reached out to 14 new Quad members. 

Conclusions

The GISCorps and TechSoup partnership was a great synthesis of aligned goals and expertise that benefited both organizations’ clients. TechSoup generously provided their platform, technical presentation expertise, and access to their members, allowing GISCorps volunteers to reach dozens of organizations in a relatively short time. GISCorps volunteers provided TechSoup with access to GIS expertise and built content to add to TechSoup’s library. A great success of this partnership is a Quad member who reached out to the GISCorps for assistance in defining their GIS needs and possible future GIS operations, all while being supported and propelled by TechSoup’s Quad. Most importantly, TechSoup and GISCorps built a bridge for future nonprofit organizations, where cooperation and knowledge may flow to further everyone’s organizational mission.

As stated in Quad’s engagement report:

“Both volunteers have made a significant impact, and we deeply appreciate their contributions…” and “have shown an active interest in supporting GIS educational events.”

We, the GISCorps volunteers Jill Derwin and Roma Hicks, are extremely grateful for having had the opportunity to work with GISCorps and TechSoup on a project aligned with using GIS technologies for the betterment of society and the world. We hope to see further collaborations like this project that continue to benefit all participants.

We also would like to recognize the contributions from: Marylin DeMoraes for data contributions and input and Carly Ruiz for editing.

Project Completed.