Dashboards for Nonprofits
In this age of data visualization, it’s useful to have a few good dashboards in your nonprofit’s toolbox!
Dashboards can help boards and staff of nonprofits get a handle on large amounts of data and see the significance of the data quickly. Dashboards can also be shared with donors and grantmakers to help familiarize them with a nonprofit’s impact, scope of programs, or finances.
Some dashboards illustrate performance over time, such as numbers of people served; others offer a snap shot view of a situation, such as the current status of a nonprofit’s cash flow. Nonprofit staff can use dashboards to monitor a nonprofit’s social media influence, or to show board members financial indicators, or to illustrate how much progress has been made towards various goals. An effective dashboard illustrates rather than tells the audience about needed actions or decisions. The uses are varied, and the results are usually an “ah ha!” moment.
Measuring success with dashboards
A dashboard can chart the progress made towards achieving specific goals, and also illustrate who is accountable, making them terrific tools for performance measurement.
Dashboard Tools
- Dashboard Junkies for Google Analytics
- The Dash free dashboard tool
- Library of sample dashboard indicators (CompassPoint)
Resources About Dashboards
- Show me your nonprofit dashboard (Beth’s Blog)
- Models and components of a great nonprofit dashboard (Nonprofit Quarterly)
- Several examples of using dashboards for boards (Blue Avocado)
- Example of dashboards integrated into Powerpoint presentations (Year Up)
- Beyond Dashboards: Business Intelligence Tools for Program Analysis and Reporting (Idealware)
- What Gauges Belong on Your Dashboard? (Nonprofits Assistance Fund; also includes samples)
- Minding the Gap with dashboards (this post includes a link to template dashboards) (Social Impact Architects)
