When managing the day-to-day running of a nonprofit organization, whether your company is a small, locally based community charity, or a recognizably large and international nonprofit, the fact remains that the more you begin to utilize data, the better. 

Harnessing the huge potential power and subsequent impact of data will only serve to help, improve, and even expand the reach of every individual nonprofit—and here are some essential facts to support this. 

Data is Useless Without Insight 

Definitely the most important component of effective data analysis is the way in which actionable insights can be discovered, which will then go on to inform future plans.

There are, essentially, three core stages to the process of turning data into insight, which are as follows:

1. Ensure data is collected and collated in a systematic and highly structured way
2. Make sure every effort is made to analyze the data for meaningful results
3. Cultivate a working culture of progression and change, with the findings from your data at the forefront 

Data Allows Nonprofits to Plan for the Future 

Next, on the road to data discovery, nonprofit organizations should be using the information that they collect to better predict the possible outcomes and even potential roadblocks in their future—both immediately and further down the line. 

Without having workers who are experienced in collating and analyzing data, many nonprofit charities find that the picture they believe is being projected of the upcoming months and years of the business turns out to be slightly (or sometimes, virtually wholly) inaccurate, due to missing information and mistakes.

This is why every effort needs to be made to ensure that your data is responsibly and accurately sourced, and that as much time as possible is spent extracting relevant information from the results. 

Not All Data Will Help a Nonprofit Move Forward 

Many times, professionals who have had a long and illustrious career leading some of the most well-recognized international charities (and other nonprofit organizations) are asked by smaller charitable companies what, exactly, kind of data they should be focusing on.

Now, rather than this being a one-size-fits-all answer, the truth is that the type of data you aim to collate and analyze is almost solely dependent on your core purpose. For example, if you are planning to radically change the way in which your charity approaches its fundraising drives, then you would need to focus on what it is that makes your donors want to support you. 

Data Can Be Used to Inform Others 

The fourth and final biggest factor in utilizing data for charities is that, as well as garnering relevant and timely information from data, nonprofits should also be looking to find their own statistics about the people, or animals, to whom they are working to try and help. 

When presenting this information, either through your official website, in a subscribers’ newsletter, or on the fundraising advertisements themselves, make sure you do not bombard potential supporters with too much information, or use emotive language just for the sake of it.