While the short answer, as you may have already suspected, is yes, let’s go ahead and break down a few of the more specific factors that underline why nonprofits should be getting in on the big data game hook, line, and sinker.
It’s Only Gaining Steam Let’s start with more of a “big picture” point: The uses for big data are only becoming more numerous.
Along with other modern advancements like AI and analytics in general, big data only continues to grow in importance.
If nonprofits do not begin to look into ways to wield the power of big data within their own sphere of influence, they’re going to miss the boat, just as Kodak did with the digital camera.
You Don’t Need Your Own Data to Succeed The world is constantly working to find ways to organize data, much of which is both tailored to specific situations and available to the public.
Nonprofits do not need vast internal methods of collecting and organizing big data in order to tap into its incredible potential.
They can quite easily take advantage of already available sources.
While this naturally limits what data they have access to, working with already existing information can ease the costs and strains of collecting and organizing the information, a task that can often be far too expensive for nonprofits, which typically operate on tighter budgets.
The Accountability Factor One of the best ways that nonprofits can use big data on a smaller scale is for accountability.
While for-profit businesses can a benefit from data by using it to inform PR efforts, nonprofits, in particular, can set themselves up for success by using it to prove their loyalty to the causes they espouse.
For example, if an organization strictly adheres to fair trade practices, dealing exclusively in goods or services that are manufactured with the health, compensation, and independence of the producer in mind, it can be an excellent demonstration of their commitment to collect and use big data as proof of their faithfulness to their ideology.
This consequently bolsters their own position and authority within their field of business operations.
Big Data for Big Problems While for-profit companies often use similar methods to optimize data for their own ends, nonprofits are often forced to travel a less common path.
Often the best ways to apply big data to nonprofit causes is unique to each organization’s goals.
If a nonprofit is trying to help a developing nation, big data on birth rates, poverty levels, or pollution can help garner attention and raise funds for their efforts.
Using vast amounts of statistical data and personal anecdotes, nonprofits can even track the spread of deadly diseases, effectively giving them the tools to contain deadly outbreaks in developing nations.
None of the aforementioned pieces of data can have anything to do with their primary mission statement or final goals, and yet they can utilize the information for their own specific needs.
In short, the creative applications of big data is a powerful tool in the hands of a nonprofit.
Wielding Big Data Within Your Nonprofit While the reasons for using big data within a nonprofit are numerous, the fact still stands that the myriad pieces of information constantly streaming into an organization’s database can be difficult to get ahold of and use with any lasting effect.
But that doesn’t mean the task is impossible.
Often it simply requires a structured approach that incorporates cleaning up the data (e.
g.
paring it down to genuinely useful and trusted information) and creating larger networks of employees involved in the decision-making process beyond those that are tasked with handling the data itself.
The crux of the issue revolves around the decision-making point.
If your IT team is the only one aware of pertinent big data that might influence a company decision, chances are the opportunity to use that information will be lost.
However, if a larger umbrella of team members is incorporated into the “web of knowledge” that big data can provide, it can help positively influence decisions for nonprofits, helping them to maneuver themselves into the ever-crowded spotlight, communicate their mission statement effectively, and raise funds at unprecedented rates.
About the Author Avery Phillips is a freelance human based out of the beautiful Treasure Valley.
She loves all things in nature, especially humans.
Leave a comment down below or tweet her @a_taylorian with any questions or comments.
Sign up for the free insideBIGDATA newsletter.
.