By Lauren Kotkin, Exponent Philanthropy
Three recent Exponent Philanthropy programs surfaced some great takeaways. Check out our Educational Programs calendar for upcoming in-person programs, conference calls, live Q&A chats, and webinars.
Some say 2012 was a breakout year for the term big data, a blanket descriptor for the vast and growing amounts of available data, both structured and otherwise, from traditional and new sources.
Data played a role at our recent programs.
On April 23, Mark Larimer of Foundant Technologies addressed big data in the nonprofit sector: the nonprofit data available on the Internet and ways grantmakers can access it, increase its accuracy, and use it in grantmaking decisions.
Mark offered four suggestions to funders:
- Encourage your nonprofit grantees to create or keep current their GuideStar Exchange profile.
- Streamline your grantmaking practices by using the GuideStar Exchange data to learn about grantees.
- Become a Foundation Center eGrant reporter by reporting your giving data. You’ll receive reports and visuals about your grantmaking, which can help you make future decisions and offer potential grantees more information about your giving patterns.
- Use the feedback website GreatNonprofits to share your experiences with nonprofits. Your words could encourage others to give to great causes.
Read Mark’s take on the growing influence of data in the nonprofit sector.
On May 7, we heard about data’s powerful role in helping a group of foundation trustees find their policy voice and protect funds for public education. As my colleague Andy Carroll wrote last month, a foundation consortium in Texas commissioned research documenting the specific impacts on schools, students, and families of its state legislature’s $5.4 billion in cuts. A key finding: The cuts were affecting the very programs proven to be effective, including lower class size, extra tutoring support, and hours devoted to pre-K. The consortium was careful to choose researchers who could gather data in ways that lawmakers would view as credible and unbiased.
The consortium got the report into the hands of decision makers, and more than $5 billion in cuts were restored. Successful advocacy, in this case, was fueled by data.
Last, on May 13, we kicked off the second year of the Quarterly Market Update for Philanthropy series, an Exponent Philanthropy signature program. In the investment sector, data play a leading role in understanding the markets and guiding investment decisions—for starters, according to U.S. Trust Bank of America’s Stephen Campisi, allowing you to compare your performance to the previous quarter’s performance and make tactical changes to your portfolio.
Join us on August 12 for this year’s second Quarterly Market Update for Philanthropy.
Senior Program Director Lauren Kotkin plans a range of educational programs for the Exponent Philanthropy community, including conferences, webinars, and conference calls. She also dedicates a portion of her time to managing our resources on investments. Previously, she worked at the Council on Foundations in the Family Foundation Services department. Lauren holds an undergraduate degree from Duke University and an M.Ed. from Lesley University, with a focus on using arts in education.
