National Albanian Registry
Founding circle briefing
501(c)(3)
Tax-deductible
Start here
A community of one million, counted as 224,000.
The U.S. Census undercounts Albanian Americans by 4–5×. We've been here for 200 years. Without a real number, funders, reporters, and elected officials default to the small figure — and the community planning around it is sized to match. AAPI Data built this kind of count for the Asian American community a decade ago. We're building one now, alongside the Vatra federation, AANO, parishes, and the Albanian American Civic League.
Where 224K and 1M come from
224,000 — U.S. Census ACS 2024, Table B04006 (Albanian first-ancestry self-identification). The Census only asks for one ancestry per person and misses anyone who doesn't write "Albanian" on the form.
~1,000,000 — community estimate including ethnic Albanians from Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro, and Çamëria (Greece), plus 2nd- and 3rd-generation households the Census ancestry question misses. Triangulated from diocesan rolls, Albanian-heritage school enrollment, consulate records, and ethnic-association membership.
See the receipts
- ✓albanianregistry.org — mobile-first, EN + Shqip mirror
- ✓Cryptographically signed Certificate of Albanian Identity (W3C VC, did:web)
- ✓State-by-state ambassador network with private kit hub
- ✓Admin CRM + audit log + ambassador pipeline
- ✓Three cornerstone articles published (citizenship, history, count)
- ✓501(c)(3) filed; 990 prep on track
The artifact
Every registrant gets a numbered, cryptographically signed Certificate of Albanian Identity. Bilingual EN+SQ on a single sheet, frameable at A4 landscape. The QR opens a public verifier that re-runs the W3C signature check on every visit — the math holds even if NAR's servers are offline.
Sample preview. Real certs use the recipient's name, registration number, and a unique QR linking to their verifier page. See a real one →
Watch the count
Live · refreshes on every load
23
Registered
+23
This week
6
States
2
Ambassadors
Where the dollars land
- Ambassador seated
- Registrants, ambassador open
- Anchor market — open
Anchor markets: NY ~56K, MI ~27K, MA ~21K Albanian ancestry (U.S. Census 2024 ACS).
Top states: TX (9) · NY (8) · MA (2) · MO (2) · FL (1). Named ambassadors: Iliriana Sela (NY), Marsel (TX).
Move this year
Three things lined up at the same time. The diaspora has accumulated meaningful capital, professional networks in DC and Albany, and a generation old enough to fund infrastructure their parents couldn't. Cloud hosting, open-source identity tooling, and Resend-style email have cut the cost of running a national registry by roughly two orders of magnitude versus a 2010 build. And a 2028 election cycle is on the calendar — campaigns and journalists writing about Albanian Americans are going to cite some number; we'd rather it be one we documented.
What year one proves
10,000
Registered, all 50 states
1,000
Households with a verifiable cert
1
Public benchmark report — the ACS gap, by state and generation
Where $50,000 goes
| Infrastructure — hosting, email, storage, monitoring | $8,000 |
| Ten state ambassadors — events, materials, expense reimbursements | $15,000 |
| First 1,000 printed certs & outreach kits mailed | $7,000 |
| Content engine — 10 cornerstone articles, EN + SQ | $8,000 |
| Legal, compliance, 990 preparation | $5,000 |
| Reserve & buffer | $7,000 |
| Year-one total | $50,000 |
Volunteer board. No paid staff. Every dollar line-itemed and published in the annual Impact Report. Publicly auditable at albanianregistry.org/budget.
Look ten years out
The Albanian American congressional candidate who runs in 2028 will cite a community size; we want a documented one in the room. An Albanian-owned business applying for a small-business grant should have a credible community-size figure to point to. The Albanian consulate planning U.S. services should have a current contact list to work from. We're building toward those uses alongside Vatra, AANO, the Civic League, and the parishes that already serve this community. Year one funds the foundation.
Pick how you commit
Founding gift
$50,000
Funds all of year one. Your name and photo go on the Founding 100 wall at /founders. Direct line to Ervin and the team for twelve months. Named in the first annual impact report.
Lead match
$25,000
Your $25K becomes a public match: every dollar the community donates, we match — up to $25,000. Match campaigns at our stage commonly draw 1.5–3× participation in nonprofit benchmarks, so the realistic envelope is $37–75K total raised; we'll publish what comes in. You're named publicly as the match donor.
Founding circle
$10,000
The entry tier at the founding level. Funds about a quarter of year one — roughly 200 mailed certificates, or the first three state events. Name and photo on /founders. Quarterly written updates from the team.