improving a non-profit's collection and use of data

7/27/2019 Improving a Non-profit's Collection and Use of Data

1/11

Improving a Non-proftsCollection and Use o Data

James Neils

According to the 2010 Censs slightl! more than "#$ o Americans had access in some %a!to the Internet& 'hile there are still rral areas( Native American reservations and largender-poplated and montain areas in the eastern and %estern portions o the U) %ithotInternet service( most o the U) has some level o Internet service& Also increasing isconsmer prchases and se o smart phones and ta*lets& All o %hich provides rich sorceso data availa*le to non-profts&

As nmeros athors have pointed ot( the ease and speed to locate and distri*te vastamonts o data and inormation is ar ahead o or a*ilit!( as !et( to manage thetechnolog!& )imilar to the +enaissance and its impact over several centries( the Indstrial+evoltion has evolved into the Age o Commnication and Inormation& ,t( the a*ilit! tomanage the change and s*seent challenges change *rings is t!picall! more di.clt and

generall! lags *ehind&

It is an interesting phenomenon this Age o Commnication and Inormation& In man! %a!s%e strggle to manage the crrent amont and /o% o inormation and data and *eneftsprovided& et at the same time %e are( as a societ! and connected %orld( demanding asterspeeds %ith %hich to commnicate and distri*te even greater amonts o data andinormation&

or most *sinesses( regardless o their proft stats( the Internet has *oth real advantagesand disadvantages& As an advertising otlet the Internet provides access to a glo*aladience or generall! the same cost to reach local vie%ers& A %e*site not onl! reachesvast adiences( *t permits a visitor to select rom a variet! o options at a price notaorda*le sing printed matter to those same adiences& 3nce a message is developed it

can *e more easil! and mch aster *e sent to the entire %orld( to specifc recipients orgrops and posted on the organi4ations %e*site %here 5hits6 on the message can *etrac7ed and anal!4ed&

Disadvantages inclde the time and sta reired to constantl! pdate all o the dierentInternet otlets and the act that there are competitors *oth local and in throghot the%orld all sing the same advertising medim& 'ith search engines and anal!tics trac7inghits that then gide individals to specifc %e* sites( getting noticed *ecomes critical&Donors and potential donors have access to greater sorces o inormation and %iderchoices than ever *eore( so a non-profts message had *etter *e clear( concise andaccrate and presented %ell&It %as 8st a e% !ears ago that a non-proft cold p*lish an annal report( send an annal

letter and perhaps three or or notices dring a !ear and *e seen as eective in itscommnication& 9oda!( in less than ten !ears( that same non-proft mst contine to p*lishits annal report( in print and on-line( have a 'e*site( a ace*oo7 page( a 9%itter Accont(possi*l! a *log and *e loo7ing to have a least one )martphone app as a %a! to maintaintheir 5*rand presence6 in the mar7etplace& And( the! are e:pected to do it all %ithotadding an entire department to manage it& Needless to sa! it is a challenge&

or man! non-profts the da!-to-da! management tas7s( the need to fnd sorces o nds(to maintain commnication %ith constitents or mem*ers and to sta! crrent %ith compter

Improving a Non-profts Collection and Use o Data p& 1


2/11

technolog! can *e stressl& 9he *ilding and maintaining a presence on social mediaotlets( to pdate otdated inormation( 7eeping p %ith improved technolog! to increaseservices or the 5*rand6 presence reires constant attention& It is eas! to nderstand %h!non-proft C;3s( ;Ds and


3/11

into a process& 'hen data and inormation *egins to *e connected into patterns orrame%or7s it can *e connected to other sorces o data or inormation& 9his is particlarl!tre %hen data collected *! an organi4ation is or cold *e compared to general data throghInternet sorces&

As %ith other technological advances( the Internet contines to evolve and is no% *eing

sed as a depositor! o data( not 8st to transmit messages and data& As reslt( theInternet is ic7l! *ecoming the *est sorce o data %arehosing and mch o it is p*licall!availa*le& 9he variet! o materials rom these sorces( %hen sed appropriatel!( can !ieldsignifcant reslts& or instance( the 3*ama presidential re-election committee developedanal!tic models *ilt rom easil! availa*le p*lic data and merged it %ith data the! privatel!collected to correctl! predict nmerical sccess state *! state&

ndits critical o non-profts oten point to sccesses in *siness to arge the need tochange the management strctres o non-profts& ,t or-proft companies se o data hasalso *een lagging and in some instances led to critical mista7es& As cited in 5Anal!tics at'or76( one compan!s poor se o data cost them E2# million( the fnancial crisis in 200"-200 %as partiall! gronded on poor decision ma7ing *ased on nrelia*le and


4/11

+ecogni4ing that man! companies and o*viosl! man! non-profts lac7 the managementtools necessar!( the athors also developed a fve stage progression and e:plained in detail%ith e:amples ho% to constrct a sea*le rame%or7& or an! non-proft or *sinesssee7ing a methodolog! to gide their collection and evental se o data their %or7 cold *ea vala*le tool&

