However, using data strategically to help support your marketing program can create powerful messaging and storytelling tools. Here are some frequently asked questions about how to effectively use data in telling your organization’s stories.
What is data storytelling and data visualization?
You need data that’s accurate. Incomplete or incorrect details will harm your organization’s credibility and lead to poor decision-making.
Your nonprofit’s big-picture narrative and small-scale stories are also critical to showcase the insights from your analysis. Remember, numbers alone aren’t as effective.
Simply analyzing your data isn’t enough. You need ways to highlight the data and story in an attractive, compelling visual way. That’s the essence of data visualization – communicating your message clearly for maximum impact.
We’re discussing data visualization here as a tool in marketing, but it’s also an important technique in decision-making. Portraying an issue visually – rather than just using words or raw numbers – can help people identify trends, zoom in on patterns, and highlight important relationships between elements or variables. It can make numbers and information relevant to your audience in a way that they ordinarily wouldn’t be.
What data elements should we choose?
Your organization likely has reams of financial and program data on hand, such as:
The data you select should support your chosen story and overall organizational brand narrative. It should also be easily understandable at a glance – keep things at a high level and don’t get too far into the weeds. And the data should be able to be unified with your chosen images and text. If it takes a paragraph to explain what the audience is looking at, pick another piece of data.
Don’t include data just because you have access to those numbers. Be picky! Consult your team and trusted advisors about your most compelling data elements. Use it because it’s strong and supports your stories.
Tech Tip: Consider that some viewers may be reading your report on a small smartphone screen. Complex data sets or visual representations may be difficult for them to view and understand.
What are the different ways to highlight good data stories?
There are many different methods to tell stories with data, each with their strengths and weaknesses. You may recall some of these from math classes or research publications.
Whatever format works best for your data, remember to keep the method simple. Use a clear headline and descriptive labels, include real values, and test it out to make sure that non-specialists can grasp the message at a glance.
Tech Tip: With the right software, you can turn static graphs and charts into interactive displays or website elements, allowing your audience to dive deep and learn more in a guided journey.
How can we use data storytelling in an annual report?
Some of the most effective stories tie together images, text, and numbers – the perfect combination for a nonprofit annual report, which tells the stories of successes and achievements over the last year.
For example, many modern annual reports are forgoing pages of snapshot financial data in favor of selected highlights, such as revenue growth over a period of time. That’s the perfect thing to illustrate with a bar or line chart, making it easy for readers to see the progress at a glance.
A housing-focused nonprofit could use data to show the results of client successes – transforming hundreds of long-term renters into homeowners, as just one example. An anti-poverty organization might build a pie chart showing how difficult it can be to climb above the high cost of being poor. And a health services nonprofit could use a color-coded map to showcase progress in vaccination rates in a several-county area.
Your organization likely depends on individual donors or institutional funders, and both deserve recognition in your annual report. For example, you could place a list of donors’ names next to a word cloud of comments from client program evaluations that shows the direct impact of their gifts.
Hook PR & Marketing works with nonprofit organizations to tell their stories and craft their messages. Do you want to learn more about storytelling and effective ways to craft your nonprofit’s annual report? Download our free guidebook.