TURN YOUR DATA INTO INSIGHTS AND YOUR INSIGHTS

TURN YOUR DATA INTO INSIGHTS AND YOUR INSIGHTS INTO STORIES Karen Patch – Sr. Technical Manager, SAS & Adjunct Faculty – Capella University

“In the 21 st century, the social impact organizations that embrace data and technology to amplify their impact, learn about their work, and adjust in real time, will do far more for their work and their issues than we may have ever seen before. ” - Jake Porway, the Founder and Executive Director of Datakind,

WHAT ARE YOU CURRENTLY USING TO TELL YOUR STORY? Excel Power Point Infographics PDFs Social Media Mobile Apps Websites Others?

STANDARD REPORTING

COMPELLING INSIGHTS INVOKE ACTION Data helps to identify gaps and challenges Data visualization is where numerical information and pictorial figures meet Behind every data point is a person – data tells a human story and every metric and survey makes a difference in someone’s life. The numbers alone just don't cut it these days

TYPES OF DATA VISUALIZATIONS

DATA VISUALIZATIONS

TYPES OF DATA VISUALIZATIONS

DATA VISUALIZATION USES Help to launch a campaign Provide updates on fund raising efforts Illustrate a problem to be solved Sharing the human story Sharing year-end results Invoke action Obtain donations Create action plans

DATA VISUALIZATION BEST PRACTICES Visualize the right data – not all data can be visualized well. Start with the end in mind – what message are you trying to convey? Choose the right visualization for the data – try different visuals to see what best tells the story. Keep it Simple and remember your audience. Make it personal to emotional connect with the audience. Include text and comments to help tell your story – find a good balance between quantitative and qualitative data. Data Playbook

FREE TECHNOLOGY -GOOGLE DATA STUDIO Google Data Studio (beta) turns your data into informative dashboards and reports that are easy to read, easy to share, and fully customizable. Dashboarding allows you to tell great data stories to support better business decisions. • Access and upload data sources • Transform the data to put into format for dashboards • Build data visualizations • Collaborative and sharing environment. • Web based application • https: //www. google. com/analytics/data-studio/ Ease of Use Ranking: Easy – No coding required

FREE TECHNOLOGY - GOOGLE CHARTS Interactive charts that can be utilized in your environment. • Large gallery of chart types • Compatible with all browsers and platforms. • Customizable charts • Connect charts into interactive dashboards • Dynamic data (real-time) https: //developers. google. com/chart/interactive/docs/gallery Ease of Use Ranking: Easy

FREE TECHNOLOGY - CHARTED Easy to use – upload a csv or google sheets link and it will automatically generate the chart. • Source code available to embed on your website. • Does not have a data transformation component • Not a formatting tool – limited capabilities for customization. • Limited on data types to csv, tsv, Google spreadsheets with shareable links, Dropbox share links to supported files. https: //www. charted. co/ Ease of Use Ranking: Easy

FREE TECHNOLOGY – DATAWRAPPER Data visualization that is easy to use by uploading data via a csv file. • Choose from a library of charts • Used by journalists to have live charts in articles, etc. • Publish chart to website, create an image or create a pdf. https: //www. datawrapper. de/ • Ease of Use Ranking: Easy

FREE TECHNOLOGY - TABLEAU PUBLIC Software download of Tableau desktop. Create data visualizations and publish them to the cloud for free (10 GB). • Embed data visualizations on your website. • Dynamic visualizations • Exploration of data through Tableau Desktop • Tableau community for usage questions. • Huge gallery of examples. • https: //public. tableau. com/en-us/s/ • Ease of Use Ranking: Intermediate

FREE TECHNOLOGY - D 3. js is a Java. Script library for manipulating documents based on data. D 3 helps you bring data to life using HTML, SVG, and CSS. D 3’s emphasis on web standards gives you the full capabilities of modern browsers without tying yourself to a proprietary framework, combining powerful visualization components and a datadriven approach to DOM manipulation. https: //d 3 js. org/ Ease of Use Ranking: Difficult (programming)

FREE TECHNOLOGY – SAS University Edition is free for learning purposes. • Desktop download • Data transformation • Advanced analytics • Data visualization Caveats: • Cannot be used for commercial purposes • Can be used for research • Can be used for publishing research • Publishing and sharing research for the greater public good is acceptable. https: //www. sas. com/en_us/software/university -edition. html Ease of Use Ranking: Intermediate

FREE RESOURCES TO HELP Local Universities – volunteer/internships Current Volunteer base – may have technical skills you need Wake Tech Community College – Business Analytics Program Dr. Manju Shaw – mkshah@waketech. edu Online Analytics or Data Science Programs – Virtual Internships Local high school AP Stats courses – internship opportunities Local Girl Scouts or Cub Scouts organization – STEM badges Data. Kind - http: //www. datakind. org Volunteering match boards

TECHNOLOGIES YOU MAY ALREADY HAVE OR YOU CAN GET FOR CHEAP Salesforce Apricot Microsoft BI Infogram Data. Hero Openheatmap Weave Metabase (Open Source)

LESSONS LEARNED – MY 2 CENTS Don’t let lack of all data hold you up, get started with what you have. Don’t bite off more than you can chew – choose low hanging fruit. Create a sustainable project that can be maintained going forward. Reach out to organizations who have done it, get insights one their experiences. Data gathering and manipulation is about 80% of the work. Check, double check and triple check your data to be sure you are telling a true story. Use your data action teams as a focus group for visualizations. Open to a small group first. Know your audience!

THANK YOU! Karen Patch karen. patch@sas. com