Advertise on podcast: Heart, Soul & Data

Are you ready for data? This isn't always a question we realize we need to ask. Luckily, Cindy Eby from Results Lab is here to help us ask and answer that key question.  In this episode, we cover the importance of: Defining Clear Objectives: It's crucial to have a clear understanding of what you want to achieve with your program and define specific outcomes. By doing this, you can design interventions that are targeted and effective. Execute Consistently: If you aren't delivering your programs more or less the same way every time and with every client, then there's nothing yet that you can evaluate. Start with building a sustainable, reliable process for delivery before attempting evaluation. Ethical Responsibility: Data plays a vital role in identifying who benefits from a program and who doesn't. Organizations have an ethical responsibility to ensure that their programs are appropriate for their target populations and, when necessary, refer individuals to more suitable services. Start Small: When incorporating data into program evaluation, it's wise to start with small, focused questions. Don't try to collect and analyze all data at once. Begin by asking specific questions, collecting relevant data, and gradually building your data analysis capabilities. The Human Element: While data is crucial, it's equally important to consider the human element. Understanding the needs and perspectives of the people you're serving is key. Combining quantitative data with qualitative insights can provide a more holistic view of program effectiveness.   Cindy Eby (she/her), Founder and CEO of ResultsLab, is an innovator when it comes to impact in the social sector and a nationally experienced specialist in guiding nonprofit organizations to build their capacity for using data to catalyze positive change. With a reputation for talking about data in a way that is accessible for stakeholders at every level, she operates her Denver-based company, ResultsLab, on the belief that every team deserves the data mindset, skillset and toolset necessary to deliver on social impact and expand smartly. Cindy applies more than 25 years of experience in helping organizations leverage data to catapult their outcomes. She graduated from the University of Denver with a Master of Arts in Sociology. Her career experience has included leadership and advisory roles with organizations such as the Nurse-Family Partnership, Grantmakers for Effective Organizations, and Mile High United.

In this enlightening episode, join Alexandra as she engages in a thought-provoking conversation with Corey Newhouse, founder of Public Profit, about the essential intersection of values and evaluation in the nonprofit sector. Corey provides profound insights into the significance of aligning organizational values with the process of data collection and evaluation, challenging the extractive roots of traditional evaluation practices. They delve into the crucial role of values in shaping evaluation questions, data collection methods, and analysis, highlighting the need for a more inclusive and equitable approach. Corey talks about the Equitable Evaluation Initiative's principles and explores practical strategies for integrating values into the evaluation process. From language access to equity gap scores, they discuss tangible steps that nonprofits can take to humanize the data collection process and enhance its rigor. Whether you're a nonprofit professional or an advocate for social change, gain a deeper understanding of how to transform evaluation into a collaborative, values-driven endeavor that maximizes impact and promotes equity in the nonprofit world.   Corey Newhouse has been a dedicated advocate for educational equity and social justice since the 1990s. As the visionary founder of Public Profit, she spearheads a mission to empower purpose-driven organizations. Her dynamic leadership shapes the team's strategic direction, external relationships, and business development. Prior to that, Corey was a Senior Policy Associate with Children Now, supporting the policy team with data and evaluation, and as an Associate with HTA, a strategy and fundraising consulting firm.

Join Alexandra and data science guru, Peter Bull, as they dive into the fascinating world of data analytics and its impact on the nonprofit sector. They explore the common misconception that data science is only for large corporations and how nonprofits can leverage it to supercharge their impact. Learn about real-life data science projects that have made a difference for nonprofits, including the powerful combination of data and automation to free up human resources for more valuable tasks. Throughout the episode, Peter shares valuable insights on avoiding pitfalls when embarking on data science projects. He emphasizes the importance of starting simple and building iteratively towards more sophisticated solutions. You'll discover how having a strong data collection strategy and an observability mindset are critical for success in the data science world. Whether you're a nonprofit leader, data enthusiast, or simply intrigued by the power of data, this episode will leave you inspired to unlock the full potential of data science. Peter Bull is the Principal Data Scientist and Co-founder at DrivenData, an organization dedicated to harnessing the power of data science for social good. With a passion for leveraging data to drive positive change, Peter has made significant strides in helping nonprofits and social organizations maximize their impact through data-driven decision-making.

