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Data for impact: How our emerging data scientists are spending their summers

Insights from Data Strategy Mentorship program participants In June, ParsonsTKO and TechSoup launched the inaugural Data Strategy Mentorship (DSM) program. Since then, a diverse collection of 20+ students and recent graduates have been gathering daily via Zoom to learn how they can use data for good. Participants are embarking on a range of data projects,

Analytics & Optimization

How to exclude staff traffic to your site in Google Analytics

Chris Sabat | 8 minute read

Nearly all nonprofits would like their high-value donors and most prominent policy makers to be among the most loyal visitors to their sites. This is true in some instances. Yet it’s equally likely at least some of your most frequent users come from a more familiar place: your own payroll. Employees and contractors can drive

Analytics & Optimization

How data can improve the lives of your staff

Rick Richards | 4 minute read

The goal of our data strategy work at ParsonsTKO is to make sure every organization’s data lives up to its highest and best use. These efforts take many forms, but can be distilled to this: Does your data support your people and does it help make their daily work easier? As an analyst, I spend

Analytics & Optimization

Hidden treasures: Putting your under-utilized data to work

Rick Richards | 6 minute read

In my work unpacking the data capabilities of nonprofits, we frequently uncover the phenomenon of ‘hidden’ data—that is, data that can answer key business questions without requiring any additional investment in advanced systems or technical implementation. You might be surprised at the valuable data your organization already has at its disposal! Yet it’s not enough

Analytics & Optimization

How to Build a Data-driven Culture: A Case Study from NRECA

Stefan Byrd-Krueger | 7 minute read

Authored By Stefan Byrd-Krueger and Jessica O’Neal, Senior Director Editorial and Digital Strategy at NRECA In a recent Stanford University survey, nonprofit leaders and staff said inadequate measurement of organizational performance is today’s top challenge facing their sector. It’s an issue we’re deeply familiar with in our respective roles as a nonprofit data consultant and

Strategy & Governance

Let’s Discuss…Big Ideas

Lisa McHenry | 2 minute read

When most of us think of forces for change, we think of sudden dramatic events. But more often change happens so slowly we don’t notice. We become comfortable with the status quo and don’t even realize the opportunity to use these changes to create something new, to transform, is passing us by. In this edition

Strategy & Governance

How do we still work together even when we are working apart?

Courtney Matherly | 3 minute read

As someone who has loved working remotely for close to three years, I’ve recently found myself at the shallow end of the pool that our workforce has been pushed into as a result of COVID-19. However, as the virus moves more and more workers online, I’m learning from speaking with friends and neighbors (while adhering

Strategy & Governance

Stay the course on digital transformation

Tony Kopetchny | 3 minute read

In change management theory, there are critical moments when resistance to change is no longer an option due to external pressures that can’t continue to be mitigated or brushed aside. Coronavirus gives us exactly such a moment. We didn’t choose it. But we can make the most of this opportunity to start deliberately transitioning away

Strategy & Governance

Nonprofit COVID-19 Response: Insights from our mission-driven community

Stefan Byrd-Krueger | 27 minute read

Executive Summary The COVID-19 crisis is forcing rapid and, at times, radical adaptation among mission-driven organizations. ParsonsTKO ran a survey among our clients and the nonprofit community to gather more detailed insights into how organizations are impacted and responding, then combined these findings with our experience and advice. Deep disruptions in internal processes, reduced staff

Change Management

Always be yourself: keeping your personality in remote meetings

Andrea Bishop | 2 minute read

Last night at the dinner table with my family, my kids were entertaining us with their impressions of my behavior on camera during my remote meetings. To my delight, my kids were teasing me more about my non-verbal behavior than any verbal tics. I learned that I give the camera a lot of “thumbs up”