2015 Nonprofit Technology Conference

Data visualization is all the rage right now. But when the data you use is missing key information, you are only painting a partial picture. When we do not accurately capture the demographic information of the people we serve, we cannot be effective in fulfilling our mission to create a better and more equitable society. If we rely on information provided by the most rigorous demographic data collection project in the country, the US Census, we may exclude people in disadvantaged communities. The US Census, for example, tracks sex instead of gender. Increasingly, people are saying that they cannot find themselves in the US Census form.

In this session, we will explore:
1) The implications and opportunities in data collection of your community
2) Best practices when crafting surveys and forms questions
3) how to capture data to tell the story of your project/organization as well as stories of the people you serve.

We will use case studies to show how organizations are using community surveys and research effectively.