collaboration between Indiana University's
Lilly Family School of Philanthropy and
The Salvation Army provides a reliable
United States and to track these trends over time.
The Human Needs Index (HNI) uses The Salvation
Army's rich collection of service data to expand the
pathways through which individuals and communities
in poverty are identifi ed and targeted so that immedi-
ate and long-term solutions to improve these condi-
tions can be implemented. It is the fi rst measure of
poverty-related need constructed from the analysis
of a nonprofi t social service organization's data.
government-defi ned poverty line. For many decades,
policymakers, practitioners and nonprofi t leaders have
sought accurate and timely data to measure poverty,
economic well-being and vulnerability. Data gathering
and analysis play an increasingly critical role in deci-
sion-making for organizations across sectors. However,
little is known about conditions facing the hungry, the
homeless or the unemployed. Some scholars and
policymakers have argued that the offi cial poverty
rate may not accurately capture the true level of
poverty in the United States, either because the house-
hold poverty threshold is too low or because it does
not effectively capture all the elements that constitute
a family's fi nancial situation.
HNI's seven key indicators from more than 230 service
variables consistently tracked across time and regions
by the Army. The HNI aggregates these seven indica-
tors at national and state levels, at monthly intervals
dating back to 2004.
measures of need-based poverty. The HNI refl ects
need substantiated by consumption and not income,
which may signify more extreme deprivation at local
levels. "This allows us to go beneath the level of income
and look at the complex ways households are dealing
with vulnerability," says Dr. Una Osili of the Lilly Family
School of Philanthropy. "We tend to think of things
like food needs as indicators of poverty, but we
don't necessarily think about energy assistance as
a component, or assistance with medical care."
The result is a comprehensive measure of need that
can track changes in demand. The measurement will
also be updated quarterly--another advantage that set
the HNI apart from other measures of poverty, which
are unable to identify these variations either with such
specifi city or immediacy. The index also takes into
account factors infl uencing changes in need such as
seasonal effects, natural disasters and periods of
purchased from
a Salvation Army facility.
voucher or distributed
orders provided.
Orders:
payments to establish
and/or maintain an
individual/family in
their own home.
Orders: