4. Initial questions to ask

• How does building a news app tracking local real estate development fit in with your organization’s mission?
• How does a development tracker serve readers, and how will you involve them in the project?
• Put another way – does your audience and community need or want this?
• Do you have the necessary development experience to set up and maintain your app?
• Do you have the necessary capacity to create and manage your data?
• From whom do you need buy-in and assistance to launch and maintain the app?
• Who will be responsible for different pieces of the project, and will they have capacity with their other obligations?
• How will you sustain the tracker – will you apply for grants, encourage readers support and/or seek sponsorship and ad revenue? How can you start making the case for funding now?

The next section gives you an overview of what data you will be collecting, how it will be structured and how you will collect it, as well as other considerations to keep in mind.