Learning & Event Calendar

Presented by Idealware ($200, NDANO Members receive $30 discount for 5-part webinar)
In our increasingly data-driven world, nonprofits need to be able to measure and monitor the effectiveness of their programs more than ever. It’s difficult to improve program services or reach without first understanding what's working and what isn't. Gathering the right data is key. From how many meals served at your soup kitchen or the number of students in a mentoring program who graduate high school to the percent of your target population without access to affordable housing, being able to track such numbers can help you identify the improvement or impact of your programs or organization.

Unfortunately, while more funders and constituents expect you to be evaluating your programs, it can be challenging to ask the right questions, gather the data, and analyze the results. But that doesn’t mean it’s out of reach for small and medium-sized nonprofits to do so. Having a solid understanding of the process is an essential first step.

That’s where Idealware can help. In The Program Data for Information and Transformation Toolkit, we will start presenting this complete look at how data can inform your organization by showing you where you can find important organizational data, and where you should store it. We’ll continue with a discussion around how you should think about, measure, and present data to others. Finally, we’ll share how data can inform your decision-making process.

Throughout the course, we’ll explore how real organizations are using their data, and provide ample opportunities—both during class and our weekly office hours—to talk through how this applies to your own organization.

July 2: Making Use of Your Data
In the final course, we will discuss the various ways you can go about using the data now that it has been collected and analyzed. We’ll examine case studies of several nonprofits that have used their metrics strategies to improve the strength and capacity of their organizations, and look at best practices for moving forward in your own office.

This course is targeted at program staff, leadership staff, and fundraising staff—really anyone who is responsible for measuring outcomes or results for their organization. This is a beginner-to-intermediate course for the everyday staffer (or board member) who is tasked with evaluation but doesn't know where to start or has started, but wants to revise or improve their current program. We will walk through the process of data evaluation from start to finish—you don’t need a PhD in program evaluation to follow along, you just need to show and take part in our conversation.