Tips & Tricks*

* The content on this page has been adapted from the work of other experts, to whom we are extremely grateful. Please be sure to note the citations provided and links to the original source of all relevant information.

Tips for Making an effective dashboard

In today’s information age, organizations are overwhelmed with the amount of information that they collect, track and monitor. Non-profit leaders must decipher all the data to determine what is meaningful and relevant to share with staff, funders, Boards of Directors and other community partners. Here are four steps to create an effective dashboard:

1. Determine the audience. A dashboard should be customized for the audience meant to view and use it, so first you need to determine the intended audience. Then, determine the key takeaways that you want the targeted audience to get. Lastly, focus on the information that is most important and relevant for your audience and key takeaways.

2. Decide on what the dashboard is tracking. A dashboard is meant to communicate progress over time. In addition, data in the dashboard can be used to compare different data sets. These factors need to be determined to provide the appropriate context for decision makers.

3. Determine the visuals. In most cases, we work to fit a dashboard on one page. This does not provide much “real estate,” so you must be intentional about the visuals used to grab the audience’s attention and display the key messages.

4. Determine the delivery of the dashboard. In most cases, dashboards are “static” or print reports that are shared via handouts or electronically. However, with the growing development of software programs, more interactive dashboards are being created.

   (This content has been adapted with permission from Transform Consulting Group.
   Review the original, full content here.)

additional audiences to share your data with

Data is only as good as how it is used. If an organization collects data, analyzes it, and makes beautiful visuals with it, but few people actually see the results, what is gained from the experience? Probably not much!

We categorize data sharing into two different “buckets”—internal and external. Within each bucket, we’ve identified three important stakeholder groups and how sharing evaluation results can be beneficial, no matter what the data “says.”

Internal Stakeholders:

1. Employees - It would be challenging to find a dedicated employee who would not care to see evidence of their daily efforts actually paying off and leading to positive change. It is important to share evaluation results with staff at all levels and not just employees at the top.

2. Volunteers - If an organization can show community impact as a result of volunteerism, their volunteers are more likely to feel validated and remain committed to the organization.

3. Board of Directors - The Board can use evaluation data to begin planning and discussing the future of an organization. Sharing program evaluation results with Board members equips them to make informed decisions about what is best for the organization going forward.

External Stakeholders:

1. Funders - Funders want to see a return on their investment into any organization. Many funders require organizations to conduct program evaluations to remain accountable for the results that their funds are directly supporting.

2. Partners - Evaluation data may help make a case for two or more organizations to join forces and provide combined programs or services within a community to maximize impact. Sharing data can be a positive step in the direction of collaborating and working towards common goals.

3. The Public - Sharing data with communities helps to legitimize an organization’s purpose in the public eye.

Read the full post at: https://transformconsultinggroup.com/2017/06/02/finally-data-share/

(This content has been adapted with permission from Transform Consulting Group.
Review the original, full content here.)

creative ways to share your data

Your organization or school has spent a significant amount of time, money and resources on collecting, tracking and analyzing important data about your programs and services. Here are some simple, yet effective ways to use your program evaluation data:

1. Annual Report – At a minimum, you should annually produce a report that summarizes your organization’s impact in the community.

2. Email – The signature line in your staff’s email is a great communication tool. Think of all of the collective emails that your staff send out and the potential reach of those emails. Use the signature line to highlight key successes, which can be updated monthly.

3. Social Media – Similar to creating “data sound bites” in your email signature, similar data posts can be created for your organization’s social media pages on Facebook and Twitter. Just make sure to limit your jargon and make the post user-friendly.

4. Collateral Materials – Too often, organization’s marketing materials focus on the services and programs (what you do) and not the result of those services and programs (aka, your outcomes!). Refresh your marketing materials to include both of these critical items – the programs offered and the impact that these programs have in the community!

5. Grants and Fundraising – One of the best ways to increase an organization’s revenue and funding is to share the results with your funders via grant proposals, grant reports and fundraising events. The evaluation data can be useful to both highlight the great work you are doing (aka – give us more money to expand our impact) as well as justify the need for more money (aka – we need better staffing, curriculum, etc. to accomplish our goals).

   (This content has been adapted with permission from Transform Consulting Group.
   Review the original, full content here.)