What's Haunted In Your Backyard?

In honor of Halloween, my data (?!) tip this week is to beware of haunted places in your neck of the woods. The map below could help.

Note that this visualization is a riff on Spooky Places in the USA by Kanyanee M. See original here.

---

---

Let’s talk about YOUR data!

Got the feeling that you and your colleagues would use your data more effectively if you could see it better? Data Viz for Nonprofits (DVN) can help you get the ball rolling with an interactive data dashboard and beautiful charts, maps, and graphs for your next presentation, report, proposal, or webpage. Through a short-term consultation, we can help you to clarify the questions you want to answer and goals you want to track. DVN then visualizes your data to address those questions and track those goals.

---

How Nonprofits Should -- And Should NOT -- Use AI To Make Better Charts (Episode 1)

Here’s the first tip in a mini-series on three simple ways to use AI to make better charts. I begin each of these tips with a caution on how NOT to use AI when visualizing data.

Don’t Use AI to make charts. As data viz guru Stephanie Evergreen says, “AI just makes it easier to make bad graphs” — those that are hard to decipher, poorly designed, and even show incorrect data. And with the amount of prompting that is needed to get a passable chart, current AI tools don’t save you much or any time. Currently, humans are still better at visualizing data, bringing important knowledge to the game. This includes knowledge of the data itself, the intended audiences, and the contexts that help us to understand the significance of the data. Of course, AI is a young and developing tool. But it seems to me that as it gets better, humans just become more important. AI requires us to think more deeply so that we ask better questions of AI and can assess its output.

Do Use AI to suggest chart types.

AI can help you avoid the “default bar chart” trap. Instead of showing a simple bar chart of membership over time, AI might suggest a slope chart that highlights the rate of growth more clearly. For example, an environmental nonprofit tracking carbon reduction could use a line or slope chart to spotlight year-over-year progress in emissions reductions.

In your prompt, be sure to describe the type of data you have and what you hope to show with the chart. But be careful: AI doesn’t always understand your audience. What looks like an interesting chart may confuse stakeholders who aren’t used to certain chart types. Always ask: “Will my board, funders, or community partners recognize and interpret this visual correctly?” Use AI suggestions as a starting point, not the final word.

Look for two more tips in this mini-series on using AI to make better charts in the coming weeks.

---

---

Let’s talk about YOUR data!

Got the feeling that you and your colleagues would use your data more effectively if you could see it better? Data Viz for Nonprofits (DVN) can help you get the ball rolling with an interactive data dashboard and beautiful charts, maps, and graphs for your next presentation, report, proposal, or webpage. Through a short-term consultation, we can help you to clarify the questions you want to answer and goals you want to track. DVN then visualizes your data to address those questions and track those goals.

---

Plot Twist: Your Data Has a Story

Data storytelling is the art of translating complex data into compelling narratives. It goes beyond a mere presentation of numbers and charts. It's about weaving data, visuals, and narrative into a cohesive story that resonates with your audience. Effective data storytelling makes information more accessible, memorable, and actionable. When done well, data storytelling is less like a novel and more like a choose-your-own-adventure. It takes your hand and leads you through the story but allows you to see that the data can tell any number of stories. It invites you in, orients you, and lets you explore.

Here’s a little preview of my upcoming online workshop on finding and telling data stories. I’m sharing the first few slides. (Click below to advance through slides.) Hope you can join me for the real thing on Wednesday, November 5, 2025, 12 PM - 1 PM ET. Register here.

---

---

Let’s talk about YOUR data!

Got the feeling that you and your colleagues would use your data more effectively if you could see it better? Data Viz for Nonprofits (DVN) can help you get the ball rolling with an interactive data dashboard and beautiful charts, maps, and graphs for your next presentation, report, proposal, or webpage. Through a short-term consultation, we can help you to clarify the questions you want to answer and goals you want to track. DVN then visualizes your data to address those questions and track those goals.

---

This Is the Most Important Part of Your Chart (And You're Probably Doing It Last)

Next time you create a chart, try this approach: start by creating a title that includes a key takeaway that matters to your audience and then design the chart to show it. Why? Because viewers don’t read charts like books—they scan for meaning. And eye-tracking studies show that people spend the most time looking at the chart’s title. It’s the anchor of understanding.

