The million-dollar question: Where to start?

The answer lies in answering this key question – how do the leaders of nonprofits want to be better prepared for global events?

Due to aging technology and data infrastructure in most non-profits, the responses to global events have been largely reactive. Many of these organizations view data as a means to generate operational reports that keep them afloat. They have not really been able to harness the value of data and analytics to make decisions that impact millions of people globally.

This has resulted in issues such as (and not limited to):

Stagnant membership and volunteer growth
Inaccurate assessment and assemblage of resources needed to address global events
Inaccurate assessment of impacts of service projects on humanitarian needs during global events
Inefficiencies in planning and executing Service Projects.
Attracting and retaining donors

Forbes has captured ten challenges that nonprofits currently face which are worth mentioning here. Needless to say, many of these issues are solvable using data and analytics. However, of late, the leaders have started questioning this rationale.

They have started recognizing that true impact on global events can be achieved by treating data as an enterprise asset that will help them address their key objectives. One example of how better data improves humanitarian causes can be found in this article by Saloni Dattani and Fiona Spooner (2022) — “We need more testing to eradicate polio worldwide.”

Rotary International (a large global humanitarian services organization based out of Evanston, IL, USA) is a shining example of how it is using data and analytics to transform itself into a data-driven decision-making enterprise.

After years of stagnant membership growth, the company is beginning to turn around largely due to embracing data as a digital asset and using analytics to drive membership growth and service project improvements.

How are Rotary and others like them turning themselves around? Besides the investments in technology improvements, they are also beginning to focus on data and analytics with the realization that progress can be made by taking some key strategic steps such as:

Creating a business analytics culture by instituting an enterprise-wide data literacy strategy
Identifying and building data solutions around core domains that address the enterprise’s Objectives and Key Results (OKRs)
Embedding business analytics capabilities in their digital products to measure KPIs around the core domains
Modernizing data and analytics delivery platforms and processes
Setting up organization and process for data management, security, and governance
Setting up an effective data and analytics organization structure that provides the best outcomes

One may argue that this is nothing new, and every organization will do this. The difference, however, lies in the measurement and assessment of the impact. While for-profits will be looking for growth and revenue targets, non-profits will be looking for the impact of their service projects on the people and communities they serve, and measure if they have the necessary members and funds to carry out the projects.

So, where does this take us, and how do we answer the million-dollar question?

The answer lies in metrics and business analytics that measure the impact that non-profits make in the communities. Data and Analytics can answer questions such as:

Do we have the members and volunteers to address localized community needs?
Do we have the funds and grants necessary to carry out the projects?
Why are we not able to attract and retain members, what motivates them?
How do we personalize content based on a member's interests and motivations?

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