This document discusses the value of data for non-profit organizations. It explains that data can help organizations better target services, improve advocacy and fundraising, and demonstrate impact. The document provides examples of open government data sources and case studies of organizations using data effectively. It also discusses potential barriers to using data and where organizations can find help and support.

1. Know your numbers; the
value of data
June Gomes
Providing professional support services to Third Sector
organisations

2. What is Data?
 Sometimes referred to as Big Data
 Big data – using diverse sources of data sets, some of which
might be very large and employing mathematical techniques to
extract new information from them.
 Open data - Datasets that are made accessible in non
proprietary formats under licences that permit unrestricted re-use.
 Open government data involves governments providing many of
their datasets online in this way

3. Do we need to crunch
numbers?
 “Its is easy to keep on doing things you do because
that’s what you’ve always done. Data allows you to see if
its the right thing to do”, (Duncan Ross, Datakind UK)
 Experience and data:
 shows what you are doing works
 Shows you how to do things more effectively
 Shows you how to do more with the resources you have
 Private sector been analysing data for years. E.g. Tesco
Clubcard initiative collects data on its customers
spending habits and uses it to inform the business

4. Benefits of using data
Existing open government data can be used by
charities/VCS:
 to add value to their work,
 to target services better,
 to improve advocacy and fundraising
 to support knowledge sharing and
collaboration between different charities and
public agencies
 to demonstrate impact

5. Types of data out there
 2001 & 2011 Census
 Population estimates & future projections
 Ethnicity, spoken languages
 Number of households and housing projections
 Unemployment rates & benefit claimants
 Educational attainment
 Deprivation (including Free School Meals)
 Health, e.g. child obesity, teenage pregnancy, life
expectancy
 Waste, energy and climate change
 Transport

6. Types of big and open data sets
 http://data.gov.uk/ - There are over 9,000 datasets available,
from all central government departments and a number of other
public sector bodies and local authorities.
 Councils have been asked to publish info on spending of more
than £500 in an open format online.
 The Justice Data Lab has been launched by the Ministry of
Justice, working with NPC to explore how charities can use data
on re-offending to assess the outcomes of their programmes.
http://www.justice.gov.uk/justice-data-lab

7. Useful places to look for data
 The Lincolnshire Research Observatory website provides access to
socio economic data fro and about Lincolnshire.
http://www.research-lincs.org.uk/Home.aspx
 Public Health England shares information and expertise with local
authorities, industry and the NHS, to help them make improvements
in the public’s health and research, collect and analyse data to
improve understanding of health.
https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/public-health-england
 Health and Social Care Information Centre provides information about
hospital and clinic care
http://www.hscic.gov.uk/searchcatalogue

8. Useful places to look for data
 NCVO Almanac a directory of useful sources of data on the
voluntary sector
http://data.ncvo.org.uk/category/almanac/
 The Global Value Exchange - is an open source data resource that
relies on contributions from real practitioners. This “bottom up”
approach allows the real experiences of stakeholders and
organisations to be heard by others.
http://www.globalvaluexchange.org/
 Data Unity is an open source web tool which lets you explore and
visualise data then share discoveries with others. The tool promotes
Open Data, where you can query and publish data from within your
organisation and outside. http://dataunity.org/

9. Useful places to look for data
 NICE Evidence Services are a suite of services that
provide internet access to high quality authoritative
evidence and best practice. The services cover
health, social care and public health evidence.
https://www.evidence.nhs.uk/
 The unit cost database brings together more
than 600 cost estimates in a single place, most of
which are national costs derived from
government reports and academic studies.
http://data.gov.uk/sib_knowledge_box/toolkit

10. Case Study: Macmillan Cancer
Support
 Macmillan has been able to analyse NHS data
sets, including cancer registration and mortality
to create a desktop tool for commissioners to
plan cancer care in advance in any area of the
UK.
 The model developed by the charity predicts
how many people will be diagnosed with
cancer, what types they will have, how many
will die and what their needs will be in 1-3
years.

11. Case study: Barnsley Hospice
Barnsley Hospice provides an example of how data
can be used to improve fundraising.
 By linking the postcodes from their donor database
to local council information on the socio-economic
profile of neighbourhoods, they are able to tailor
their fundraising strategy for each area;
 For example, by marketing small pledges for lower
income areas and corporate giving where
businesses are located

12. Barriers
 Realistic about the sectors knowledge, skills and
capacity to work with data
 Understanding how and where to access big data
sets.
 Measuring impact can be hard and a if there is lack of
human resources and capacity for some VCS
organisations to do this.
 Do the benefits outweigh the costs?