So how do you write a strong title?

• Say what happened, not just what’s shown, such as “Volunteer Retention Rose 20% After Mentorship Launch” rather than “Volunteer Retention by Year”.

• Include a number when possible. Specific figures build credibility and draw attention such as “1 in 3 Clients Report Food Insecurity.”

• Drop the jargon. Keep it accessible to board members, funders, and frontline staff with titles like “More Families Getting Help—But Fewer Are Returning.”

Once your title is set, use color, annotations, and layout to back it up. Highlight the key bar, darken the relevant trend, or add a short annotation to explain a sudden change. Every design choice should make it easier for your audience to see the story your title is telling.

When you lead with a clear, compelling title—and support it with thoughtful design—you make meaning.

Tip inspired by John Burn-Murdoch of the Financial Times and research on how we read charts.

---

---

Let’s talk about YOUR data!

Got the feeling that you and your colleagues would use your data more effectively if you could see it better? Data Viz for Nonprofits (DVN) can help you get the ball rolling with an interactive data dashboard and beautiful charts, maps, and graphs for your next presentation, report, proposal, or webpage. Through a short-term consultation, we can help you to clarify the questions you want to answer and goals you want to track. DVN then visualizes your data to address those questions and track those goals.

---

"I Am This Stat”: Pairing Charts with Human Stories

Numbers show scale. Stories show stakes.

If your chart says “12% of local teens have dropped out of school,” that’s powerful. But if you add a face, a voice, or a name—like “That 12% includes Kofi, age 15, who left school to support his family”—now the data lands with meaning.

Here’s how to do it:

• Pick one stat. Choose a single data point that’s easy to grasp.

• Pair it with a single person. Feature a short quote, photo, or name (with permission) that represents the data. One real voice can speak volumes.

• Let them speak. Keep the story in their own words if possible.

This simple combo—a chart + a story—may create what behavioral scientists call identifiable victim effect. This is the tendency of individuals to offer greater aid when a specific, identifiable person is observed under hardship, as compared to a large, vaguely defined group with the same need. What makes an individual “identifiable”? Personal data such as names, ages, and photos, according to research, are deemed identifiable. And the effect appears stronger when only one person is identified. Check out this example:

---

---

Let’s talk about YOUR data!

Got the feeling that you and your colleagues would use your data more effectively if you could see it better? Data Viz for Nonprofits (DVN) can help you get the ball rolling with an interactive data dashboard and beautiful charts, maps, and graphs for your next presentation, report, proposal, or webpage. Through a short-term consultation, we can help you to clarify the questions you want to answer and goals you want to track. DVN then visualizes your data to address those questions and track those goals.

---

Nonprofit Inspiration from the Information is Beautiful Award Winners

Looking for quick and powerful data-inspired ideas to energize your nonprofit communications or campaigns? Explore highlights from the 2024 Information is Beautiful Awards, where data storytelling shines—and learn how to bring similar clarity, impact, and beauty to your mission.

Humanitarian – Gold Winner

Source: Reuters

The world’s hunger watchdog warned of catastrophe in Sudan. Famine struck anyway. (Reuters)

This article leads you through a series of visualizations, to help you to understand a complex humanitarian crisis and how the world’s hunger monitoring-and-response system is falling short in addressing it. Visualizations, such as the one shown above, help you to comprehend the system’s classification of the problem by looking at a sample of 100 people living in Sudan’s Zamzam camp.

Places, Spaces & Environment – Gold Winner

Source: I Want A Better Catastrophe

I Want a Better Catastrophe: A Flowchart for Navigating our Climate Predicament (University of Applied Sciences Potsdam)

This flowchart, which combines an audio narration with interactive elements, is an invitation to join Andrew Boyd, the designer, on his narrative path and explore the predicament on your own.

For more inspiration, check out other 2024 winners.

---

Let’s talk about YOUR data!

Got the feeling that you and your colleagues would use your data more effectively if you could see it better? Data Viz for Nonprofits (DVN) can help you get the ball rolling with an interactive data dashboard and beautiful charts, maps, and graphs for your next presentation, report, proposal, or webpage. Through a short-term consultation, we can help you to clarify the questions you want to answer and goals you want to track. DVN then visualizes your data to address those questions and track those goals.

