3 June 2019
More than one in 10 not-for-profits doesn’t bother tracking its success, while one in four say they don’t collect any type of data, with arts, culture, sport and recreation groups the least likely to measure their success.
DOWNLOAD NOW: Read the full Spotlight report (4.3MB)
Early results from a national not-for-profit governance survey by the Institute of Community Directors Australia (ICDA), which gathered the views of nearly 1900 not-for-profit leaders, show that:
The report is the product of an ICDA sister organisation, the Innovation Lab, where data scientist Paola Oliva-Altamirano analysed the survey results alongside Our Community executive director Kathy Richardson.
“While there is clearly a long way to go for some organisations, it’s heartening to note that the majority of organisations are collecting data and using it to track their results,” Ms Richardson said.
“Having made the transition to being a data-competent organisation ourselves over the past five years, we’re now working on helping not-for-profit organisations make a similar change, with our new headquarters – Our Community House – incorporating a team of data scientists ready and willing to assist organisations to ratchet up.
“We’re also working on helping social sector organisations to become more confident in tracking their impact. We’re working on an Outcomes Engine – a tech tool to help grantmakers track their impact – and earlier this week we hosted the Practical Impact Conference for not-for-profits at OC House.”
Among the special guests at the event was world-renowned data-for-good thinker Andrew Means, who talked about how to introduce data into organisational strategy.
ICDA will release further insights from the survey in stages, with the full release of all the data due in late 2019.
Latest survey reports and news: www.icda.com.au/survey
Have your say about this study on Facebook at Not-for-profit Happy Hour Australia or tag a tweet #PracticalImpact with your view.
If you’d like to be notified about further Spotlight reports as they’re released, become a member of the Institute of Community Directors Australia – visit www.icda.com.au to find out more.
Our Community offers data science tutorials for not-for-profit. Contact us at service@ourcommunity.com.au for more.
Top survey answers: Survey winners take the pulse of the NFP sector + read all the questions
Conference wrap: Practical Impact Conference shows how NFPs can measure better
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