Worldmapping

Here are two very cool tools to add to your data display collection. First, the WorldMapper lets you mashh together various data sources and display it on a world map. For example, you can show the number of people killed by drought, those with advanced education degrees, children living in poverty, etc.

Here is an example showing the world as it would look if
size were correlated with insect infestation.

Second is GapMinder, which I have pointed to before . It uses data from Google and displays the results as a dynamic trend map. I can't post a snapshot here but check it out at GapMinder.

So what for philanthropy? A picture is worth a thousand words. Or, in some cases, these pictures might make the difference in millions of dollars in grants. These are great tools for making a point about data, they're widely available, and they are free.

Tags: philanthropy, web2.0