Ideas You Should Steal From This Viz (Installment 17)

“All creative work builds on what came before.” —Austin Kleon in Steal Like An Artist.

Today I offer up another steal-worthy viz. Luc Guillemot uses a connected scatterplot to show how the HIV/AIDS epidemic evolved over time.

Note: This is not a line chart! Here’s how to read it:

  • The X-axis (horizontal) shows the number of new HIV infections each year.

  • The Y-axis (vertical) shows the number of people dying from HIV/AIDS each year.

  • Time follows the line.

To understand it, start at the 1990 point in the bottom right, then follow the line year by year, reading the captions along the way.

Where the line turns from dark to medium red in the late 1990s, you’ll see something powerful: the line begins turning leftward because new infections begin falling. But deaths keep rising for years. The two measures are out of sync because people infected earlier were still dying before treatment became widely available.

A simple line chart wouldn’t show that relationship nearly as clearly. That’s why you should steal this approach. Use a connected scatterplot when:

  • Results lag behind effort

  • Two metrics influence each other

  • Progress isn’t linear

For example: plot program participation (X) against successful outcomes (Y) over several years. If the line loops or bends, you may have uncovered delays between investment and impact.

When you want to show how two forces move together over time — not just whether they go up or down — connect the dots. Just make sure your audience knows where to start and what each axis means.

To see past data tips, including other steal-worthy data visualizations, 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.

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Data Visualization Is Not A Monologue

Showing and telling isn’t enough. Remember to also ask and listen.

I talk a lot about showing and telling with data visualization including choosing the right chart, emphasizing what matters, and clearly explaining what the data says.

That’s essential, but it’s not sufficient. Just as important is listening and asking.

If your goal is communication (not just display), you need to know whether your visualization is actually landing. After sharing a chart or dashboard, try asking:

  • What stands out to you here?

  • What questions does this raise?

  • What feels confusing or unclear?

  • What would you want to know next?

For example, imagine a nonprofit shares a dashboard showing program participation is up 20%. Leadership celebrates. But program staff ask why certain neighborhoods didn’t see growth. A funder wonders whether outcomes improved, not just counts. Same chart. Very different readings.

Those reactions are data, too. They tell you whether your visualization is:

  • communicating clearly,

  • answering the right questions,

  • sparking curiosity, and

  • supporting real decisions.

Use the answers to these questions to hone your 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.

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Data Viz Resources You Should Know: Nonprofit Trends Tracker

If you ever need quick context about what’s happening across the nonprofit sector, the Nonprofit Trends Tracker is a tool worth bookmarking.

What is it?
An interactive online tool that brings together national data about the nonprofit sector. You can explore trends in areas like charitable giving, nonprofit employment, volunteering, and the number of nonprofit organizations over time. The charts are simple, clear, and easy to navigate.

Who’s it for?
Anyone who needs context for their organization’s data—especially nonprofit staff preparing reports, grant proposals, presentations, or strategic plans. It’s a quick way to answer questions like: Are donations changing nationally? Is nonprofit employment growing or shrinking?

Who’s behind it?
The Urban Institute, a respected nonprofit research organization that analyzes social and economic policy.

Why I think it’s cool
Your organization’s data tells your story, but sometimes you also need to show the bigger picture. This tool makes it easy to add credible sector-wide context to your charts and reports, often with just a quick screenshot or citation.

 
 

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.

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It's Open Data Week!

If you work at a nonprofit, Open Data Day is worth a look — even if you only have 30 minutes. Open Data Day features free, global events focused on making data more accessible and useful. Many sessions are virtual, practical, and beginner-friendly. Explore events and resources here.

Here are two sessions especially relevant to nonprofits:

 
 

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.

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Three Smart Ways to Strengthen Your Data Skills This Spring

If you want your data to actually influence decisions — not just sit in a report — this spring offers three strong opportunities to level up. Two are workshops I’m leading. One is from the ever-brilliant Ann Emery.

Telling Data Stories

Hosted by Nonprofit Learning Lab, Led by Amelia Kohm

This session focuses on helping nonprofit staff turn analysis into insight. We’ll cover how to clarify your key message, simplify visuals, and structure findings so busy boards, funders, and partners quickly understand what matters — and what to do next.

Survey Rx

Hosted by Association of Consultants to Nonprofits, Led by Amelia Kohm and Monica Kaiser

This is a live, in-person workshop in the Chicago area. Survey data is everywhere in our sector — and often underused or misinterpreted. Monica and I will cover the full arc:

• Designing surveys that actually produce usable data

•.Writing stronger survey questions

• Understanding response rates and representativeness

• Cleaning and organizing results

• Summarizing quantitative findings clearly

• Synthesizing open-ended comments without overwhelming your audience

• Choosing visuals that make results easier to interpret

If you collect surveys (and who doesn’t?), this session will help you move from raw responses to credible, actionable insight.Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

Powerful Presentations

Offered through Depict Data Studio, Led by Ann Emery

Ann is an internationally recognized data visualization expert and founder of Depict Data Studio. Her course focuses on designing presentations that are clear, engaging, and persuasive — so your analysis doesn’t get lost in cluttered slides or dense charts.

