Strategic Spartanburg

What Strategic Spartanburg does

Strategic Spartanburg (also referred to as SSI) is a nonprofit community data and research organization founded in 2022 and headquartered at 349 E Main St, Suite 101, Spartanburg, South Carolina. The organization uses local data and evidence to inform policy, guide investment, and strengthen neighborhoods across Spartanburg County, and serves local government officials and policymakers, community organizations and practitioners, educators and youth-services providers, and community members. Its primary segments are local government and community organizations, with educators and the broader community as secondary audiences.

Its core offerings are organized around four programmatic pillars: the Community Indicators Project, the Community Research Center, the Policy & Advocacy Institute, and Measurement & Evaluation, with The Consortium serving as a collaborative stakeholder network. The technical core consists of two interactive web dashboards — the Community Indicators Project Dashboard, which aggregates seven community domains (Civic Health, Cultural Vitality, Economy, Natural Environment, Public Health, Social Environment, and Education), and the Upward Mobility Data Dashboard, built on the Urban Institute's five-pillar framework. These are complemented by research products including a State of Youth Mental and Behavioral Health report and policy briefs on Youth Mental Health and Poverty & Housing, plus a Dialogue & Discourse blog and a quarterly Community Ledger newsletter distributed through Squarespace and Mailchimp.

The business model is that of a small nonprofit: revenue derives from donations collected through a donation portal (godonate.akoyago.com) and grant funding, with no disclosed pricing, subscription tiers, or commercial product revenue. Distribution is self-serve through the website, and the organization does not offer APIs or app products. Strategic Spartanburg joined the National Neighborhood Indicators Partnership (NNIP) network coordinated by the Urban Institute as South Carolina's first NNIP partner, which is its most consequential positioning move and provides national affiliation and methodology support, but does not constitute an ownership or funding relationship.

Name

Strategic Spartanburg

Legal name

Strategic Spartanburg

Website

https://strategicspartanburg.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2022

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Strategic Spartanburg is a Spartanburg, South Carolina-based nonprofit research organization founded in 2022 that collects and publishes local community indicator data, dashboards, and policy briefs to inform policy, guide investment, and strengthen neighborhoods across Spartanburg County, serving local government, community organizations, educators, and residents.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Spartanburg

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Donations and Grants: The organization accepts donations through its website (godonate.akoyago.com) and likely operates as a nonprofit receiving grant funding from partners including the National Neighborhood Indicators Partnership network coordinated by the Urban Institute.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Strategic Spartanburg is a nonprofit community data and research organization that collects, analyzes, and visualizes local indicators to inform public policy and community investment in Spartanburg County. Its core deliverables are interactive data dashboards (Community Indicators Project Dashboard and Upward Mobility Data Dashboard), applied research reports (including the State of Youth Mental and Behavioral Health report), and policy briefs that translate data into actionable recommendations for local leaders.

Product overview

Strategic Spartanburg is a community data and research organization offering a portfolio of data dashboards, research reports, policy briefs, and engagement tools. The core offerings include the Community Indicators Project Dashboard and Upward Mobility Data Dashboard, which provide data-driven insights across seven key community domains. These analytical platforms are complemented by specific research products including the State of Youth Mental and Behavioral Health Report and Policy Briefs on Youth Mental Health and Poverty & Housing. The organization also operates engagement platforms including the Dialogue & Discourse Blog for community discourse and The Community Ledger Newsletter for quarterly updates. Additional programs such as the Community Research Center, Policy & Advocacy Institute, and Measurement & Evaluation services support organizations and individuals using community data to inform policy and civic action. The organization serves as South Carolina's first National Neighborhood Indicators Partnership (NNIP) partner, connecting local data efforts to a national network coordinated by the Urban Institute.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Community Indicators Project Dashboard

Quantifiable outcome

• Produced comprehensive Youth Mental and Behavioral Health report for Spartanburg County identifying risk and protective factors through focus groups and statistical analysis.

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Urban Institute (National Neighborhood Indicators Partnership)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerStrategic Spartanburg has joined the National Neighborhood Indicators Partnership (NNIP) network coordinated by the Urban Institute. This partnership provides access to a national network that helps communities use local data to shape policy, guide investment, and strengthen neighborhoods. As South Carolina's first NNIP partner, this milestone places Spartanburg in a national community of local data organizations working to make information more accessible, actionable, and community-centered.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Urban Institute: National policy research organization that coordinates the NNIP network of which Strategic Spartanburg is a partner. Highly comparable in mission (community data for policy) but operates at national scale and on a far broader research agenda.
• PolicyLink: National research and advocacy organization advancing racial and economic equity through policy. Comparable in combining community data with advocacy and policy work, but operates nationally rather than at a single county level.

Regional players

• Cleveland Foundation: Large community foundation with a long-running community indicators program and neighborhood data work. Comparable as a place-based philanthropic actor that funds and publishes community data, though much larger and operating as a foundation rather than a data nonprofit.

Others

• Candid (formerly GuideStar): Nonprofit information aggregator that awarded Strategic Spartanburg its Transparency Seal. Adjacent rather than competitive — provides nonprofit transparency infrastructure that Strategic Spartanburg uses for credibility with funders.

Direct peers

• Baltimore Neighborhood Indicators Alliance: NNIP partner producing the Vital Signs community indicators project for the Baltimore region. Highly comparable in product (community indicators dashboards) and in tying data to policy and community decision-making.
• COMPASS (Allegheny County): NNIP partner producing community indicators for Allegheny County (Pittsburgh region). Comparable community indicators product, though operated out of county government rather than as an independent nonprofit.
• Neighborhood Nexus: Atlanta-based community data intermediary and NNIP partner that aggregates neighborhood-level indicators for civic use. Operates a directly comparable community indicators and civic data model to Strategic Spartanburg, but in a metro-scale market.
• National Neighborhood Indicators Partnership (NNIP): Network of local partner organizations (of which Strategic Spartanburg is one) that use community indicators data to inform policy and investment. The most direct comparator in terms of mission, methodology, and stakeholder relationships.
• DataWorks NC: NNIP partner focused on community data in the Greensboro / North Carolina region. Closely comparable as a small, place-based NNIP member using local indicators to inform equity-focused policy and investment.

Emerging players

• Measure of America (Social Science Research Council): Project of the Social Science Research Council that produces the American Human Development Index and state/community-level well-being rankings. Overlaps with Strategic Spartanburg on community well-being measurement and policy translation.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/StrategicSpbg
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/strategic-spartanburg

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Strategic Spartanburg