This report presents the findings from a research project on the Partnership Program for 2010, sponsored by the Census 2010 Publicity Office of the Communications Directorate of the U.S. Census Bureau and conducted by ICF International. The project made use of quantitative data from a number of different sources, including the American Community Survey and the Integrated Partner Contact Database (IPCD), and qualitative data from focus groups and interviews with national partners to collect information about the Partnership Program in addressing the following research questions:

• What is the quantitative impact of the Partnership Program on census mailback rates?
• How can the National Partnership Program be improved, and how can the Census Bureau maintain active national partners in intercensal years?
• What should the metrics be for measuring the impact and value of the Partnership Program?

To address the first research question, the ICF team built a consolidated database of quantitative data at the individual census tract level for a number of regression analyses. To address the second and third research questions, the ICF team conducted four focus groups and interviewed 55 national partners by telephone. The results of these data collection efforts are reported here.

The perspective adopted in the course of this project for research aims 2 and 3 above was a “forward ‐ looking” one. Examining the potential ways in which the National Partnership Program can be improved and identifying the metrics that can be used to assess program success were more important than analyzing the events that took place during the 2010 Census. The data collection protocols were developed so that the topics covered in the focus groups and interviews were not about what happened to the 2010 Census but were more in line with how the respondents think that the National Partnership Program may be best operationalized in the future, including what materials or processes are necessary.

Another focus of this project was on getting the perceptions and opinions from the participants – the actual partners – of the program. The Census Bureau devoted a great deal of resources to developing program materials and supporting all the partners in various ways. Looking to the future, the ways in which the program can be improved not only for the 2020 Census but also for the intercensal years is of great importance to planning the evolution of this program.