Data doesn’t create change on its own. Clear questions. Thoughtful analysis. Engaging presentation. Those skills are learnable — and they’re what help nonprofits turn information into action.

 
 

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.

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Do Your Bar Charts Contain Both Apples and Oranges?

In a Chart Chat video, data viz guru Jeffrey Shaffer critiques a Pew Research bar chart showing news outlets used by people with and without college degrees (shown to the right). At first glance, the chart seems to invite a clear ranking. As Shaffer points out, it would be easy to look at this chart and conclude that college-educated readers strongly prefer some outlets (like The Atlantic) over others (like Fox News). But that conclusion would be misleading.

Why? Because the bars represent outlets that differ in important, structural ways. For example, some outlets require subscriptions, while others are free.. They also vary in size. These issues may be driving what outlets people use more than — or in addition to — their level of education.

Why this matters for nonprofits: When nonprofits compare programs, clients, or partners in a bar chart, hidden differences can quietly distort the story. A chart may look clean, but the comparison may not be fair. Before sharing a bar chart, ask: Are these categories truly comparable — or are we accidentally comparing apples to oranges?

 
 

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.

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Ideas You Should Steal From This Viz (Installment 16)

“All creative work builds on what came before.” —Austin Kleon in Steal Like An Artist.

Today I offer up another steal-worthy viz. This one is from the excellent Not-Ship blog in which Amanda Shendruk charts “the age of uncertainty.”

In the blog post, each of a series of charts positions a U.S. data point against a broader international comparison. The U.S. isn’t always the highest or lowest value, but by highlighting it consistently, readers can easily see how it compares and, in particular, where it diverges.

I recommend you steal this technique to:

  • Compare one key group (e.g., your organization, a target population, or a focal geographic area) to others.

  • Help viewers spot patterns across charts, not just within one chart.

  • Support a narrative about similarities, differences, or tradeoffs even when your focal group is not an outlier.

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.

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It's Love Data Week!

What’s that?

Love Data Week is an international celebration of data, taking place every year during the week of Valentine’s Day. Universities, nonprofit organizations, government agencies, corporations and individuals are encouraged to host and participate in data-related events and activities.

What’s in it for me?

Lots of free online events, many of which are relevant to nonprofit work such as workshops on data visualization, using AI for data analysis, data resources, data privacy, etc. See the full list of events.

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.

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What's A "Good" Survey Response Rate?

Recently, a client I’m building a data dashboard for asked me: “Our survey response rate was 30 percent. Isn’t that really good?”

I could see where she was coming from. Given how hard it is to get people to respond to surveys these days, 30 percent may feel strong—and it may be higher than what your organization typically sees.

But imagine she asked this instead: “I just bought a used car for $15,000. Isn’t that really good?” You’d probably say, “Well, it depends on the quality of the car.” If it’s a junker that can’t make it to the end of the block, it’s not a good deal.

Survey data is no different. A “good” response rate depends on the quality of the data. Rather than asking “Is my response rate good?” a more useful question is: “How representative is my survey data?” Your survey results might reflect what your clients, volunteers, or participants think and experience overall. On the other hand, they might mainly reflect the views of a small group of highly engaged, eager survey-takers.

To assess representativeness, compare your survey respondents to the larger group they’re meant to represent. Ask questions like:

  • Do respondents reflect the broader group’s demographics?

  • Are different programs, locations, or levels of participation represented?

  • Are newer participants responding at the same rate as long-time ones?

Even a high response rate can be misleading if certain subgroups are underrepresented.

If your respondents don’t look like the larger group, here’s what you can do:

1. Talk to staff and clients.

Gather insight on why certain groups may be less likely to respond. Barriers might include time constraints, language, survey length, digital access, or lack of trust in how data will be used.

2. Adjust how you collect data from underrepresented groups.

Based on what you learn, consider strategies to collect additional survey responses such as:

  • Offering the survey in multiple languages

  • Providing paper, text-based, or in-person survey options

  • Shortening the survey or breaking it into sections

  • Using trusted staff or community partners to encourage participation

  • Offering small incentives or emphasizing how feedback will be used

3. Be transparent about limitations.

Whenever you present survey results in data dashboards, presentations, your website, or social media, clarify who responded and who didn’t. For example:

“These results reflect primarily long-term program participants; newer clients were underrepresented.”

4. Apply lessons to the next survey.

Use what you learned to improve both response rates and data quality next time.

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.

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Does Your Nonprofit Really Need a Dashboard — and If So, What Kind?

