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Data

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Data is a tool that can help us tell our stories and make sense of our world. It can help us build a plan to meet our missions and better support our communities.

Data has become a vital part of nonprofit operations and engagement. Whether it’s knowing how – and how well – your organization is meeting its mission, understanding the state of the nonprofit sector as a whole, or accessing and supporting public data initiatives to build stronger communities, we need to build effective and ethical policies and practices around data.

Don’t know where to start? We can help! This page outlines ways for organizations to learn more about the role of data: how to work with it in everyday operations, how to contribute to a better understanding of the nonprofit sector, and how to engage communities and other stakeholders to share data and learn from each other. We also provide links to data for and about the nonprofit sector in Ontario.

To help you on your journey, here are some great starting points:

Learn more about the power of data for nonprofits with our Data 101 series of resources:

To make sense of some of the key terms, concepts, and approaches for nonprofits and how to use data, consider these links:

To help make visual sense of your organization’s data, which you can share internally or with stakeholders, consider these resources on building data dashboards for nonprofits:

To understand better how to work with data more ethically and equitably, consider these resources:

Our most recent additions:

Browse our data resources: