The Data Strategy Audit
Is your data telling the compelling story of your work?
Use data to tell compelling stories, improve program effectiveness, raise awareness and funding, and do even more of the work that transforms our world.
All organizations have data. Nonprofits usually collect data on their program activities and outcomes, and often their donors too. Data can either be a constant burden & stress, or a source of information, inspiration and opportunity to increase impact.
Use data to touch hearts & minds
A Data Strategy Audit (DSA) is a great first step for nonprofits to assess how they are using data and where they can use data more effectively to achieve their goals.
During a data strategy audit we take a deep dive into your data landscape, examining what you collect, how you collect it, and how you use it. From there we provide a short list of our top findings and recommendations, so you have clear next steps to build a data strategy that aligns with your organizational goals.
Benefits
1. Measure results and continually improve
Have you ever heard the adage ‘measure what matters?’ Or in reverse, ‘what you measure becomes what matters?’ A DSA helps pinpoint if you’re measuring what matters most for your mission & vision. By measuring what matters most, you can share compelling results externally and adjust course as needed internally.
2. Save time & money
Staff time and resources are PRECIOUS. When we measure the wrong things, or don’t have good data infrastructure (process for collection & storage), staff time and energy is wasted. During the DSA, we examine current roadblocks provide recommendation for more efficient operations.
3. Tell the story of your work
When we use data to tell compelling stories about our work, we touch hearts and minds. People understand why our work matters and support it with their time, attention and money.
A clear data strategy allows nonprofits to measure if their work is having the impact they intend; it can be used to improve programming and demonstrate impact.
For many small-medium sized nonprofits, hiring a data strategist or evaluator isn’t the best use of limited time or resources, yet letting data fall by the wayside is like traveling without a map; a Data Strategy Audit is a cost-effective way to explore your data landscape and identity next steps that work for your team.
The Process
Deliverables:
- A 2-4 page report outlining where your organization is with data and key recommendations to align your data with your organizational goals.
Commitment:
- Time: ~4 weeks
- Cost: $1050 for small to medium-sized nonprofits/based on data complexity ($150 discount for MNA members→$900)
Get started:
- Send an email to [email protected] with the subject ‘data strategy audit
OR
- Schedule a free 30 minute call to see if a Data Strategy Audit is a good fit
“Lily is a brilliant and effective data strategist who is great to work with because she really takes the time to learn about you and your organization first before providing feedback and solutions. And she has a knack for bringing people together in order to cohesively synthesize information coming from a million different angles. Not only is she high performing but she is also a lovely person with whom to collaborate!”
-Mara Wilde Buchmann, CASA of Adams and Broomfield County
What this is NOT: this data strategy audit is not implementing solutions; we work with you to identify biggest-bang recommendations. We’re also not able to recommend specific CRMs or other tools particular to donor data. While we’ll touch on donor data during the audit, the focus of this audit is programmatic implementation and impact data.
