Source Codes: The Most Useful Measurement Strategy You May Not Be Using - Guest Post by Laura Quinn You’re likely using more than one channel to communicate. Email, Facebook, posting to listserves, your website, direct mail—the list goes on and on. How do you know which of those channels is actually driving people to donate, register for an event, or even sign up for your eNewsletter? How do you know what story—across every channel—is doing the best job of driving people to take action? Enter … [Read more...]

I learned about measurement from Katie Delahaye Paine, who is the leading expert in measuring communications strategies.  Why else would everyone call her The Queen of Metrics!  I was honored enough to co-author a book with Katie, "Measuring the Networked Nonprofit," a book about measuring social media and networks.      So, I know first-hand how incredibly brilliant she is! The good news is that Katie has just released a new e-book, Measurement 101 for Nonprofits that helps nonprofits measure … [Read more...]

Note from Beth: At the end of the day, organizations that are committed to learning will be more effective at meeting the needs of the people they serve.  Learning is the ultimate result of being "data informed" that is using feedback data to improve results.   GlobalGiving has just launched GG Rewards, a new program rewarding nonprofits that are committed to learning and improving. They have also provided resources for nonprofits to learn how to use tools to get feedback in the Feedback … [Read more...]

Note from Beth: I met Matthew Scharpnick,  Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Elefint Designs, a strategic design studio that works with good causes, at the Data for Good Conference in Chicago.  One area that he works on is data visualization for nonprofits.   See for example, his case study about how to create an informative data visualization that provides context around a complex and controversial topic.    Since he does data visualization 24/7, I asked him what his best advice was for … [Read more...]