Leakage Calculator FAQ

Have a question about the BALLE Leakage Calculators? Please email leakagecalculators@livingeconomies.org!

Michael Shuman has put together a document detailing the many ways you can use the BALLE calculators. Please download Eight Ways to Use the BALLE Calculators.

For information about our data sources and methodology, please click here.

I just submitted payment to access the BALLE Leakage Calculators. Why am I still being denied access?
Are special rates available for non-profits?
What information will I need to input?
What are the sources of data for the BALLE Leakage Calculators?
How do I select more than one zip code or county and get aggregate results?
Where's my bank? I know it's locally-owned, but it's not coming up in search results!

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I just submitted payment to access the BALLE Leakage Calculators. Why am I still being denied access?

Thank you for purchasing access to the BALLE Leakage Calculators! Please allow up to 48 hours for a BALLE staff member to process your payment and allow your account access to the calculators.

Are special rates available for non-profits?

We do not have a special non-profit rate. All 3 calculators cost $50 total (not $50 a piece) for BALLE member networks. For organizations and businesses that are not a part of a BALLE member network, the price is $100 (total for all 3 calculators) for 1 month. At $100 this is still less than 5% of what it would cost someone to hire an expert to purchase these data and crunch the numbers for you! Whichever pricing scheme fits for you, you'll get an online account that allows you access to the calculator website, and that account will be active for 1 months.

What information will I need to input?
 You'll only have to enter a few data points for the calculators to work, and you'll already know these data points off the top of your head -- things like the geographic location you're interested in, the level of the detail you want in the results. For more information about how to use the data the calculators generate, please see http://www.livingeconomies.org/sites/default/files/EightWays-BALLEcalculators.pdf.

What are the sources of data for the BALLE Leakage Calculators?

Please click here to access information about the different sources used for data.

How do I select more than one zip code or county and get aggregate results?

By building your own region you can view results for a cluster of zip codes, multiple counties or any combination of areas useful for your work.

To begin, click on “Build Regions” in the top menu bar. You will be taken to the Regions homepage.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can create a region for any one of the BALLE Leakage Calculators by clicking “Add a region.” When you click on “Add a region” you’ll be asked to provide a name, which can be whatever you’d like.
 

For this example, we’re building the region of “Western Massachusetts.” 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once you name the region, you need to define the region by adding areas. You can add individual states, counties and zip codes. To do so, click on “Add an area” and you’ll be taken to the leakage calculator. Enter in the county or zip code you’d like to add, and click submit. When your result set pulls up, there will be an option in the top right to “Add results to region.” 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Click on the pull down menu, select your region and press “go.”


 

 

 

 

 

 

You will be taken back to the “Build a region” page, where your area will now be displayed as part of your customized region.  You can continue to click “Add an area” until you’ve completed building your region.


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When you’ve finished adding areas, click on your region name to pull up comprehensive leakage results for your customized region. 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Your aggregated results are available to download as a CSV file.  Please save your regional results, as your region will expire when you quit your browser. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Where's my bank? I know it's locally-owned, but it's not coming up in search results!

In version 1.1 of this calculator, which will be available in early 2011, we will undertake a more nuanced sorting of financial institutions. Until then if the results displayed omit a locally-owned bank or credit union in your area--please contact us! We will use your local knowledge to refine these results and improve our listings. Thanks for your help!