using data for fun and profit

Data for Fun and Profit

Heather Yandowheather@thirdspacestudio.com

Today’s Agenda

• Types of data• Discovering your data needs• Collecting data• Using data• Data dashboards• Other data visualization tools

data

“The goal is to turn data into information, and information into

insight.”

Carly Fiorina

Four Types of Data

From NTEN’s 2012 State of Nonprofit Data Report1. Financial and internal operations data2. Marketing, communications, and fundraising

data3. Program data4. External data

Financial and Operations Data

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

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

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

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

Questions? Comments?

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?

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

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?

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

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

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

Questions? Comments?

“It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has the

data.”

Arthur Conan Doyle

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

Individual Donor Benchmarks Report

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

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

Data Dashboard• A Nonprofit Dashboard and Signal Lights for

Boards from Blue Avocado • Identify metrics, targets, and progress• Code with green, yellow, red

Data Dashboard

“Torture numbers and they’ll confess anything.”

-Greg Easterbrook

Data Visualization

• Design follows data• Focus on your questions

Data Visualization

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

Data Visualization

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

Storytelling with Data

Storytelling with Data

Storytelling with Data

Storytelling with Data

Questions? Comments?

Google Public Data

Infogr.am

Easel.ly

Questions? Comments?

Thank you!

Heather Yandow919.780.4117

heather@thirdspacestudio.comwww.thirdspacestudio.com