Reporting on various programs and projects is an integral part gauging the success of your nonprofit’s activities. This exercise is crucial not only to internal stakeholders, but also to funders, donors, and the world at large.
Data visualizations are arguably the most effective way to translate large amounts of information into bite-sized pieces that are easier for others to digest. In fact, data visualization is the only way to convey certain data in a comprehensible way, such as those data that are found using heat maps (which we’ll get to later).
Just as cooking combines various ingredients to create a memorable experience through a particular meal, data visualization can bring together many different pieces of information into a central — and memorable — format. These digestible pieces can be visualized through various tools, such as Tableau and Power BI and coding languages such as R or Python. But regardless of the chosen tool, data visualization can feel daunting. You might find yourself asking these questions:
- How and where should I incorporate data visualizations?
- How many charts should I include?
- Which ones should I use?
Data visualizations break up the monotony of text and make your reports more insights-focused and data-driven. But it’s important that you don’t see the use of data visualizations as an “add-on” to your research (or, to use the cooking analogy — a garnish). Thinking about impact and measurement in terms of how you might visualize key data related to your programs should be part of your reporting process from the very start.
For example, at the end of the year, you’ll probably need to communicate all that your organization has achieved over the past 12 months. Instead of describing a lengthy list of the programs you offered, the cities in which the programs were offered, and how many people accessed those programs, you can, instead, create a map with this data. The map could have a dot placed in the location where programs were held with the color of the dot representing the different types of programs offered and the dot size representing the volume of people who attended.
Let’s address these questions and dive deeper into how you can craft the right recipe for your target audience, your data, and your nonprofit.
We can help you transform your data into impactful visualizations to promote social good in annual reports, websites, social media, and more.