Before investing in a dashboard, ask this first: “What problem are we trying to solve with data?” Not every organization needs the same kind of dashboard. And in many cases, the right solution is simpler—and far less expensive—than people expect.

For many small nonprofits, the biggest need isn’t a complex reporting system. It’s a clear, compelling way to:

  • show outcomes to funders and board members

  • summarize program results for planning and evaluation

  • communicate impact in reports or on the web

In those cases, a simple dashboard or small set of visuals (sometimes built in Tableau Public, which is free) and updated periodically may be all you need. Creating these can be relatively low-cost and doesn’t require ongoing software subscriptions.

Dashboards become a bigger investment when they need to:

  • include sensitive or internal-only information (like client names or addresses)

  • connect to live databases

  • show different data to different users based on permissions

At that point, a secure internal dashboard can save staff time, reduce reporting headaches, and improve decision-making. And that’s when a larger investment starts to make sense.

The smartest dashboard decision is often choosing just enough dashboard. I’m always happy to talk through your organization’s needs. Feel free to schedule a free consultation.

 
 

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.

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A Totally Doable 2026 Data To-Do List for Nonprofits

Feeling overwhelmed by “big data goals” for the new year? Relax: your 2026 data plan doesn’t need to be fancy, expensive, or AI-heavy to make a real difference. Here’s a totally doable data to-do list most nonprofits can actually complete.

1. Pick 5 metrics that matter (and drop the rest).

Choose a short list tied directly to decisions you make: participation, retention, outcomes, revenue, or reach. If a metric doesn’t inform action, it doesn’t make the list.

2. Create one shared data source.

Whether it’s a clean spreadsheet, Airtable, or database export, aim for one place your team agrees is the source of truth. Version chaos is not a data strategy.

3. Build one reusable chart set.

Design 3–5 charts you can reuse all year—for board meetings, funders, and reports. Consistency saves time and builds trust. If you’d like help with this, check out ChartPacks.

4. Add plain-language takeaways to every chart.

One sentence is enough: “Participation increased after we added evening programs.”

5. Schedule a quarterly “data hour.”

Put it on the calendar now. Review what changed, what didn’t, and what surprised you. A simple data dashboard with real-time data is a great tool for this. If you’d like some help with this, let’s talk.

6. Use AI for the boring parts, not the thinking.

AI is great for cleaning data, fixing labels, summarizing trends, or drafting chart captions. Humans still decide what matters.

In 2026, progress isn’t about more data—it’s about clearer, calmer, more usable data. Small, consistent steps beat ambitious plans that never get finished.

 
 

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.

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Best Data Viz of 2025

Looking for a fun (if somewhat geeky) study/work break? Check out these data viz best-of lists for 2025:

New York Times

Pew Research Center

The Webby Awards (Here’s the link to the NBC Big Board project.)

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.

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When Data Hits the Wall: Telling Stories with Murals

Here’s an idea for transforming statistics into interactive street art—making data both beautiful and deeply personal. It also fosters community ownership and dialogue. Take a look at this video about a project that made abstract data accessible to the community using paint and colored string. As Legal Coordinator Stephen Kinuthia Mwangi explained: “Instead of people publishing books that community members are not able to access or read, we put these books on walls, and people can now read them and share the 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.

Schedule A Free Consultation
 
 

Ideas You Should Steal From This Viz (Installment 16)

“All creative work builds on what came before.” —Austin Kleon in Steal Like An Artist.

Today I offer up another steal-worthy interactive viz that I came across in the Tableau Public Gallery.

Source: James Goodall on Tableau Public

Here’s what I suggest you steal from this viz:

  • Three measures. This dashboard gets around the quandry of what to show: totals, change in totals, or percentage change by offering all three. The totals give you a sense of the relative size of the districts. The change gives you a sense of the relative size of the population change across districts (From 2020? The time period for the change is not indicated). And the percentage change give you a sense of the size of the change relative to the size of the district across districts.

  • Easy comparisons across subgroups. The bar charts allow for easy comparisons across both districts and gender groups.

  • Key finding captions. The dashboard includes some captions with key findings for each group: all, male, and female. The captions provide a summary of the data and thus a launching point for further exploration of the data.

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.

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What's Better Than Bare Naked Charts?

A study by MIT, UC Berkeley, and Tableau researchers found that people prefer charts with clear, helpful text over both plain, bare charts and text-only explanations. But what you write—and where you put it—makes a difference.

What works best:

  • Big picture messages (example: “Sharp drop in donations in 2024”) work well as chart titles—that’s what people notice first and remember best.

  • Key numbers or comparisons (example: “Highest turnout in 2023”) should go right next to the point or part of the chart they explain.

  • Context or background info (example: “Policy change led to spike”) also works best close to the related data—not just in the title

Check out how the simple changes made between the before and after charts allow you to more easily draw meaning from it.


