What do I do with all this data?
Since making a difference is at the heart of all the efforts of foundations and their grantees, it's natural to want to know if the work is actually benefiting people. But how do you measure THAT?
3 Myths about Data Stories
Lots of people are uncomfortable about putting their understanding of the data out there. "What if I'm wrong? What if I don't have enough information?"
Nonprofits & Strategic Data Collection
I had this wonderful opportunity to speak with Jay Smack on The Good Eye Podcast about the straightforward strategy I've developed that ensures nonprofits have data that helps them do work, and which communicates return on investment for funders - all this while being no more difficult to manage than a budget.
The Trick to Getting Buy-in from Funders
Impact Statements allow nonprofits to show why we can all reasonably assume clients working with you are on a path to longer-term change. [Funder: "Wonderful! It sounds like you have a solid and likely successful plan. I'm in!"]
How to Adjust Evidence-based Practices
Use expertise to adjust the program to meet the needs of your specific clients, your budget, the context.
2 Reports You Should Read
When I was making a presentation last week, one of the nonprofit leaders in the group said "I'm realizing I'm not the only one not getting it right. It’s clearly a problem that smaller nonprofits have with measuring and talking about impact. Just hearing this is validating.”
Client Success: Madison House Takes Back Their Story
This was Rose’s question for me: “How do I balance what's good for the clients, what funders are impressed by, what potential clients' (students and nonprofits) are impressed by, and what grants ask for when all this stuff doesn't line up?
Collecting Data You Can Actually Use
Nonprofits often ask: So how do I collect data that helps me (a) show that people are getting better, and (b) know what adjustments need to be made to improve what I do?
4 Challenges for Nonprofit Storytelling and How to Overcome Them
The most effective corporate storytelling combines data, narrative, and visuals that draw people in by appealing to their intellectual curiosity and making them relate and care. But how do nonprofits do this?
How They Transformed Advocacy Services at JABA
“We used to just do ‘bean counting,’ how much of this and that we did. Now with the Strategic Impact Maps, we are able to actually track the impact of the work we do. It’s so much more informative and powerful!”
The Strategy You Need
A Strategic Impact Map™ is a framework for telling your most powerful impact story. It’s a one-page document that tells an efficient story of, not only why and how your organization does good, but also how you are measuring it!
Nonprofit Business Plan for Impact
No matter how innovative or well-documented the programming is, no matter how amazing the staff, no matter how well-intentioned and value-driven the work is, in the end, it’s gotta generate real good.
How to Captivate Funders with Programming that Works
There’s a formula for telling a masterful impact story, one that captures the attention of funders and moves people to action. It all starts with being able to talk about programming that works. Here’s how to do it…
ImpactStory™ Resource Library
Small- and medium-sized nonprofits don’t need to read everything there is about program evaluation. We’ve got you! We picked out (and annotated!) resources just for you!
VIDEO – Introduction to the ImpactStory™ Strategy
Watch this 30-minute free training on our ImpactStory strategy and how it can help your organization not only tell convincing impact stories, but how it can support staff performance and even strategic planning.
Program Evaluation is NOT Your Job!
We are here to tell you that program evaluation IS impossible for small- to medium-sized nonprofits. It’s not your mission and it’s not your job.
Why the heck do nonprofits even need to measure impact?!?
Why do nonprofits have to measure and report impact when corporations don’t?