This document discusses using data to improve nonprofit organizations. It covers four types of data: financial, marketing/fundraising, program, and external data. The document recommends starting by identifying key questions, then collecting relevant data to answer those questions. Choosing the right database and visualizing data in dashboards and stories can help nonprofits use data to measure performance, benchmark activities, and improve decision making.

1. Data for
Fun and Profit
Heather Yandow
heather@thirdspacestudio.com

2. Today’s Agenda
• Types of data
• Discovering your data needs
• Collecting data
• Using data
• Data dashboards
• Other data visualization tools

3. data

4. “The goal is to turn data into
information, and information into
insight.”
Carly Fiorina

5. Four Types of Data
From NTEN’s 2012 State of Nonprofit Data Report
1. Financial and internal operations data
2. Marketing, communications, and fundraising
data
3. Program data
4. External data

6. Financial and Operations Data
• Simplest version: budget vs. actuals
• Financial and operations data includes:
– Expenses
– Income
– Cash on hand
– Volunteer hours
– Staff training

7. Marketing, Communications, and
Fundraising Data
• Simplest version: membership records
• Marketing and communications:
– # of website visitors, most popular pages, and time
spent on site
– # of emails on your newsletter list, open rate, and
click through rate
– # of comments on Facebook, # of actions
• Fundraising:
– # of new donors, retention rate, and average gift
– response rate to direct mail

8. Program Data
• Simplest version: program participation
• Ideal: collect data on outcomes, not activities
• Key question: so what?
Activity Metric Outcome Metric
# of people attending a
training
% of training participants who are using their new skills 6
months after the training
# of lobby visits % of swing legislators that voted with you
# of paddling trip
attendees
# of new people attending the paddling trip, # of new
members from paddling trips

9. External Data
• Data about the world around you, often
collected by the government or other nonprofits
• External data includes:
– Demographics of the population you serve
– Broader ‘outcome’ data about the impact you are
seeking to create
• Increasing amount of useful public data:
– data.gov
– DataMarket.com
– Google’s Public Data Directory

10. Questions? Comments?

11. Discovering Your Data Needs
• First step is to narrow down the data you want
to collect
• Collect data that will help your organization
make decisions
• Beware of “it would be interesting to
know…”
• Consider the key questions you are facing:
– How is Facebook helping us to achieve our
organizational outcomes?
– Is our kids in nature program building our
membership base?

12. Discovering Your Data Needs
• What are the three questions that will have
the most impact on your organization and its
ability to achieve its mission?
• Be sure to consider all the categories:
– Internal operations
– Marketing and fundraising
– Programs
– External environment

13. Discovering Your Data Needs
• Decide exactly what data will be tracked and
how
– For your three key questions, what data could
you track to help answer the questions? What
data is easily accessible?
– Who can/should track it? How often?

14. Collecting Data
• Get buy-in from your team
• Consider appointing a data czar
• Start small, but with big impact
• Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the
good

15. Choosing a Database
• For donor and volunteer data, you need a
database
• A Consumers Guide to Low
Cost Donor Management
Systems http://www.idealware.org/reports/
consumers-guide-donor-management-systems
– Summaries of 36 systems
– Detailed reviews of the top 11

17. Choosing a Database
• Be clear about needs vs. wants when looking
for a database
• Architecture trumps data, procedures trump
architecture
• Happiness is directly correlated with time
spent learning and using your database

18. Questions? Comments?

19. “It is a capital mistake to
theorize before one has the
data.”
Arthur Conan Doyle

20. Using Data
• Data helps you measure AND improve
performance
• Data can be used to benchmark activities
• NTEN: nten.org/research/benchmarks
• Giving USA: givingusareports.org
• M + R Benchmarks: mrbenchmarks.com

21. Individual Donor Benchmarks Report

22. Using Data
• Keep an experimentation mindset
– What are you testing?
– How will you know if you’ve been successful?
• Organize data around your key questions or
decision points
• Present data in a way that is accessible and
exciting to your team

23. Data Dashboard
• A visual tool for reviewing and decoding your
organization’s key metrics
• Can have many different audiences: public,
funders, program participants, Board
• Keep it simple and easy to understand

24. Data Dashboard
• A Nonprofit Dashboard and Signal Lights for
Boards from Blue Avocado
• Identify metrics, targets, and progress
• Code with green, yellow, red

25. Data Dashboard

26. “Torture numbers and they’ll
confess anything.”
-Greg Easterbrook

27. Data Visualization
• Design follows data
• Focus on your questions

28. Data Visualization
• Design follows data
• Keep it simple
• Tell the truth
• www.storytellingwithdata.com

29. Data Visualization
• Design follows data
• Focus on your questions
• Keep it simple
• Tell the truth
• www.storytellingwithdata.com

30. Storytelling with Data

31. Storytelling with Data

32. Storytelling with Data

33. Storytelling with Data

34. Questions? Comments?

35. Google Public Data

36. Infogr.am

37. Easel.ly

38. Questions? Comments?

39. Thank you!
Heather Yandow
919.780.4117
heather@thirdspacestudio.com
www.thirdspacestudio.com