Adapting to Change: The Crucial Role of Data in Nonprofit Resilience

The ever-changing nonprofit landscape makes nonprofit impact even more challenging than ever. Data can play an extremely useful role in determining what an organization’s next move should be.

In a recent NXUnite Panel, Redpath’s Senior Consultant, Stephanie King, delved into the transformative power of data in nonprofit decision-making. Join us as we explore the insights Stephanie shared on leveraging data to drive programmatic effectiveness, enhancing fundraising efforts, and building a holistic understanding of impact.

In a world inundated with information, it’s crucial to recognize that data, by itself, is not a magic wand. Instead, it becomes a potent force when aligned with a clear vision of success and a strategic roadmap to achieve it. Stephanie highlights the critical importance of defining measurable goals, showcasing how data becomes the linchpin that propels nonprofits forward, both on a macro and micro level.

From the nuances of crafting data dashboards to the strategic use of technology tools, we’ll uncover actionable strategies that empower nonprofits to not only survive but thrive in an environment marked by change. Join us on this journey as we explore the intersection of data and nonprofit excellence, discovering how these insights are reshaping the future of organizations committed to making a lasting difference.

What I want to say here is that by itself, data can’t do anything. 

It doesn’t determine your success or achieve it for you. 

Instead, it starts with you defining what success means and what your strategy is to achieve it. 

Whether we are talking about fundraising or programming, you must have clear, measurable definitions of success. Once you do, THEN data can support your work on a macro and micro level. 

On a macro level, understanding if you are on track to meet your goals, and have the foresight to be able to pivot when you need to, before there is a crisis. 

On a micro level, good data can drive your daily decisions about what you need to do in a day’s work to be effective in your role.

At Redpath where I work, and with my clients, I’m known for my love of data dashboards. A dashboard, if you’re not familiar with it, is kind of what it sounds like. It’s like the dashboard of your car, a collection of gauges and metrics pulling live data from the system about the status of everything. How fast are we going, how much gas is in the tank, are we too hot, is anything on fire…. 

With a typical client, I will work with them to develop dashboards in three areas. Two of these areas were mentioned in the question – program-related dashboards and fundraising dashboards. The third type of dashboard helps make sure the first two are as useful as possible – this dashboard is what I call a “Data-Quality Dashboard”.

In all of these categories, or especially the first two, we often have different dashboards aimed at the different levels of interaction. Back to this concept of Macro vs Micro level view:

From a Macro perspective you want to see overall results. How much money have we raised? Which campaigns were most effective? How do these results compare to last year? Or on the Programming side, how many people have we served, what demographics are represented, what are the outcomes of our work? These dashboards are the money-shot that you take with you to the next board meeting, or throw into the monthly newsletter or annual report. If your dashboard is connected to live data in your system, it no longer takes weeks to compile and visualize your results – instead they are always available at the click of a button, all on one page.

On the micro level, you should have dashboards that drive daily decisions. Who are your major donors who have not received a personal touch yet this year? How many open cases do you have on the service side, and who needs to get a call today? Where are all your grant applications in the pipeline, and what due dates are coming up this month? These details are very personal and specific to your business, and I think a dashboard is one of the best tools available to both empower individual contributors, and to enable good oversight, insight, and continuity from a management perspective.

The last type of dashboard I mentioned is a Data Quality Dashboard. All these other dashboards are only as good as the data behind them, so it’s important to put some thought into how you manage and control data quality issues. Duplicate contacts, incomplete records, and common data entry mistakes can all impact the usefulness of your data. A dashboard is an underutilized and highly effective way to both prevent and treat those issues!

I love it when I see users rallied around a database, and understanding how to use it in their daily work. There are really simple examples about how this works – for example, using data to send timely thank-yous to donors, or reaching out to big donors who are due for annual renewal. 

Data allows organizations to spend their money strategically. For example, sending gala fundraiser invitations to your whole contact list might be prohibitively costly, and honestly not very effective if some of the people on that list have never donated, or haven’t been in touch for years. Using data effectively means sending that invitation to a curated list of engaged donors, who are most likely to attend and participate. 

