As one of the leaders of your nonprofit organization, you have many tools at your disposal to help you make the best decisions. From accounting software to fundraising letter templates, you do not have to dig deep to discover the most effective tools to help you manage your nonprofit organization. However, one tool remains an elusive tool to use because of its perceived complexity. When you hear the phrase, “It is what you do not know that can hurt you,” you might as well be thinking about the often-intimidating tool called data analytics.
Once you hear the term data analytics, thoughts of large corporations and their army of information technology experts quickly spring into your mind. However, data analytics should not be an intimidating topic that sends every member of your nonprofit organization running for cover. In fact, data analytics is more accessible than you might think.
What Does Data Accessibility Mean?
What is data accessibility? Data accessibility represents the process of removing the hurdles that prevent you from maximizing the data gathered for storage in a database. Regardless of your professional role or the type of industry your nonprofit organization serves, easy-to-understand software solutions dramatically expand the access managers have to data. The enhanced accessibility allows you and other nonprofit managers to gain crucial insights into your organization’s financial and operational status, while at the same time helping managers make sound decisions that impact performance.
Some of the responsibility for optimizing the benefits of data analytics falls on the shoulders of the people that collect and use valuable proprietary data. Nonetheless, improving how your nonprofit accesses important data can give your organization an edge in a highly competitive industry because of four influential reasons.
Make Better Informed Decisions
Easy-to-access data is the key to helping nonprofit managers make better-informed decisions. Without access to visible data, you cannot expect to consider all your management options. Accessing every data analytics tool should identify risks, as well as track team performance, financial obligations, and the proper allocation of resources.
Reduces the Time It Takes to Make Decisions
Data frequently represents the resource that shines the light on which is the best path to take for your nonprofit organization. This is especially true for decisions that concern revealing what are the likes and dislikes of your target customers. Gaining access to helpful data decreases the amount of time it takes to make decisions that impact your nonprofit’s performance.
Identifies the Right Donors
One of the most important goals of any nonprofit organization involves identifying the most likely donors. The less time that you spend pitching your nonprofit’s mission, the more time you have to devote financial resources to other items on your organization’s agenda. Gaining access to data and then understanding the implications of the data helps you target the right base of potential donors.
Fosters Innovation
Whether you embrace data or not, gaining access to it helps you drive innovation within your nonprofit organization. Data can provide you with insight into industry trends, as well as help you discover new ways to accomplish fundraising goals. You also can develop new ways to recruit volunteers, as well as get the most out of a limited operations budget.