How Nonprofits Make Data Fun and Informative

 

Nonprofits have long relied on stories to help stir emotion.

However, as the nonprofit world has evolved, so, too, has the need to communicate more than just emotion. Foundations and corporate supporters increasingly want to see numbers that show that nonprofits are delivering results. Donors want to see metrics to help them understand why they should contribute to one cause over another.

Unfortunately, statistics about an organization’s work aren’t as emotionally engaging as a photograph of a child in need. Numbers and percentages don’t appeal to our sense of compassion, and looking at graphs feels too academic to be enjoyable for most people.

Put simply, data can be really boring. But organizations can find digestible and compelling ways to show their quantitative results.

Graphical representations of information, known as infographics, can help nonprofits weave anecdotes and rock-solid evidence into beautiful stories that appeal to both the head and the heart.

Well-designed infographics can convey complex information in surprisingly engaging ways, and their popularity is skyrocketing. Type “infographics” into a Google search and you will see them by the hundreds on topics as varied as the U.S. debt and how much you can drink at an office party.

Nonprofits are among the many types of organizations increasingly trying to present data in visually striking ways.

Voices for America’s Children, an advocacy organization, has created basic infographics that do a good job of bringing personality to topics such as health, education, and government spending.

Product (Red), which supports programs to curb AIDS in Africa, has produced more sophisticated examples. The organization’s Web site does a great job mixing data with maps, videos, and profiles of people its donations have aided. In an instant, you learn that Product (Red)’s sales have raised more than $180-million for its charitable efforts and have helped more than 7.5 million people.

Architecture for Humanity, which offers pro bono architectural and design services to building projects around the world, uses infographics to quickly convey its complicated mission. That came after it realized its constituents had trouble understanding the nature of the organization’s many activities and asked my company, Elefint Designs, to create an infographic that communicates details that would otherwise require long conversations or extensive passages of text.

Whether they are bringing attention to an important cause, explaining their internal operations, or demonstrating the impact of their work, nonprofits can use infographics to present data in a way that is far more engaging and efficient than what could be conveyed with words alone. Coupled with traditional storytelling, the use of infographics gives organizations a powerful tool to demonstrate their achievements in a way that will get viewers both emotionally and intellectually involved.

Matthew Scharpnick is a co-founder and the chief strategy officer at Elefint Designs, which recently started a new Web site, infogra.ph, that uses infographics to help nonprofits advance understanding of complex issues.

Article Found at : http://philanthropy.com/article/How-Nonprofits-Make-Data-Fun/130225/

 

In the Meeting House

I was recently invited to attend a Meeting House discussion at the Public Library. I’ve never been to a Meeting House discussion so I’m not too sure what to expect (is a Meeting House in Canada the same as a Town Hall Meeting in the US?), but nonetheless, I’m curious.  The topic of the night will be the community – how it’s developing, concerns, fears, worries and in general, how we’d like to see it develop.  This is a particularly interesting topic as I”m all for positive change and seeing progress, yet the thought of going to the Meeting House has me strangely anxious. My family has lived in the areas for almost a hundred years; suffice it to say, I know it fairly well. But my anxiety makes me question, do I really? I know buildings, roads, landmarks and friends, but I feel it lacks the same sort of community, the type of place that makes you want to be home and strive toward making it better. This, perhaps may be one of the items on the agenda – how to make a town, a community and a home.

Bringing together different members of the community and the people who can implement change is a great idea and I’m very curious to know what sort of issues will surface. Will it be a safe and open space to express opinions or will biases and intimdation silence voices?

I’ve learned that the tremendous and rapid growth of the region has already caused major problems, especially regarding affordable housing and food security. Knowing this, I became a little alarmed (!) to learn that there really was no social plan in place to deal with the influx of people; no services, infrastructure or preparation to deal with the problems that could surface. What’s worse is there is no data and no research mechanism to provide evidence to support the creation of infrastructure or services. Basically, the strategy is to sit back and wait until problems arise, until they’ve gotten so bad that some money, time and effort need to be thrown at the problem. Really? Is this the way to run a healthy community? It really is maddening to see this type of logic applied to the community where you live.

The Meeting House is a start, but the main actors running it are already swamped with their own (contract) work that takes up much of their day. Let’s face it, this is a full time job of an entire department to create, establish and grow the social infrastructure that’s needed.  However, funding allocations tend to favor activities that will provide a return (ie economic development) without acknowledging the social sector until it’s too late; the down side of politics… Reactions to the Meeting House to come soon….