Giving Compass' Take:

• At Think NPC, Peter O'Flynn prompts organizations and funders to ask themselves about their approach to data during COVID-19 in order to build back better after lockdown.

• How is data constantly changing throughout the pandemic? What are you doing in your organization to embrace change in evaluating your data? How can we use data to build back better with a focus on justice and conservation? 

• Read on about how you can support nonprofits in their efforts to build back better from the coronavirus.

Building back better is first and foremost an internal process that we—charities, civil society organisations and funders—must all engage with. Covid-19 has forced many of us to reassess and change our approach to tackling society’s biggest issues.

If you’re thinking about how your charity should adapt to help people in the new normal, then your organisation’s culture towards data—from collection, to monitoring and analysis—is a good place to start.

There is no one infallible approach to understanding the intrinsic knowledge that data can unlock. Every organisation is different. However, there are some key questions you can ask yourself to better understand where you could improve you data work.

Using your data, which of these questions can you answer?

  1. Are you reaching your intended service users (and how may they have changed because of Covid-19)?
  2. How effective has your service been in continuing to engage with your target service users?
  3. Are you getting good feedback data from your target service users?
  4. Is your service still having its intended change on individuals?
  5. Have you generated a positive impact?

Quick wins—such as cleaning data or making data more user friendly—can go a long way and can enable you to start using your data to your advantage. One way to make your data more user friendly is to put it in a more useable format.

With the right data approach in place, using good quality and structured data can become the norm. We know that data alone is not the silver bullet for building back better, but what it can do is help ensure our focus is on the right questions as we look to a future beyond the Covid-19 crisis.

Read the full article about using data to build back better by Peter O'Flynn at Think NPC.