Tip for nonprofits: When designing charts for funders, boards, or the public, guide your audience to the key point with well-placed text. They’ll remember your story—not just the numbers.

 
 

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.

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The Pies That Bind

For the past several years, at this time of year, I’ve shared this map:

Data drawn from this 2022 Food & Wine article

According to a 2022 Food & Wine article, Pinterest analyzed internal search data to discover the most common pie recipe search terms in each state. I took that data and mapped it. As you can see below, pie preferences do not appear to fall along regional, ideological, or even agricultural lines. Minnesotans love lemon pie, and Floridians love pumpkin pie, although I’m guessing that more lemons are grown in Florida and pumpkins in Minnesota.

Wondering if preferences have changed since 2022, I looked for updated data. But I could not find a more recent analysis of pie recipe searches on Pinterest or elsewhere. What I did find was this map showing Instacart data on pie ordering.

This map doesn’t show each state’s most popular pie order but rather its most distinctive one. Turns out I live in the french silk pie region of the country, where Instacart orders for this type of pie beat national averages. So it seems that while many of my neighbors are searching for (and possibly baking) berry pies, many are ordering chocolate ones.

What does this all mean? Well, probably not much. But it does provide some evidence that, while we may be divided in other ways, the American pie map doesn’t look anything like an electoral map. So this Thanksgiving, let’s be thankful for our shared love of pie.

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.

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Hi, I'm Amelia.

Small Tweaks That Boost Chart Impact

Text in charts can clarify your data or clutter it. To get it right, here are two key tips:

1. Make text slightly darker than the marks.
Marks are the visual elements that represent your data—lines, circles, bars, or shapes. Labels and annotations should be easy to read but not compete with the data itself. A good rule: make your text a bit darker than your marks.

2. Follow the “Z” pattern.
In cultures that read left to right and top to bottom, the eye naturally moves across a page in a Z shape. Position important annotations along this path—top left, across, down diagonally, and then across the bottom. This helps people notice key takeaways at just the right moment in their visual journey.

Consider this example with the “Z” pattern superimposed on it. This chart places the title, key annotation, color legend, and horizontal axis along the Z, helping us to easily pull out the key information.

 
 
 
 

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.

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Chart Vibes -- And Why They Matter

Charts do more than share data, they send social signals according to new research from MIT. When people scroll past your chart on social media, they instantly form impressions about who you are and whether they should trust you, often before considering the data shown in the visualization.

For instance, some study participants guessed that slickly designed charts were ads, and therefore not trustworthy. One participant dismissed a chart because of its hand-drawn style gave the vibes of "some female Instagram influencer who is just trying to look for attention." Being wary of any information on social media, including charts, makes good sense. Indeed, climate deniers are using the trappings of academic research, including charts, to make their messages appear more reliable, according to this analysis.

So how can you gain the attention of cautious social media consumers? Consider the following when designing charts for posting:

  • Choose colors and fonts that fit your organization’s personality. Clean, calm styles signal credibility and care; trendy effects can read as hype.

  • Show who made it. Add your logo or a note like “Created by [Your Org]” and cite your data source. These are trust cues.

  • Keep it simple. On small screens, clarity beats flair. Make sure your main number or takeaway is instantly visible.

Before posting, ask: If someone unfamiliar with us saw this chart, would it feel trustworthy?

Here’s an article in Phy.org about the MIT research. And here is the journal article with more detail.

 
 

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.

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How Nonprofits Should -- And Should NOT -- Use AI To Make Better Charts (Episode 3)

Here’s the third tip in a mini-series on three simple ways to use AI to make better charts. ICYMI, here’s the first tip and the second tip in the series. 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 in order to ask better questions of AI and to assess its output.

Do Use AI to polish your chart. Polishing a chart doesn’t mean adding glitter—it means making every visual choice serve your story. AI tools can help you do just that:

  • Rewrite confusing labels or titles. Ask AI to suggest plainer, more human ways to say what your chart shows.

  • Spot clutter. Let AI critique your chart for too many colors, gridlines, or legends.

  • Reorder or group data. AI can detect patterns you’ve missed and propose a more logical layout or sequence.

Let’s say that a food security nonprofit built a bar chart showing monthly pantry visits, but the axis labels overlapped and the title read “Service Volume Over Time.” By asking an AI assistant to review the chart and identify elements that might be confusing or misleading for the intended users, they might get suggestions to:

  • Simplify the title to “More Households Needed Food Aid This Winter.”

  • Use fewer color shades to reduce visual noise.

  • Add a short annotation pointing to the holiday-season spike.

Be careful: AI polishing should support your message, not overwrite it. Always check that suggested labels, annotations, or color changes keep the meaning true to your data.

 
 

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.

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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. This map could help.

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

 
 

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