---

Do You Need A Few Good Charts?

---

Let’s talk about YOUR data!

Got the feeling that you and your colleagues would use your data more effectively if you could see it better? Data Viz for Nonprofits (DVN) can help you get the ball rolling with an interactive data dashboard and beautiful charts, maps, and graphs for your next presentation, report, proposal, or webpage. Through a short-term consultation, we can help you to clarify the questions you want to answer and goals you want to track. DVN then visualizes your data to address those questions and track those goals.

---

How to Make Your Data More Accessible & Inclusive

When your charts are hard to read, navigate, or interpret, you may unintentionally exclude people with visual, cognitive, or physical differences. The good news? A few simple tweaks can make your visualizations dramatically more inclusive—without sacrificing impact. Below are three practical ways to start, each with links to deeper dives from past 60-Second Data Tips.

1. Design with Color Blindness in Mind

About 1 in 20 people live with some form of color vision deficiency. Relying solely on color to differentiate data points leaves these viewers behind. Use texture, shape, or labels—not just color—to distinguish categories. Also, tools like Color Oracle can help simulate how those with color blindness see your work, and you can generate an accessible color palette using an online tool like this one from Venngage.

Read more: How To Make Your Data Viz More Accessible: Color Blindness

2. Size Text for Readability

Small fonts and tight spacing are common in data visuals—but they create major accessibility barriers, especially for older adults or users with low vision. The rule of thumb is: Text must not be smaller than 9 points in size. And always test readability at 100% zoom—especially on dashboards.

Read more: What's The Right Text Size to Make Data Viz Accessible?

3. Structure for Screen Readers & Keyboard Navigation

If your charts are embedded in websites or reports, they should be usable by people who rely on screen readers or keyboard controls. You can make your data visualizations more screen reader- and keyboard-friendly by reducing the number of marks and adding text that clarifies the content of the visualization.

Read more: How To Make Your Data Viz More Accessible: Screen Readers and Keyboard Navigation

---

Let’s talk about YOUR data!

Got the feeling that you and your colleagues would use your data more effectively if you could see it better? Data Viz for Nonprofits (DVN) can help you get the ball rolling with an interactive data dashboard and beautiful charts, maps, and graphs for your next presentation, report, proposal, or webpage. Through a short-term consultation, we can help you to clarify the questions you want to answer and goals you want to track. DVN then visualizes your data to address those questions and track those goals.

---

How to Put The Viewer In The Viz

Reposted from May 2021

Here’s a surefire way to engage your donors, staff, board members, and others in your data: put them in it. This series of interactive visualizations from The New York Times shows you, right out of the gates, whether you live in a Democratic or Republican bubble. Then it zooms out to zip code areas near you and finally focuses on the segregated political landscape in the U.S. more generally.

Think about how you can engage various stakeholders in your data by using a similar technique. For example, show viewers . . .

• How close they are to a problem. Rather than present statistics on food insecurity in your region, ask viewers to enter their zip code to see how many families near them don’t have consistent access to healthy food.

• How accurate their understanding of an issue is. Ask them how many women experience domestic violence or how many children experience poverty, and then show them how far off the mark they are. Check out this example!

• How their habits or lifestyle contribute to—or help to reduce—a problem. Check out this Carbon Footprint Calculator for a great example.

• What category they fall into. We all love to discover groups we belong to. Think of Harry Potter’s sorting hat. Consider elucidating an issue by showing viewers where they fall in relation to that issue. That’s what I did with this data personality viz.

And no, you don’t need to be a tech wiz to make these types of interactive visualizations. You can make them using Tableau Public, the free version of Tableau (or a similar data viz application) and embed them in your website. I’m also happy to create something like this for you.

---

Let’s talk about YOUR data!

Got the feeling that you and your colleagues would use your data more effectively if you could see it better? Data Viz for Nonprofits (DVN) can help you get the ball rolling with an interactive data dashboard and beautiful charts, maps, and graphs for your next presentation, report, proposal, or webpage. Through a short-term consultation, we can help you to clarify the questions you want to answer and goals you want to track. DVN then visualizes your data to address those questions and track those goals.

