The Power of Information: Data at Work for Enterprises

In 2013, Heron kicked off an ongoing exploration into the ways that modern data tools can be used to measure both the social and financial impact of for-profit and nonprofit enterprises. We began with a July retreat entitled “The Power of Information”, attended by a wide range of leaders from the business and social sectors including foundations and government, who all have a significant expertise in data and information technology. To continue the discussion, we hosted this interactive webinar featuring:

Annie Donovan, CEO of Coop Metrics

& Jake Porway, Founder and Executive Director of DataKind

moderated by Eric J. Henderson, Conversation Curator at Markets For Good.

The panel discussed the nature of mission-driven and finance-driven data. At an organizational level, what do these two types of data look like? How do they interact, overlap and diverge? And how can we apply this in our drive for impact and returns—as investors/funders, social enterprises and nonprofits?

Here is the original webinar as hosted on Spreecast, or enjoy the highlight reel:

In “The Finance-Impact Data Spectrum“, Annie Donovan discusses the difference between collecting financial and impact data, the two ends of the spectrum in impact data collection, and a model of the ideal.

In “Data-Driven vs. Data-Informed“, Jake Porway argues that there isn’t a clear line between financial data and impact data, but there is an important difference between different ways of using data to make decisions in how an organization is run.

In “Wallowing in the Data“, Annie Donovan explains the culture needed to dive into data, and why to some degree it doesn’t matter if a data point is about financial or impact data.

In “How Small Organizations Start Toward Big Data“, Eric J. Henderson asked, how can a small organization with a small budget get started on the data trail? Annie Donovan responds: team up with like organizations. Jake Porway answers: Look creatively at what you already have.