Using their D;9A model as a gide( its applica*ilit! to a small and


5/11

DataK or man! small and medim non-profts the idea o anal!4ing or %or7ing %ith theirdata is li7e 8mping into ic7sand& 9he more involved to identi! %hat data to se( todetermine %hat the! need to do %ith it and ho% to anal!4e it( the more it *ecomesover%helming and socates the eort& ,t that does not have to *e the case&

Consider or a moment three dierent t!pes o non-proftsL a social service agenc!( a

perorming arts grop and a par7 district& ore than li7el! the! all have data onconstitents( mem*ers( and


6/11

M0$ o the attendees came rom onl! 20$ o the total mem*ership& )ppose the par7district determined that M0$ o the sta time %as dedicated to 20$ o the programs& 3rsppose the )ocial )ervice agenc! learned that M0$ o the pro*lems recipients complaineda*ot reslted rom onl! 20$ o the internal paper%or7 and recording processes& 9re(these are simple e:amples( *t most o the *asic data that non-profts and other *sinessescollect does not reire complicated anal!sis& And in all cases targets can easil! *e

identifed& or the arts grop perhaps learning the characteristics o that 20$( or the par7district the reason e% programs consme so mch sta time and or the service agenc!(identi! the procedres that lead to pro*lems& 9he *asic estion one mst as7 a*ot all othese isses( *ased on the data and fndings is simpl!( 'GF

9he second eas! statistical model that cold *e sed to identi! targets is Bassiandistri*tion( *etter 7no%n as the *ell-shape-crve& Using the three non-profts( appl! the*ell shape crve to mem*er( participant or constitent data& I the perorming arts gropplotted mem*ers and participation( par7 district plotted participation to its served poplationor the social service agenc! plotted constitents to the o isses the! ace( %hat %old thedata loo7 li7e %hen plottedF 9he perorming arts grop is sed as an e:ample& articipationis on the =vertical> a:is and the nm*er o events on the : =hori4ontal> a:is& Atercollecting data the sta fnds that participation ranges rom a e% people attending most(the ma8orit! o mem*ers attending a*ot one-hal and then a declining nm*er attendinge%er& 9he distri*tion o participation resem*les a *ell crve& 9he mar7eting managerma! %ish to consider %hich mem*ers the organi4ation ma! %ant to target&

rther the manager is also given the constraints that the organi4ation %ants to act %ith theminimm amont o sta or time to the pro8ect& =9his pro*a*l! sonds amiliar to man!

small *sinesses and non-profts> 9he estion is %hich grop does the manager select and%h!F )ince there is no real correct ans%er( consider %hat target grop to select *asedmerel! on the data presented in the graph&

Brop @ %old appear to *e a good choice or several reasons& irst there are more peoplein that grop and the! are alread! participating( *t at an average level& oving to the let(*oth o those grops have decreasing nm*ers o people and also decreasing levels oparticipation& Betting a smaller nm*er o people to increase participation seems li7e a lesssccessl selection& Brop # also has a smaller nm*er o people *t an alread! increasedrate& ;:pecting that small grop to increase even rther also seems a less via*le option&,t( the target cold s%itch to a dierent grop( i the estion as7ed changed&

Improving a Non-profts Collection and Use o Data p& Q

Nm*er o mem*ers participating

Nm*er o events rom e% to man!

Brp 1Brp 2Brp @ Brp #

Nm*er o mem*ers participating

Nm*er o events rom e% to man!


7/11

3ne more model( adapted rom the *ell crve helps provide another visal reerence toidenti! a target( the *lls-e!e& 'hile most people are amiliar %ith a targets practice *llse!e( the idea it cold *e sed or targeting ma! seem nsal *t is not& 9o graphicall!depict ho% the Universit! o 'isconsin at )tot %as 5people centered6 Dr& Charles Hrgerdeveloped a *lls e!e model( =www.uwstout.edu/ctem/ppc/ullseye.html!& 9o

demonstrate to senior ,oeing o.cials ho% %ell ,oeings )pace 9ransportation )!stemsgrop %as meeting its cstomers needs and contri*ting to the compan!( the grop sed a*lls e!e model( =www.stsc.hill.af.mil/.../"##$/%&/seicmm'.asp!& 9o identi! ho%ventre capitalist %old trn a charita*le organi4ation into a profta*le *siness( the! sedseveral models inclding the *lls e!e(=cvar.venturecapital.org/.../(harity/charity.html!.