---

Data Viz Mini Courses

Quick tip today: Data viz guru Ann Emery is in the process of making a dozen "mini courses" (1-2 hours about 1 specific topic, $97). Check them out.

---

Let’s talk about YOUR data!

Got the feeling that you and your colleagues would use your data more effectively if you could see it better? Data Viz for Nonprofits (DVN) can help you get the ball rolling with an interactive data dashboard and beautiful charts, maps, and graphs for your next presentation, report, proposal, or webpage. Through a short-term consultation, we can help you to clarify the questions you want to answer and goals you want to track. DVN then visualizes your data to address those questions and track those goals.

---

Guinea Pig Your Data Viz

Reposted from October 2018

Let’s say you have a well-designed chart, graph, or map. Now it’s time to find some humans (preferably those similar to your intended users), show them the visualization (aka viz), and do the following:

• Ask them what they think the viz is about and what question(s) it is trying to answer.

• Then ask them to try to answer several specific questions using the viz. These questions should focus on the key information you want users to easily extract from the viz.

• Take notes. What was difficult for them to figure out? Did they miss any critical aspects of the viz? Did they come to any incorrect conclusions or interesting conclusions you didn’t expect?

Use your notes to revise:

• Make some aspects of the viz more prominent using color,

• Fade other aspects to the background,

• Add a better title or more captions,

• Remove confusing or distracting elements, and even

• Add new data to make clearer comparisons.

---

Let’s talk about YOUR data!

Got the feeling that you and your colleagues would use your data more effectively if you could see it better? Data Viz for Nonprofits (DVN) can help you get the ball rolling with an interactive data dashboard and beautiful charts, maps, and graphs for your next presentation, report, proposal, or webpage. Through a short-term consultation, we can help you to clarify the questions you want to answer and goals you want to track. DVN then visualizes your data to address those questions and track those goals.

---

Nonprofits Need This Dashboard

Reposted from November 2023

Does your nonprofit have participants (or volunteers or clients or human beings of another sort) in various programs? If so, you could benefit from a dashboard like this one (see below). Give it a spin. Select a program at the top to highlight participants in that program in the charts. This dashboard allows for easy comparisons across programs, across statuses (e.g. enrolled, waitlisted, and withdrawn), and across time. Scroll over charts to learn more.

My inspiration for this dashboard came from Eve Thomas at The Data School. Check out Eve’s article, which includes instructions for creating this type of dashboard with Tableau (assuming basic Tableau knowledge.)

---

Let’s talk about YOUR data!

Got the feeling that you and your colleagues would use your data more effectively if you could see it better? Data Viz for Nonprofits (DVN) can help you get the ball rolling with an interactive data dashboard and beautiful charts, maps, and graphs for your next presentation, report, proposal, or webpage. Through a short-term consultation, we can help you to clarify the questions you want to answer and goals you want to track. DVN then visualizes your data to address those questions and track those goals.

---

What You Should Know About Word Clouds

Reposted from November 2020

This tip is a warning. In other tips, I have encouraged you to use a particular type of chart for specific purposes. But in this tip, I’ll suggest that you NEVER use this chart under ANY circumstance. I’m not alone in my aversion to word clouds. Plenty of others, including Jacob Harris, a senior software architect at The New York Times, have articulated their distaste. This tip is basically the 60-second version of Harris’ article on the topic.

Active Ingredients (What is a word cloud?)

A word cloud shows how many times various words in a document are used. More common words are larger. Less common ones are smaller. The varying sized words are arranged “into some vaguely artistic arrangement,” as Harris puts it.

Uses

There are no good uses of the word cloud. As its name suggests, it clouds meaning rather than clarifies it. I created the word cloud above using one of the many online word cloud generators. It shows the frequency of various words in “Goldilocks and the Three Bears.” Does it provide any insight into the story for you?

Sometimes organizations create word clouds not to convey insight but because they want a graphic on a topic and can’t think of what else to use. But photos or illustrations of anything are almost always going to be more engaging than a bunch of words floating around in a cloud.

