What is CTData Strategic Planning?

We Launched a New Social Enterprise: CTData Strategic Planning!

AT CTData, a core part of our work centers around building data literacy skills. We incorporate data literacy into almost every aspect of our work and we have seen a few challenges that organizations face when it comes to data either:  

  • Nonprofits are awash in data that they don't know how to use to show their impact; or  

  • Nonprofits are uncertain what data to collect, how to collect it, and how to use it strategically.  

 This situation presents many challenges to nonprofits - and an opportunity.  

To address the problem above, CTData launched CTData Strategic Planning, a social enterprise that provides training and coaching to help nonprofits build Data Strategic Plans. The process helps nonprofits align data with the mission of the organization so they can learn whether they are reaching their goals. Organizations learn how to move from collecting data reactively to a proactive and strategic purpose. Data Strategic Planning allows organizations to take ownership over their data, measure their impact, and tell their story through data.  

With a Data Strategic Plan, nonprofit staff can plan their data collection, analysis, and reporting process to inform decision-making. The Plan is a resource for staff to understand every step of the process, from identifying program goals, to collecting data, analyzing data, and reporting findings. 

Data Strategic Planning is held over 20 months and is broken into four phases: 

  • Phase I: Building a Framework for a Data Strategic Plan 

  • Phase II: Developing Your Data Strategic Plan 

  • Phase III: Implementing Your Data Strategic Plan 

  • Phase IV: Tracking and Monitoring Implementation 

By participating in this service, nonprofit staff will: 

  • Develop increased data literacy skills - and increased confidence in those skills. 

  • Create a roadmap for their organization that incorporates all parts of the data life cycle – aligning activities to outcomes, with a data collection plan and appropriate tools for measurement and analysis.   

  • Spend less time sifting through messy data and more time compiling their data into useful information that can inform decisions. 

  • Develop the capacity to use data to regularly improve services and programs. 

  • Communicate information about results to funders and increase their funding base. 

  • Understand why they collect the information they do from the people they serve.  

Additional benefits include: 

  • Organizational data collection will improve in areas beyond those in the Plan among participating nonprofits. 

  • Nonprofits will strengthen their relationship with the individuals they seek to support by proving themselves more trustworthy with client data. They will become stewards of the information they collect from clients by using it to better support individuals and the community. 

  • Nonprofits and foundations will be more confident that the programs they provide truly benefit the people they are meant to support. 


To learn more about how this service or if you would like to provide it to your nonprofit grantees , email mrn@ctdata.org

Data Strategic Planning, CTData NewsMichelle Riordan-Nold