Can data make you happy?

The Future Charity research highlighted the importance of getting ahead of the curb, if we're going to appeal to all audiences and be purpose driven organisations. But can it also be fun?

Measuring Meaningfully Linda McBain underlined the need to use the right tactics to embed data-centric thinking.

While there was a recognition that charities had to become more data-driven, she thinks there’s a long way to go.

One reason is the limited scope for the drive for data decision making. While there’s plenty of movement in marketing and digital areas, large swathes of critical charity activity are often forgotten.

Data had a huge role to play across the board, she said, from increasing efficiencies in support services to understanding the impact of policy and advocacy work on political change.

Another challenge highlighted by her was the importance of making data accessible – otherwise attempts at creating a data-driven culture are bound to fail.

There was a giggle of recognition in the room, when she described charities going from not measuring anything to measuring absolutely everything and expecting our staff to have a PHD in analysis. "You shouldn’t expect everyone to become a data expert", she advised.

“However, you do need to provide people with simple ways to understand what good performance looks like and how it impacts their roles.

“And that can be done by getting the experts to create easy to use dashboards linking performance metrics to the key metrics that are set at Board level.'

Linda shared with us some straightforward and accessible advice on how we can each promote the use of data.

Make it visible:

Have what you’re measuring up on the wall or put your key metrics on a screen for all to see.

Make it simple:

Linda gave us some priceless advice on making data accessible for everyone, and bringing it to life in a way that will promote adoption. "You need to provide people with simple ways to understand what good performance looks like and how it impacts their roles."

Make it fun:

“That’s right, analysis can be fun.” She told us, and suggested we draw on people’s competitive nature. “Try sweepstakes on expected performance to get people to engage.”

To read the Future Charity full report and to see more insights from inspirational charity thought leaders, see our website www.kivotransformation.com