Warnings

The number of times a word is used tells us nothing about the meaning of the text. Different words can have the same meaning and, conversely, the same word can have different meanings in different contexts. To get to meaning, you need to look at the frequency of concepts or themes, not words.

Word clouds aren’t the best tool even when the point is to analyze word usage. Check out the series of simple bar charts below. They provide more insight than any word cloud could because they allow us to easily discern the most/least popular words.

Source: r/dataisbeautiful

(Sort of) Fun Fact

The word cloud technique originated online in the 1990s when they were called “tag clouds” and were used to show the popularity of keywords in bookmarks.

To see past data tips, including those about other chart types, click HERE.

---

Let’s talk about YOUR data!

Got the feeling that you and your colleagues would use your data more effectively if you could see it better? Data Viz for Nonprofits (DVN) can help you get the ball rolling with an interactive data dashboard and beautiful charts, maps, and graphs for your next presentation, report, proposal, or webpage. Through a short-term consultation, we can help you to clarify the questions you want to answer and goals you want to track. DVN then visualizes your data to address those questions and track those goals.

---

Why You Should Know About Venn Diagrams

Reposted from October 2020

This week, I give you yet another useful-if-done-right chart, the Venn diagram.

Active Ingredients (What is a Venn Diagram?)

ICYMI, a Venn diagram shows overlapping categories or sets usually represented by circles.

Uses

These diagrams are great for showing the degree to which categories or sets overlap and what elements fall inside/outside of each set and each overlapping portion. The take home message is usually the shaded area where all of the circles intersect. So make that area easy to locate using color and labels. You can use a venn diagram to:

• Show Program Overlaps: Illustrate how different programs or services intersect—for example, where housing and mental health services support the same clients.

• Highlight Shared Needs: Compare the needs of different populations served (e.g., youth and seniors) to show common areas like transportation or access to healthcare.

• Map Partnerships: Show where missions or activities of partner organizations align with your own. Great for grant proposals and collaboration pitches.

• Visualize Strategic Fit: Depict the overlap between your organization’s strengths, community needs, and funding opportunities—helpful in strategic planning.

This example shows how an organization bridges the gap among three different types of organizations working on foreign policy.

Source: Network 20/20

Warnings

For me, Venn-diagram-fatigue sets in early. I get tired of discerning the meaning of each overlapping area pretty quickly. So I’d suggest limiting the number of circles. And, more importantly, clearly labeling the sets.

Here’s one that I gave up on after about 15 seconds:

Source: @DanNeidle

On the other hand, this Venn diagram works even with four sets because the sets (orphaned, wealthy, sidekick, and masked) are clearly marked and the intersection labels are simple.

Source: gliffy.com

Fun Fact

English mathematician John Venn is credited with inventing the Venn diagram in the 1860s, and, according to Phil Plait, there are two kinds of people in the world . . .

Source: DiscoverMagazine.com

To see past data tips, including those about other chart types, click HERE.

---

Let’s talk about YOUR data!

Got the feeling that you and your colleagues would use your data more effectively if you could see it better? Data Viz for Nonprofits (DVN) can help you get the ball rolling with an interactive data dashboard and beautiful charts, maps, and graphs for your next presentation, report, proposal, or webpage. Through a short-term consultation, we can help you to clarify the questions you want to answer and goals you want to track. DVN then visualizes your data to address those questions and track those goals.

---

How To Choose The Right Chart

Reposted from September 2018 with updates!

There are many chart choosing tools out there. You can find online tools: just Google “chart chooser.” You also can use tools built into data visualization applications like Tableau or, of course, ask your friendly AI. But I still like this simple one: Andrew Abela’s decision tree called Chart Suggestions—A Thought-Starter.  It’s based on Gene Zelazny's classic work Say It With Charts. I like that it focuses on what you are aiming to show and gets you thinking about that. Indeed, it prompts thinking, as the name suggests, and thinking is a good activity to do before visualizing data!

The decision tree starts with the basic question: “What would you like to show?” And provides four options:

Comparison. You have two or more groups of things or people and you want to see which group is largest/smallest or highest/lowest (or somewhere in between) on some measure. You also may want to see how these groups compare on the measure overtime.