9a7e the data rom the *ell shape crve and place it on the *lls e!e& 9he reslt loo7ssomething li7e *elo%&

,! coincidence Brop three alls %ithin the *lls-e!e& Is all o this necessar!( not reall!( *t%hat it demonstrates is that identi!ing a target does not have to *e so threatening and can*e ond in the s7ill set o man! on sta o small and medim non-profts&

9he e:ercise %as not to determine %hich option is correct( rather that defning targets andsing models to help identi! targets or rther investigate or determine the need or moredata does not need to *e complicated( se e:tensive compting po%er to reire a largeamont o data& Is this an over simplistic representation( possi*l!( *t or organi4ationsstrggling %ith %hat to do %ith its data( %hat data to anal!4e and ho% to identi! targets(the lesson is start %ith the simple( learn( improve and move to more comple: estions(

data and anal!sis collection& ractice does improve the s7ills o sta to learn ho% to collect(anal!4e and %hat to do %ith it&

Data collection and analysis9he Internet( *e!ond helping to prodce an ever increasing amont o data has also *ecomea ma8or sorce o help to anal!4e the data it prodces and %hat organi4ations collect&Internet *ased companies( li7e Boogle( are leading the %a! %ith applications to manage andanal!4e data at an increasing level o sophistication mch o online and or ree&

Improving a Non-profts Collection and Use o Data p& "

Brp @

ore eventse% events
http://www.uwstout.edu/ctem/ppc/bullseye.htmlhttp://www.stsc.hill.af.mil/crosstalk/1997/08/seicmm5.asphttp://cvar.venturecapital.org/nvt/Prototypes/Charity/charity.htmlhttp://www.uwstout.edu/ctem/ppc/bullseye.htmlhttp://www.stsc.hill.af.mil/crosstalk/1997/08/seicmm5.asphttp://cvar.venturecapital.org/nvt/Prototypes/Charity/charity.html


8/11

All o this is dependent on t%o thingsL does the organi4ation have the data and moreimportantl! do the! have the personnel %ho 7no% %hat to do %ith e:isting data and ho% togather more data&

9he lesson to learn is that data shold not *e eared( anal!sis does not reire aspercompter and ever!one in the organi4ation can *e an anal!st& 9he leadership o an!

nonproft needs to recogni4e the vale and contri*tion data and its se can have to theorgani4ation&

Improving a Non-profts Collection and Use o Data p& M


9/11

;ND N39;)

The *alue of +nowledge "anagement( Bene ,ellinger( ,siness and 3rgani4ation(Hno%ledge anagement( %%%&s!stems-thin7ing&org


10/11



11/11

A!"# #$E A"#$!%

r& Neils career incldes management and e:ective positions in or-proft and not-or-proft organi4ations& ;arl! inhis career( he retrned to academia and *ecame interested in researching organi4ational goals( perormancemeasres and fnancial retrns on non-proft organi4ations& Althogh his p*lished %or7s are oten directed to%ardnon-profts( his concepts and anal!sis are eall! applica*le to or-profts as %ell&

As his career progressed( r& Neils recogni4ed the da!-to-da! demands on e:ectives( especiall! managers( %eremost oten at the tactical decision level( leaving little time to improve or develop strategic s7ills& As a reslt( hedeveloped a 7een interest in strategic thin7ing&

Gis frst %or7 %as sing onceptual "odels to 'mprove an /ecutive0s Strategic Thinking. 9his paper %as atheoretical e:ploration o conceptal models and strategic thin7ing& Adapting A*raham aslo%s 5)ierarchy ofSocial Needs6 r& Neils e:amined ho% internal and e:ternal orces act on organi4ations and e:ectives&

ollo%ing that( he *egan to investigate ho% e:ectives might integrate creativit! as a %a! to improve strategicthin7ing s7ills& 9his second article reativity, Strategic Thinking and Statistical "odelsestions ho% commonl!sed statistic models and creativit! might aid an e:ectives and stas s7ill to thin7 strategicall!&

,ecase o the interest generated rom these articles( he *egan to investigate ho% managers and e:ectiveslearned to thin7 strategicall!& Gis research ond most emphasis to *e on attri*tes o strategic thin7ing people andthe need to thin7 strategic( *t little on teaching methodolog!& 9his prompted( Developing the Skill of StrategicThinkingin %hich he sggests /o%charting as a possi*le method to teach sta( managers and e:ectives to*ecome strategic thin7ers&

r& Neils %rote %hat non-prots can learn from the 1bama ampaignin response to a engagement %here hearged the need or non-profts to improve their se o data and data anal!sis&

Gis %or7 Team &uilding 'n a ulture of '*egan ater attending a convention o Gman +esorce managers andrecogni4ed the strong interest in team *ilding& r& Neils e:plores ho% cltral orces in the U)( that emphasi4e thevale o the individal is a nie component and has !et considered *! athors %ho std! team *ilding and *!management as the! identi! person to *ecome part o a team&

+ecogni4ing the impact the Internet had on *siness and the vast amonts o data that it provides r& Neils hastrned his attention to %hat organi4ations do %ith the data the! collect or cold collect& Gis %or7 'mproving a Non-prot0s ollection and se of Dataattempts to redce the an:iet! a*ot data( data collection and anal!sis&

Crrentl!( he is %or7ing on a ollo%-p piece that e:plores nd raising and %h! nonprofts need to *e sing on-linecro%dnding applications& 9his *rie essa!($re 2ou Still sing a &obber and $ %orm to 3ish for 3unds%ill *ep*lished soon&

r& Neils *elongs to several in7edIn grops on non-proft management( strategic thin7ing and perormancemeasres as %ell as involved in organi4ations ocsed on developing improved management( measrement andtechnolog! applications or nonprofts& Ge can *e reached atJames&neilsTgmail&com&

mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]

improving a non-profit's collection and use of data

Documents