Build, Use, and Share Your Dashboard

You’ve probably heard the expression, “If you can’t track it, you can’t manage it.” I believe that statement is largely true. If you aren’t tracking and analyzing data, there is really no way to demonstrate that your organization is having a measurable impact. Yes, you may have plenty of great stories—and those stories are incredibly important—but data also plays a critical role in showing where your organization is headed.

Data collection and reporting is where I see the most pushback from nonprofit and church leaders. Some of that skepticism is understandable. Most of us have been misled by data at one point or another. There are times when numbers are manipulated or selectively presented to tell a story that doesn’t reflect the full picture.

Despite that concern, I cannot stress enough the value of tracking, analyzing, and reporting data—especially for your board. When you create a strategic plan, you establish goals for your organization. The data you collect helps illuminate whether you are making progress toward those goals or falling short. The key is to avoid overreacting or jumping to conclusions.

For example, if your organization provides meals to people experiencing homelessness and you see an increase in the number of meals served each week, that data alone doesn’t tell you why. It could be the result of more effective outreach, or it could signal an economic downturn that has left more people food insecure. Either way, the data is telling you something important. It prompts questions, invites deeper investigation, and helps you determine whether your strategies are truly working.

Now, let’s talk about the dashboard itself. I recommend keeping it simple—a basic spreadsheet in Excel or Google Sheets is more than sufficient. Each strategic goal should have two to five measures attached to it. For each measure, decide whether it should be tracked weekly, monthly, quarterly, or annually. The appropriate frequency will depend on the metric. Across the top of the spreadsheet, list the months of the year, with a clear divider between years. Then—start tracking.

At first, this process may feel tedious. You may struggle to figure out exactly where to find the data you need (and some software systems are definitely more cooperative than others). It’s also likely that your spreadsheet won’t reveal meaningful insights for several months. But if you stay consistent, you will find your rhythm. Over time, patterns and trends will emerge, and the data will begin to tell a coherent story about how your organization is really doing.

At that point, you will have an extremely powerful tool. This data should be reported regularly to your board. It brings focus and clarity to strategic conversations. Board meetings no longer need to wander through vague or confusing discussions about what the “real” issues might be—the issues will be visible. Instead of debating whether church attendance is up, down, or flat, you can say with clarity that attendance is down 7% over the past three months compared to the previous three months (or whatever measure and timeframe you choose). From there, you can move quickly into meaningful discussion about why that trend exists and what can be done about it.

The truth is, creating, using, and reporting on a dashboard is not that difficult. Many nonprofit and church leaders simply decide they don’t have time for it. I would encourage you to make the time. The payoff is far greater than you might expect.

If you would like help creating or using a dashboard, please contact me at Mustful Strategic Consulting. I can walk you through the process and help you learn how to paint a clear and compelling picture with your data.