Distribution. You have a bunch of data points (e.g. the ages of participants in a program or test scores of students in a class) and you want to know how spread out or bunched up they are. Are most of the ages, test scores (whatever) near the average? Or is there a wide range? Are there some extreme outliers?

Composition. You want to understand who or what makes up a larger group such as how many of the participants in a program are in different age brackets or how many have been in the program for different lengths of time.

Relationship. You want to know if one thing is related to another, either at one point in time or overtime. Does more participation in a mental health program correlate with less distress over time? Do those with lower incomes have higher heart rates?

Once you answer this basic question, the decision tree helps you to choose a specific chart based on the type of data you have. Abela’s chart chooser includes the types of charts you are most likely to select. But there are more rare species out there. To learn more about the wide array of ways to visualize data, check out the Data Visualisation Catalog.

However, I will leave you with a word of caution. And that word is: “Xenographphobia” or fear of weird charts. It’s a thing. And you should be aware of it. Although we might like the look of sexy charts, we don’t usually have the time or patience to figure them out. So in the interest of creating a positive and productive user experience, consider sticking with the charts folks already know how to read or are self-explanatory.

---

Let’s talk about YOUR data!

Got the feeling that you and your colleagues would use your data more effectively if you could see it better? Data Viz for Nonprofits (DVN) can help you get the ball rolling with an interactive data dashboard and beautiful charts, maps, and graphs for your next presentation, report, proposal, or webpage. Through a short-term consultation, we can help you to clarify the questions you want to answer and goals you want to track. DVN then visualizes your data to address those questions and track those goals.

---

---

Column chart with line chart by HLD, Line Graph by Creative Stall, Pie Chart by frederick allen, Radar Chart by Agus Purwant, and sankey diagram by Rflor (from the Noun Project)

What's The Difference Between An Infographic and A Data Visualization?

Reposted from April 2018

Infographic and data visualization often are used interchangeably. And, indeed, the distinction is not hard and fast. They both focus on showing rather than telling. They explain something using more visual cues than words or numbers and so take advantage of our visual superpowers. (For more on these superpowers, see Tip #1.) The difference is that an infographic is more of a story, and a data visualization is more of a tool.

An infographic typically uses images to lead the viewer through a story. Some of those images might be visualizations of data. For example, the point of this infographic is to highlight aspects of a nonprofit workforce shortage. Infographics are usually meant to explain or show something to people who are not all that familiar with the topic.

A data visualization, unlike an infographic, uses visual cues (shape, color, size, etc.) primarily to represent data. Think bar chart, line graph, pie chart, and maps. And though the creators of the data visualization may have a story they want to tell, the viewer can use the visualization to discern any number of stories.

For example, on the quadrants chart below, each circle represents an educational strategy. The strategies are plotted along two measures: how much importance educators place on the strategies and how often they put these strategies into practice. We can use this chart as a tool to decide what to do next. Clearly, most of the educators represented in the data already feel these strategies are important. But they use most of the tactics less than 50 percent of the time. So we need not waste time explaining the value of the strategies to them. Instead, we should determine what is preventing them from implementing the strategies.

If you are looking to tell a specific story particularly to an outside audience, consider an infographic. If you are looking for a tool to explore data, consider a data visualization.

---

Let’s talk about YOUR data!

Got the feeling that you and your colleagues would use your data more effectively if you could see it better? Data Viz for Nonprofits (DVN) can help you get the ball rolling with an interactive data dashboard and beautiful charts, maps, and graphs for your next presentation, report, proposal, or webpage. Through a short-term consultation, we can help you to clarify the questions you want to answer and goals you want to track. DVN then visualizes your data to address those questions and track those goals.

---

Why You Should Know About Span Charts

Reposted from March 2022

Tired of bar and pie charts but not sure what your other options may be? Meet the simple and friendly span chart.*

Active Ingredients (What is a span chart?)

A span chart shows the range between a minimum value and a maximum value. Check out the example below which displays the salaries of full-time employees of the City of Chicago in various departments. The chart on top shows the range between the lowest and highest salaries in each department, and when you click on a bar, the chart below shows the salaries of individual employees in that department (which you can see by scrolling over the circles). So we can see, for example, that although the public library department has a wide range of salaries, the large majority of employees earn less than $100K per year.

