An outreach group supported by various New Mexico foundations is requesting proposals for community-based outreach to populations at risk of being under counted in the 2020 Census.

Friday at 5 p.m. is the deadline to apply for grants ranging from $5,000 to $20,000 to NM Counts 2020, read a news release from the organization made up of multiple state and national funders.

“The 2020 Census is a once in every 10 years opportunity to count everyone living in New Mexico and ensuring that we count our often-underrepresented communities is of utmost importance,” said Nelsey Dominguez, NM Counts grant making subcommittee chairperson said in the release.

Support local journalism. Subscribe to the Carlsbad Current-Argus.

NM Counts 2020 commissioned a study with several organizations, including the University of New Mexico Population Studies Department to help determine hard to count areas of New Mexico.

More:Looking for work? U.S. Census Bureau is hiring

Cathy Frey, executive director of the New Mexico Association of Grantmakers, said 75 percent of New Mexicans indicated they’re very likely to submit a Census form this year.

“New Mexico is the hardest state to count in the country,” she said. “We’re putting as much as we can for resources for outreach.”

Frey said Hispanics, Native Americans, parents of children 0-10 and renting populations are among sub-groups who have historically been undercounted in New Mexico.

“These research findings provide an early assessment of where outreach and resources are needed most,” she said.

More:Q&A: Census Bureau recruiter talks about the need for workers in New Mexico

Frye said nearly 40,000 people were not counted during the 2010 census.

In 2016, the federal government used data from 2010 to allocate nearly $780 billion to New Mexico, or over $3,000 per person, according to Frye.

“If everyone had been counted, New Mexico’s share of the resources could have been over $120 million more per year,” she said.

Frye and Dominguez said an undercount could have a strong impact on federal services that impact all New Mexicans.

“The main concern is the loss of federal assistance programs,” Frye said. “They range from food programs and some programs that go to community development.”

“With this new round of funding, New Mexico Census Funder Collaborative wants to ensure involvement in the Census includes everyone and every area of our state,” Dominguez said.

Census counts are used to determine seats in the United States House of Representatives.

More:Oil towns see population growth, per Census data

She said Census figures are used by other groups besides the federal government.

“(The numbers are) used by the business community to make decisions on site selection and used by philanthropy to identify areas of special concern,” Frye said.

Further information can be found at https://nmcounts2020.org/.

Mike Smith can be reached at 575-628-5546 or by email at MSmith@currentargus.com or @ArgusMichae on Twitter.