Whether it’s reviewing the fiscal year, the calendar year, or even just a routine quarterly review, you’re probably already looking at your organization’s data.
But you aren’t looking at numbers.
Your data is telling a story.
Any time we are reviewing results with clients, we spend hours pouring over the data to identify the story and all the plotlines.
Not to make up a narrative and forcing the data to fit into that story.
It’s about reading and analyzing the data to understand the story it’s telling.
Thankfully, Oneicity has a team of data whisperers. They specializes in looking through organizations’ data to find trends, issues, or that right segment of donors to receive the appeal.
But if you don’t have someone like them on your team, how do you read that story and understand what the numbers are saying?
First, look at the overall results.
Those top line or bottom line (depending on how you design your charts) will tell you the beginning of the story. Many people think that’s the end of the story, but they’re wrong.
Results are the “once upon a time” part of the story. It’s where you begin.
Sometimes the ending matches the beginning, but sometimes you’ll find there’s more to the story than you first think. This will also help you see what areas might need some extra digging as you look through the results.
Next, look at any big anomalies.
These are the “plot twists” to the story. It could be a huge increase in giving in a certain category (or maybe a scary drop in giving in a category). Either of those deserve some extra digging around to find out what’s going on.
Then, it’s time to start digging.
This is the “hero’s journey” part of the story. The part of the movie with the montage showing the training sequence while music plays. Here is where you start to look beyond the initial data and look deeper.
The key to doing that?
Ask questions.
Was there a big gift or two that skewed results?
Did a major donor drop off this past year?
What changes in strategy were implemented that could have impacted results?
What was going on nationally that could have influenced donor behavior?
Asking questions will lead you to look beyond the basics and first impressions. If they lead to more questions? Good. Keep asking them.
Be warned: this is the most important and the most difficult part to do because you can’t read the label on the jar you’re in. Having an outsider perspective can always be helpful.
Looking deeper into the results will lead you to the ending of the story.
The “happily ever after” part. After you know what the true story is, then you can see what your organization has done well and where your organization can improve.
So, what story is your data telling?
Questions? Email us at: howdy@oneicity.com
Photo by John Schnobrich on Unsplash