Uses

Span charts provide the extreme values. So if you want your viewer to appreciate the range of values and compare the range of different subgroups, as the example above does, it can be quite effective. In addition to salary ranges, a nonprofit organization might use a span chart to show the range between:

1. The largest and smallest donation amounts per person by year or by subgroup.

2. The highest and lowest grade point average of students in a tutoring program by semester or by subgroup.

3. The most and least days of participation among adults in a job training program by month or by subgroup.

Here are instructions for creating a span chart with Tableau and Excel.

Warnings

Span charts do not show the values in between the minimum and maximum or the average value. So you have no sense of the distribution of data points. Are the values evenly distributed or are most at the high or low end? If understanding the distribution is important, you can pair a span chart with a chart that provides more information on the in-between values, as the example above does. Other chart types which show distribution include: histograms, scatter charts, and box plots.

Fun Fact

Span charts go by a variety of names including range bar/column graph, floating bar graph, difference graph, and high-low graph.

*This is one in a series of tips on different chart types. In each tip, l give you need-to-know information in a format akin to the “Drug Facts” on the back of medication boxes: active ingredients (what the chart is), uses (when to use it), and warnings (what to look out for when creating the chart). The idea is to fill up your toolbox with a variety of tools for making sense of data. And the span chart is a simple tool you can put to good use!

Sources: The Data Visualisation Catalogue

---

Let’s talk about YOUR data!

Got the feeling that you and your colleagues would use your data more effectively if you could see it better? Data Viz for Nonprofits (DVN) can help you get the ball rolling with an interactive data dashboard and beautiful charts, maps, and graphs for your next presentation, report, proposal, or webpage. Through a short-term consultation, we can help you to clarify the questions you want to answer and goals you want to track. DVN then visualizes your data to address those questions and track those goals.

---

Understand Your Volunteers Using "Pantry Staple" Data

If your organization is like most nonprofits, you rely on volunteers to get the job done. And you probably have at least some basic “pantry staple” data on volunteers.

Pantry Staple Data: Volunteer Data

The volunteer data you already have can be leveraged to:

• Impress funders, donors, and other stakeholders. Show them how you are using this free resource to move the needle.

• Recruit new volunteers. As we have discussed in this blog before, we are all influenced by peers. So show how many volunteers you have to attract even more.

• Manage volunteers more effectively. Seeing clearly what’s going on with your volunteers will help you to retain them, make better use of them, and recruit new ones. This is the subject of today’s tip.

Use Case: Maximizing Volunteer Time and Value

This volunteer data dashboard uses a variety of charts to answer the who, what, where, and when questions that you may have about your volunteers. With this detailed view of volunteers, an organization can start thinking about how to activate inactive volunteers, what types of new volunteers to target, and when during the year to deploy volunteers.

Source: Jin Tat on Tableau Public

This simple map dashboard provides insight into the distribution of volunteers—and volunteer hours—among sites. This understanding can help you decide if and how to redistribute volunteers. Both this dashboard and the one above can be created using Tableau Public, the free version of Tableau.

Source:CCE on Tableau Public

To see past data tips, click HERE.

---

Let’s talk about YOUR data!

Got the feeling that you and your colleagues would use your data more effectively if you could see it better? Data Viz for Nonprofits (DVN) can help you get the ball rolling with an interactive data dashboard and beautiful charts, maps, and graphs for your next presentation, report, proposal, or webpage. Through a short-term consultation, we can help you to clarify the questions you want to answer and goals you want to track. DVN then visualizes your data to address those questions and track those goals.

---

A Simple Way to Improve Nonprofit Charts

Sometimes showing whether something happened or not is more powerful than showing how much it changed over time. A recent Grist article highlights this idea through a striking example: instead of showing gradual temperature shifts over time (see the lefthand chart below), scientists simply showed whether a lake froze each winter—yes or no—across several decades (see righthand chart below). People who saw the righthand chart were more likely to perceive climate change as causing more abrupt changes.

Source: Grist

This binary approach—did/didn’t, yes/no, on/off—turns complex data into clear signals. And it’s not just for climate science. Nonprofits can use it to communicate impact in a way that’s instantly understood. Long-term trends are easier to see, and it evokes a stronger emotional response.

