About What Works Cities

What Works Cities is designed to accelerate cities’ use of data and evidence to improve people’s lives.

Launched by Bloomberg Philanthropies in April 2015, What Works Cities is a national initiative to help 100 mid-sized American cities enhance their use of data and evidence to improve services, inform local decision-making and engage residents. We are the nation’s most comprehensive philanthropic initiative helping local leaders identify and invest in what works. For more information about applying, click here.

The What Works Cities Standard

The What Works Cities Standard reflects a set of aspirations and activities that create a strong foundation for the effective use of data and evidence within city government. The four components - Commit, Measure, Take Stock and Act – build on each other and reflect the practices that city leaders have taken on across the United States to advance the effectiveness of their governments.

1. Commit

What Works Cities leaders make powerful, public commitments to getting better results for their residents by using data and evidence.

1. Commit

Define Goals and Progress: The Mayor and city leaders work collaboratively to define city goals and the measurable progress they intend to see toward meeting those goals.
State Commitment Publicly: The Mayor speaks publicly about using data and evidence to inform policy, funding, and management decisions.
Engage Residents: The Mayor engages residents regularly about progress on city priorities,  and provides data and evidence to discuss achievements and challenges.
Collaborate and Galvanize: The Mayor builds buy-in around using data and evidence and empowers city leaders to effectively harness these resources.

2. Measure

What Works Cities leaders use the data and tools at their disposal to measure progress and engage residents along the way.

2. Measure

Collect Data: The city systematically collects high-quality, relevant, administrative and performance data.
Focus on Results: The city uses outcome-based performance measures to determine the impact of its core operations and contracted services.
Share Openly and Often: Through the public release of accessible data, the city enables residents and other decision-makers to track and discuss progress on important public services and programs—and promotes a culture of government transparency and accountability.

3. Take Stock

What Works Cities leaders consistently review and reflect to measure progress, learn, and make corrections and improvements.

3. Take Stock

Understand Performance: The Mayor uses a citywide performance management system to enable decision-makers to understand trends, spot opportunities, advance citywide goals, and improve outcomes for residents.
Assess Progress: The city uses data and evidence on an ongoing basis to assess progress toward goals and support continuous improvement.
Evaluate Impact: The city regularly evaluates programs and services to determine and improve their impact.

4. Act

What Works Cities leaders use data and evidence to inform major decisions and take action.

4. Act

Use Data and Evidence to Inform Decisions: The city’s review of data and evidence informs the city’s planning, budget, funding, and management decisions.
Facilitate Public Use of Data: The city empowers the public—including citizens, journalists, local institutions, researchers, and entrepreneurs— to use city data to create value for residents and communities.
Use Evidence of Impact: The city uses evidence of impact from a range of evaluation methods  to inform new and improve existing policies and programs.
Redirect Funds: The city redirects funds away from policies and programs that do not show measurable impact or contribute to city goals.

Meet Our Partners

Bloomberg Philanthropies has assembled an unparalleled group of leading practitioners to provide a program of support for cities. These expert partners help Mayors and city leaders through customized approaches designed to expand cities’ use of data and evidence.

The Behavioral Insights Team (BIT) started life inside the Prime Minister’s Office at 10 Downing Street in the United Kingdom and now helps organizations around the world boost social impact by working together on improving the design of public services and measuring effectiveness using rigorous evaluation techniques.

As a part of What Works Cities, BIT will help cities conduct real time, low-cost evaluations of programs, so they can continually improve city services.

The Government Performance Lab at the Harvard Kennedy School conducts research on how governments can improve the results they achieve for their citizens. An important part of this research model involves providing pro bono technical assistance to state and local governments. Through this hands-on involvement, the Government Performance Lab gains insights into the barriers that governments face and the solutions that can overcome these barriers.

As part of What Works Cities, the Government Performance Lab will support cities in improving the results they achieve with their contracted dollars.

The Center for Government Excellence at Johns Hopkins University helps governments build capacity for decision making that is rooted in evidence, open accountability, and citizen engagement. The interdisciplinary Center is part of the Institute of the 21st Century City where it augments research and academics.

As part of What Works Cities, the Center will work with cities to assess the current state of What Works practices, and support implementation and enhancement of open data and performance management programs.

Results for America strives to improve outcomes for citizens and communities by shifting public resources toward programs, practices, and policies that use evidence and data to improve quality and get better results. The organization seeks to drive broader systems-change so that “investing in what works” becomes the new norm for allocating public dollars.

Results for America will ensure a world-class experience for all participating cities, coordinate the What Works Cities partners, and advance a nationwide dialogue on the need for cities to use data and evidence in decision making.

The Sunlight Foundation, a nonpartisan nonprofit organization, uses the tools of civic tech, policy analysis and original reporting to advocate for more transparency and accountability in government at all levels.

As part of What Works Cities, Sunlight will help cities craft meaningful and sustainable open data policies.