With the release of the "Measuring the Networked Nonprofit:  Using Data to Change the World, I'm looking forward to participating in the conversation about how nonprofits can use measurement, data, and learning to for social change. We are living in a "Big Data" is a theme I'm seeing discussed this past month in both the for-profit and non-profit sectors.   It refers to large data sets that requires powerful software tools to capture, storage, search, sharing, analysis, visualization and … [Read more...]

In my forthcoming book, "Measuring the Networked Nonprofit," co-authored with KD Paine,  my favorite chapter was about the sense-making process of measurement - called "Measurement and the Aha! Moment—Using your data to tell stories, make decisions, and change the world."    There's where I discovered a new passion - data visualization techniques for sense-making.    The process of translating your spreadsheet into an infographic can help lead you to insights and the product, the infographic … [Read more...]

We may need to start wearing these here! RT @kanter what every #datanerd needs in their wardrobe - I Love Data T-shirt bit.ly/QlhMt4 — Mission Measurement (@MissionMeasure) September 5, 2012 The September, 2012 Issue of the NTEN Change Journal is pure crack for nonprofit #datanerds (folks who would definitely wear a t-shirt emblazoned with "I Love Data!" in the office).      But if you read the articles in this issue, you will come to conclusion that loving (and using data) for strategic … [Read more...]

The new issue of the NTEN Change Journal is all about data!  Or rather how we all should love data!  Whether you call it data-driven or data-informed,  the issue has several excellent articles about how to use data for decision-making as well as lots of useful tips!  It's a must read for data nerds. As many of you know,  I've just finished writing a book with measurement guru, KD Paine, called "Measuring the Networked Nonprofit"  that teaches nonprofits  how to embrace the data and use it to … [Read more...]