13. Where to get help and support
 Datakind and the Open Knowledge Foundation offer
various support to help people gain data skills and
are helping charities to get to grips with their data.
 Clinks and NPC's have a guide that introduces you
to the increasing number of software tools that may
help you to better collect and analyse data and
raises some issues to consider.
http://www.clinks.org/support/evaluation-and-effectiveness

14. Example
 Example of an issue you are trying to
address?
What data do you need to evidence the need
for a project/intervention?
Where could you look to get the data?
 How do you, could you demonstrate your
impact?

15. Example Continued
 Example of an issue you are trying to address?
– reducing/minimising self harm and suicide in young people
 What data do you need to evidence the need for a
project/intervention?
– causes self harm and suicide in young people?
– Number of young people affected each year
– What types/ages of young people are more susceptible
 What current provision of support is there?
-review of current service providers – check with CVS’s for
voluntary sector providers check with health agencies for
public/private sector providers.
-Carry out Google searches.

16. Example Continued
 Where could you look to get the data?
– The power of the web : a systematic review of studies of the
influence of the internet on self-harm and suicide in young
people, (public library or science 2013)
– Age specific suicide rates
http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/search/index.html?pageSize=50&sortBy=none&– Talking self harm, (young minds 2012)
- feed in any data you may have collected your self

17. Example Continued
 How do you, could you demonstrate your impact?
– Cost savings of hospital admissions/camhs
referrals/GP visits - CG133 Self-harm (longer
term management): full guideline (NICE 2011)
– Increased health and emotional wellbeing in to
adulthood – Increased attendance at school
/colleges

18. What are infographics
 Infographics (a blend of information and
graphics) are a visually attractive way of
displaying (often complex) data.
 An infographic can display a whole variety of
data, from charts and graphs to timelines and
flow diagrams.

19. Examples of Infographics
 http://www.google.com/think/images/online-consumption- https://www.delineo.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/ http://theceword.files.wordpress.com/2013/08/20130828-

20. What type of infographic could you use?
If you want your infographic to be both effective and widely distributed, you need to create the
right type of infographic for your particular purpose. The major types are:
 Data visualization is a visual representation of data or the practice of visualizing
data. Data visualizations enable people to detect trends, patterns, and outliers
and could include word clouds, maps, and bar graphs.
 http://cdn2.business2community.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/The-Biggest-Shift-infographic- Narrative infographics guide the viewer through a series of information—often
in a chronological order—that tells a story. Infographics that explore the history of
a discipline is a common example.
http://milesbakerclarke.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/media_httpcachegawker_mxaar-scaled1000.
jpg
 Information design is a type of infographic that focuses on the display of
information efficiently and effectively, communicating a message clearly and
universally. Examples include flowcharts, organizational diagrams, and
anatomical illustrations.
http://lish-55.deviantart.com/art/Panda-Infographic-142628025

21. What are the benefits of creating
infographics?
Just like any marketing asset, an infographic has its
time and place. They work well for the following:
 Driving traffic
 Increasing project/campaign/brand awareness
 Communicating results/impact externally
 Communicating results/impact internally

22. What if I Don’t Have Good Design
Skills?
No problem! There are plenty of websites requiring little to no technical knowledge
that can generate infographics out of your data (FREE).
 Piktochart: Billed as an infographics and presentation tool for non-designers,
this software gives you access to themes, interactive charts, and customization
tools.
 Visual.ly: This service’s free data visualization tools can help you create
infographics from a handful of themes in a matter of seconds.
 Infogr.am: With more than 30 chart types, this free tool allows you to edit data,
customize images, and instantly download and share your infographic.
 Easle.ly: Still in its public beta, this site boasts thousands of what it calls
“vhemes” (short for visual themes) that can be used to create your own
infographic.
 For interactive timelines, try Timeline JS or Wordle if you’re interested in
creating ‘word clouds’.

23. Using PowerPoint to create infographics
 http://blog.gcflearnfree.org/2012/09/10/creatin
g-graphics-with-powerpoint/

24. Example of Infographic created in PowerPoint

25. Thank you!!