How ArcGIS Transforms Data Management for the Arbor Day Foundation

For more than 50 years, the Arbor Day Foundation has been inspiring people to plant, nurture, and celebrate trees. In that time, the mission blossomed into a nationwide movement with millions of trees planted. A key component of the nonprofit’s growth has been its ability to leverage data to tell a story of impact.

But managing that vast amount of data has become increasingly complex as the Foundation’s network of programs and partners continues to expand.

That’s why the global nonprofit utilizes geographic information system (GIS) technology, powered by ArcGIS Enterprise, to harness huge volumes of information, streamline its operations, and enhance data visualization. 

Historically at the Arbor Day Foundation, people across multiple departments collaborated to gather key insights from the nonprofit’s marquee programs, including Tree City USA, Tree Campus K-12, Tree Campus Healthcare, Tree Campus Higher Education, Alliance for Community Trees, and Tree Line USA. In total, there are more than 4,000 recognized partners of these programs in the United States.

“Understanding the full scope of our program’s reach empowers us to identify the communities still in need of support,” said Arbor Day Foundation programs manager Lauren Weyers. “So, we need a clear picture of what’s already happening on the ground. It helps us to know where our partners are, which communities they’re serving, and how many trees they’re planting.”

In the Foundation’s previous process, the nonprofit used reporting from partners to collect information. Then, the nonprofit exported the information into spreadsheets and manually derived comprehensible data points. It was a time-intensive process subject to potential human error. After the key findings were identified, team members would input those data points to create national-scale PDF infographics for each of the six programs, as well as individual infographics for all 50 states.

“It was a really challenging and demanding process for our whole team, every year. Because of that it was also difficult to be able to provide our leadership with timely insights about the impact of our programs,” said Weyers.

Recognizing the need for a more efficient system, Weyers and other Foundation leaders turned to the nonprofit’s internal GIS team for a solution.

GIS Director Derrick Frese said he was excited when the project was brought to his team.

“This was an opportunity to really showcase the broad capabilities of GIS technology. We can use it to not only visualize data on a map but also tell a robust story about the impact of our organization, while simultaneously improving our internal process,” Frese said.

Frese and his team developed an automated workflow that extracts data from multiple systems, organizes it, and integrates it into the Foundation’s enterprise GIS. This data is then uploaded to ArcGIS Online, a cloud-based mapping and analysis solution, where it can be stored, updated, and visualized in real time. Additionally, using the ArcGIS Experience Builder, the team built a Reporting Dashboard which provides instant access to tree planting metrics and allows users to zoom into specific cities, states, or regions to see localized impacts.

“This interactive tool transforms how we can communicate about our programs,” Frese said. “It’s one thing to say we’ve planted over 12,000 trees in Iowa, but it’s more powerful when we can zoom into a specific community and show exactly where and how we’re making a difference.”

Since adopting ArcGIS technology, the Arbor Day Foundation has experienced a transformation in how it manages data, reports progress, and communicates impact. What began as an effort to streamline reporting has evolved into a broader interest in the opportunities of GIS technology.

“When other departments across the organization saw the finished product and time it saved, they started coming to us with their own challenges. They wanted to know what GIS could do for them,” Frese said. “Now, when there is a need to tell a story with data or streamline a complex process, the Foundation looks to our team for help.”

By replacing legacy business practices with cutting-edge solutions, the Foundation is well-positioned to remain a leader in data-driven environmental impact, ensuring that every tree planted is part of a larger, smarter strategy to restore our planet.