In this episode, SaaS CFO, data nerd, and Excel fanatic Matt Brattin joins Alexandra to explore the key elements of successful data management. They emphasize the importance of consistency and integrity in data collection, as well as the need for data to be accurate and usable for its intended purpose. The conversation covers practical tips for cleaning and transforming data using Excel, highlighting its versatility as a beginner-friendly tool for data analytics. They also provide valuable resources for learning Excel and improving data literacy. This episode serves as a concise guide for those interested in harnessing the power of data through efficient data cleaning and Excel proficiency. Matt Brattin is a SaaS CFO, data nerd, and Excel fanatic who uses his platform to help professionals "doing the work" learn new ways of thinking and doing that will propel them in their careers. As a nearly 20-year professional in the space, he's looking to support the development of the next generation of data leaders.  

In this episode, we sat down with Rebecca Gosla of Simplicity Education to discuss what it takes to succeed as a data manager, how being a data manager can mean different things to different orgs, what the day to day experience of a data manager looks like, and what those of us who are not data managers can do to better support this role so that we all have the information that we need to be successful at the change we are trying to achieve. Rebecca is an Associate at Simplicity Education. Her role at Simplicity focuses on building data analysis tools for the organization’s school partners and working with school leaders to gain actionable insights about their student data. Prior to working at Simplicity, Rebecca worked for four years at Codman Academy Charter Public School - a K-12 school serving 345 students - in Boston as the Data Manager and Student Recruitment & Enrollment Lead. Through her work, she doubled the number of recruitment events the school held, analyzed student achievement data, created dashboards to drive instructional and operational change, and spearheaded the school’s transition to a new gradebook. She is also Co-Chair of the Young Professionals Board for Friends of the Children-Boston, a non-profit dedicated to providing high-quality 1:1 mentoring. Rebecca holds a master’s degree in Human Development and Psychology from Harvard Graduate School of Education and a bachelor’s degree in Cognitive Neuroscience from UC San Diego.

"When you're thinking about doing a research study, define and design. So you define what you wanna know, then you design how you're gonna find that out. That's everything. Everything goes back to those two words." If you're one of those people who think that scientific research is just for academic scientists or the lab rats working hard at their lab bench benches with their pipettes, today's episode is for you. I am joined by Neil Krohn, founder and principal of Advanced Healthcare Analytics, to share his expertise in doing research that really matters, and how research isn't just for academic scientists. Stick around till the very end of this episode and learn how your organization, even a small nonprofit, could benefit from designing your own research projects. Neil Krohn is the founder and principal of Advanced Healthcare Analytics, which provides both quantitative and qualitative analytic services. Neil earned his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Tulsa and completed his post-doctoral fellowship in Administration and Evaluation Psychology from the University of Colorado Denver. For more than 20 years Neil has worked in healthcare analytics in both the public and corporate domains. He is particularly interested in helping organizations design and implement research studies that assist them in defining their goals and furthering their missions. He also taught Statistics and Research Methods to psychology graduate students for many years and served as the research design member on doctoral papers and dissertations. Currently, Neil is launching an initiative to have experts in science and technology share their knowledge in small-group discussions in the community. Neil lives with his wife in Denver, Colorado. He’s an avid cyclist, riding about 150 miles per week on Denver’s amazing trail system.

Think about the pieces of technology in use in your organization or your team today. In most nonprofits out there, you'd be surprised that there are dozens and even up to 50 different pieces of technology being used across your organization. In today's episode, I am joined by Tim Lockie of The Human Stack, who specializes in optimizing this interface between technology and humans. Learn how these tech systems work within the ecosystem, and how a CIO plays a part in managing these interactions—regardless of how big or small your organization is. We also discuss the skills required for a chief information officer (CIO) position, the need for effective communication and collaboration within organizations to harness the power of data, the challenges nonprofits face in utilizing data effectively, and how you can take action to address these challenges. Tim Lockie is the CEO and Founder of The Human Stack, and co-host of the Why IT Matters podcast. Tim has over 20 years of experience in the nonprofit and tech world, with roles including volunteer, youth worker, camp counselor, music instructor, foster parent, board member, finance director, bookkeeper, recruiter, and community administrator among others. He's passionate about Digital Transformation and believes it's something that all nonprofits can benefit from, no matter their size.