Try this in your nonprofit work:

• Show which years a program met its goals and which it didn’t.

• Visualize which communities have (or don’t have) access to a key service.

• Use a yes/no timeline to highlight when a resource was available.

Binary visuals don’t oversimplify—they clarify. Read the full story here: Grist – Scientists just found a way to break through climate apathy.

To see past data tips, click HERE.

---

Let’s talk about YOUR data!

Got the feeling that you and your colleagues would use your data more effectively if you could see it better? Data Viz for Nonprofits (DVN) can help you get the ball rolling with an interactive data dashboard and beautiful charts, maps, and graphs for your next presentation, report, proposal, or webpage. Through a short-term consultation, we can help you to clarify the questions you want to answer and goals you want to track. DVN then visualizes your data to address those questions and track those goals.

---

How To Balance Your Information Diet

Reposted from January 2024

Here’s a question for you. And don’t go Googling. Just make your best guess.

Have the number of people experiencing homelessness in the U.S. increased or decreased since 2007?

Whatever your answer, you likely drew on your own personal experience as well as images and information from the media when guessing at the answer. Perhaps you drew on some statistics too. But, unless you have expertise in this area, probably not. Stick with me for a minute, and I’ll not only provide an answer to the question but also some insight into how we consume information.

Personal experience, media, and statistics affect how we understand any issue, and there are limits to each of these inputs. So we would do well to understand those limits before acting on our understanding by voting, donating, or making decisions about programs that our organizations operate. Max Roser’s article in Our World in Data (The limits of our personal experience and the value of statistics) walks us through some of those limitations:

Personal Experience

“The world is large, and we can experience only very little of it personally,” Roser notes. “For every person you know, there are ten million people you do not know.” Even the most social and well-traveled among us can have only a limited understanding of the world through personal experience. I, for example, do not know anyone personally who has been unhoused, and most of my interactions with people in this situation occur on the street when someone asks me for money. This experience provides no information about the breadth of the problem or the range of experiences with this issue over time.

Media

“This fact is so obvious that it is easy to miss how important it is: everything you hear about anyone who is more than a few dozen meters away, you know through some form of media,” Roser points out. “The news reports on the unusual things that happen on a particular day, but the things that happen every day never get mentioned. This gives us a biased and incomplete picture of the world; we are inundated with detailed news on terrorism but hardly ever hear of everyday tragedies like the fact that 16,000 children die every single day.” If I recently heard a story about a city clearing homeless encampments, I may assess the problem as larger, and if I haven’t heard about anything on the issue in awhile, I may assess it as smaller.

Statistics

“The collection and production of good statistics is a major challenge,” writes Roser. “Data might be unrepresentative in some ways, it might be mismeasured, and some data might be missing entirely.” But, unlike personal experience and the media, it provides a way of assessing the full range of an issue. So it’s important to add statistics, along with personal experience and the media, to our information diet.

To add some statistics to your understanding of homelessness, the number of people experiencing homelessness in the U.S. decreased from about 650,000 in 2007 to about 580,000 (about 18 of every 10,000 people) in 2022 according to The 2022 Annual Homelessness Assessment Report to Congress.

We should not discount personal experience, the media, or statistics because of their limitations. But we should appreciate their limitations when forming opinions and taking actions based on them. As Roser notes: “Each way of learning about the world has its value. It’s about how we bring them together: the in-depth understanding that only personal interaction can give us, the focus on the powerful and unusual that the news offers, and the statistical view that gives us the opportunity to see everyone.” As described in many tips in this blog, well-designed charts make data/statistics more accessible to everyone and thus allow everyone to see everyone.

---

Let’s talk about YOUR data!

Got the feeling that you and your colleagues would use your data more effectively if you could see it better? Data Viz for Nonprofits (DVN) can help you get the ball rolling with an interactive data dashboard and beautiful charts, maps, and graphs for your next presentation, report, proposal, or webpage. Through a short-term consultation, we can help you to clarify the questions you want to answer and goals you want to track. DVN then visualizes your data to address those questions and track those goals.

---