Using services like a wealth screening service can be used to enhance your data beyond what you could ever collect organically. You might discover that someone who has been a passive participant so far actually has deep pockets and an inclination to donate in your sector. That’s very useful data!

Zooming out a little bit, I have seen organizations pivot their whole strategy based on what their data reveals. For example, without seeing aggregated data, it could be easy to miss seeing a massive trend in how your constituents like to engage with you. Whereas people used to attend in person events, now your online offerings are getting much more attention. Your Program Delivery people might have certain hunches and insights that this is happening, but when you put together the numbers in a way that really shows it, you might decide to make a strategic shift in how you deliver services, and do it much sooner than you would have done without insight to your data.

A lot of people get into nonprofit work because of big feelings, and a desire to do good in our work. Those big feelings come from lived experiences and gut instincts that we have about what the world needs. 

And those gut instincts about things do tell us a lot, but it’s hard to sell gut instincts to a donor who may not have seen what you have in your life, or in the day-to-day of your work. 

Data allows you to tell your story about your impact in a way that is verifiable and compelling.

When you say you are having a big impact, you can demonstrate what that means with numbers, in addition to testimonials and anecdotal evidence. 

When you say you want to double your impact, you can plan for exactly what that will mean, ask for exactly what you need to get there, and measure your progress toward that goal. 

• Leadership Commitment: The leadership team must be committed to the idea of data-driven decision-making. Leadership sets the tone by valuing data, incorporating it into their own decisions, and consistently expecting the same throughout the organization. Individual contributors will value data if they see it modeled from a leadership level.

• Data Collection and Management: You must have the right systems in place to collect, store, and manage data effectively. Ideally, that means creating one source of truth. If your donation data, marketing data, and service data are all in different systems, or spreadsheets, you are missing insights. At Redpath, we work with nonprofits who use Salesforce.com, which is an enterprise-quality CRM database that is used by Top-Shelf businesses around the world, but which also offers free user licenses to nonprofits. Whatever system you choose, there might need to be some upfront investment in implementing a wholistic data management system for your org. Of course keep in mind that if you can tell a compelling story about how investing in data will drive your mission, you might be able to find funders willing to partner with you in that investment.
  
• Experimentation and Learning: Encourage a culture of experimentation. Be open to trying new approaches and learning from both successes and failures. With my clients I like to model an attitude of positivity and excitement when we find bad or scary things in their data. For example, when I help clients organize and gain insight to their data, it’s not uncommon that we might discover that they have 10,000 duplicate contacts on their list, or that they have big donors who haven’t been reached out to in over a year. This might be distressing to learn, but I like to point out that discovering these issues is AWESOME. Because they were there before – we just couldn’t see them, but they were there, affecting us in invisible, negative ways. Seeing our data clearly allows us to take positive action. Modeling that attitude empowers your users to know that any insight is better than no insight!

What I think every business has learned in the last three years is the importance of adapting to change. The pandemic super-charged the rate and degree of change for many of us, but I think that overall the reality of a changing world is here to stay – especially in terms of how technology fits into our lives, and what it means to stay ahead of the technology curve. 

Data and technology really go hand in hand, so today’s focus on data can’t be separated from the topic of technology. As I mentioned earlier, data insight, powered by technology tools, allows your organization to pivot and adjust when it needs to. 

In a quickly changing world, that ability is what will separate the nonprofits that get ahead from those that get left behind.

As we navigate the ever-evolving landscape of the nonprofit sector, it’s clear that data is not just a tool; it’s the compass guiding organizations toward success. From macro-level insights shaping strategic decisions to micro-level dashboards driving daily actions, the synergy between data and nonprofits is transforming the way impact is measured and achieved.

By fostering a culture of data-driven decision-making, embracing continuous improvement, and adapting to change, nonprofits can position themselves not just to survive, but to thrive in the face of uncertainty. As we look to the future, the inseparable relationship between data and technology becomes increasingly apparent. The nonprofits that leverage these tools effectively will not only stay ahead but lead the way in creating positive change.