(Oct. 18) – In the U.S., a new, nuanced tool can help policy makers and social-services providers understand the country’s most acute areas of need more quickly and effectively. It is called the Human Needs Index, or HNI. Developed by the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy and the Salvation Army, the HNI focuses not on income, but on consumption. It isn’t about someone’s means; it’s about whether they can adequately meet life’s fundamental needs.

(Oct. 15) – One challenge that faces many nonprofits is having access to current, up-to-date data that supports the needs they’re trying to address. The Salvation Army has partnered with the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy at Indiana University to address this need through the creation of the Human Needs Index.

(Oct. 13) – While the name and message of the Salvation Army (which took that name in 1877) have changed substantially over time, the group’s extensive statistical undertaking has not. True to its beginnings, the wealth of numbers has mostly been used as a means of accountability, both to satisfy donors and the public of its virtue. Now, the Salvation Army has decided to use its data for a higher purpose. Last week, the Salvation Army and the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy at Indiana University announced the culmination of a five-year-long collaboration: the Human Needs Index, a brand-new tool for measuring poverty across time and geographic regions.

(Oct. 9) – In an effort to better measure the needs of nearly 47 million Americans living in poverty, one non profit and university are taking a different approach. The Salvation Army partnered with Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy to unveil Wednesday the Human Needs Index, an instrument which tracks state and national data online monthly since 2004.

(Oct. 8) – The Lilly Family School of Philanthropy at Indiana University and the Salvation Army have announced the launch of a multi-dimensional index of basic human needs in the United States. Designed to track on-the-ground indicators of poverty and its effects with less lag time than  traditional government data, the Human Needs Index (HNI) will aggregate data on seven services commonly delivered by nonprofits — meals provided, groceries, clothing, housing, furniture, medical assistance, and help with energy bills.

(Oct. 8) – The Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy in Indianapolis and The Salvation Army have launched a tool designed to track basic human needs more quickly than by conventional government data. The Human Needs Index focuses on seven indicators, which are broken down nationally and by state.

(Oct. 7) – A new tool designed to track demand for human services aims to help nonprofits and policy makers implement long-term solutions to poverty, according to its creators.

(Oct. 7) – Indiana is taking longer to recover from the Great Recession than the nation as a whole, according to a new poverty measure released Wednesday by Indiana University and the Salvation Army.

(Oct. 7) – Charities working to reduce poverty can now take advantage of a new online tool that goes far beyond federal statistics in providing both regional and national data on basic human needs among the poor–and how those needs change over time.

(Sep. 23) – Welcomed with a fanfare of trumpets and a chorus of amens, Pope Francis introduced himself to the United States on Wednesday with a bracing message on climate change, immigration and poverty that ranged from the pastoral to the political.