In this two-part episode, you will get a better idea of how we use data as humans and understand how our brains work to analyze the data that we acquire every day in powerful and effective ways and the possible mistakes we might make along the way. Learn more about the four biases and what you can do about them: Pattern-seeking - What you can do: Triangulate your data Causality - What you can do: Experiment more Confirmation bias - What you can do: Ask "What data would change my/your mind?" Attribution - What you can do: Keep your language within Knowing these and finding out the signs to look out for and what to do gives us a chance to become better when it comes to decision-making not only at work but also in our personal life. Merakinos provides analytics as a service, data strategy consulting, analytic project work, and data fluency training for individuals and organizations seeking to build and strengthen analytic capacity and data-driven decision-making. We can work with your organization to identify the key analytic insights you need from your data, develop and maintain actionable dashboards or reports, and deliver them across your organization monthly, weekly, or on your schedule. Or if you would like to develop internal capacity, we can provide training on key platforms like Power BI, Tableau, or Alteryx. And if you aren't sure where to start, our advisory services can help you design and implement effective analytic strategies to amplify your impact.

In this two-part episode, you will get a better idea of how we use data as humans and understand how our brains work to analyze the data that we acquire every day in powerful and effective ways and the possible mistakes we might make along the way. Learn more about the four biases and what you can do about them: Pattern-seeking - What you can do: Triangulate your data Causality - What you can do: Experiment more Confirmation bias - What you can do: Ask "What data would change my/your mind?" Attribution - What you can do: Keep your language within Knowing these and finding out the signs to look out for and what to do gives us a chance to become better when it comes to decision-making not only at work but also in our personal life. Merakinos provides analytics as a service, data strategy consulting, analytic project work, and data fluency training for individuals and organizations seeking to build and strengthen analytic capacity and data-driven decision-making. We can work with your organization to identify the key analytic insights you need from your data, develop and maintain actionable dashboards or reports, and deliver them across your organization monthly, weekly, or on your schedule. Or if you would like to develop internal capacity, we can provide training on key platforms like Power BI, Tableau, or Alteryx. And if you aren't sure where to start, our advisory services can help you design and implement effective analytic strategies to amplify your impact.

"Make friends with Google" In today's episode, we're going to take a broader view of how Google Analytics can be an incredibly powerful tool for understanding the performance of your content and marketing efforts on your websites. By connecting Google Analytics to your website, you can gain insights into how users are interacting with your content, where they are coming from, what pages they are spending the most time on, and much more. Colin Clapp talks about how optimization isn't a one-and-done and isn't something you can just set and then forget, but something you need to continually engage with. Find out how you can get the results you want without getting overwhelmed in the process, including knowing what your goals are and paying attention to the bigger picture. Colin Clapp is the Co-Founder of Online Marketing Done For You, an online marketing solutions catering to people who are too busy to market online. His purpose in life is to inspire "Significance through a philosophy of Give. Take. Invest. Enjoy." and help other people reach their potential by staying accountable to their dreams. He likes to spend his time with his wife, who he considers his first accountability partner, and his two children.

“Data is a labor of love” Children can teach us valuable lessons about work and inspire us to be better workers, and as parents, both Tasha and I can definitely attest to that. In this episode, we talked about how we apply these lessons in marketing, data, supporting non-profits, and more. From sleepless nights to endless battles over wearing underwear, we deep dive into the ways we can lean into research to learn more and become better at what we do, and why it's essential to find balance in learning from the lessons of others and personalizing them to suit your needs. Tasha Van Vlack is a relationship growth specialist at Yeeboo Digital - where she empowers nonprofits to 'lead with digital' and embrace new marketing, fundraising, and technology practices. When she isn't chatting with nonprofit professionals she spends her time connecting with cool people on LinkedIn, writing content, creating customer journeys, and generally being pulled in ten directions. She is also a proud mom to 3 spirited children who keep her continuously on her toes.

“Don’t be fooled – EVERY system needs maintenance.” Nonprofits are often chronically under-resourced, and thus unable to put in the time, money, and expertise required to optimize their operational systems. The old comic of the guy pushing the square wheel because he doesn’t have time to invent the round one is painfully true for nonprofits everywhere! Fortunately, we have Adam Kogeman here today from Good Bones Consulting to share his secrets of how nonprofits of any size can evaluate how they do what they do – and find more efficient and effective ways to accomplish the great work we’re all here to do. Adam Kogeman is co-founder and principal consultant at Good Bones Consulting, an organizational development consultancy which supports purpose-driven organizations to enhance operational systems, processes, and efficiency. Adam is an experienced social sector leader who has overseen programs and operations at prominent nonprofit and social enterprise organizations and has expertise in diverse issue areas including workforce development, homelessness and housing, and refugee resettlement. He is an engaged member of multiple nonprofit boards, including Good Business Colorado, a statewide advocacy group and network of values-driven small business owners.