1

New Approaches to Research and Data

Measuring and communicating our impact ORWhy Power Point makes us look stupid

Deedra AtkinsonUnited Way of Dane CountyCommunity Leaders’ ConferenceMay, 2008

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Today’s objectives

• Building creditability as a community partner through data

• Generate new sources and partnerships for finding data

• Ideas and techniques for displaying and communicating data

• Sources, models and ideas for using data

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Dane County Snapshot

Population: 225,000 in Madison and 450,000 in all of Dane County

Consistently low unemployment rate

Always listed on “Top 10 Best Places to Live”

15% of population persons of color (42% in Madison Metropolitan Schools)

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Aspirational and realistic

2008 Investments $14,000,000!

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Strategy for change focuses resources

• Accountability to the donor

• Engage us in a common vision

• Create change at the community level

• Identify strategies that get results

• Use data, research and best practices

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0

5

10

15

20

25

30

1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

African American Hispanic Southeast Asian Other Asian White

WISCONSIN READING COMPREHENSION TEST 1991-2004BELOW STANDARD/MINIMAL PERFORMANCE BY ETHNIC GROUP

Reducing the racial achievement gap

Source: MMSD student data warehouse summary tables. All figures are based on students participating in test.

Fir

st Y

ear

Sch

ools

of

Hop

e L

eade

rshi

p T

eam

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Power Point is intellectually thin

• Hierarchical, bullet outlines dilute thought

• Data-thin, forgetful displays make audiences passive and diminish credibility of presenter

• Sets up a dominance relationship

• Auto wizard dilutes ability to gain wisdom from data

8Source: www.norvig.com, Peter Norvig

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10

11

12

13

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Children and Youth Achieve PotentialReadiness to Succeed in School

Polk County schools- DIBELS Beginning Sounds

64%

55%58%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

2004 2005 2006

source: IDE; CFPC

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Children and Youth Achieve PotentialEducational Success and Readiness to Succeed in Adulthood

Polk- attendance rates K-8

96.00 96.00 96.00 95.63 95.91 95.92 95.90

0.00

10.00

20.00

30.00

40.00

50.00

60.00

70.00

80.00

90.00

100.00

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

source: IDE

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Children and Youth Achieve PotentialEducational Success and Readiness to Succeed in Adulthood

Reading Proficiency

68.04 68.66 68.570.47

78.67 77.62 76.13 75.95

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

2003 2004 2005 2006

8th grade 11th grade

source: IDE

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Children and Youth Achieve PotentialEducational Success and Readiness to Succeed in Adulthood

Polk County- High School Graduation rate

85.81 84.98 84.6186.37 86.17 86.23

88.67 87.3190.40

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

source: IDE

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Families are Economically Stable and IndependentFinancial Stability Among Working Families

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34%

5%

12%

10%

9%

8%

7%

4%

4%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%

Don't Like the Charities/Groups They Give To

Retired

Didn't Receive Any Literature on it

Like to Pick Own Charity

On a Fixed Income

Can't Afford to/No money

No Longer Work for Company w/Campaign

Gave Money to Other Charities

Never Asked/Contacted

Reason for Not Giving to United Way This Year (Lapsed Donors)

Base = 111

Over half the reasons for not

giving (53%) focus on the

lack of reach/contact with United Way or WP campaign

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Recent National History: Katrina Affects Percentage

74.1

25.9

74.8

25.2

75.3

24.7

75.2

24.8

74.0

26.0

10

30

50

70

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005

UW1 - Unrestricted Giving UW2 - Designations to Agencies

%

Source: UWA Research

0.5 pct pointchange

0.7 pct pointchange

-0.1 pct pointchange

-1.2 pct pointchange

National Designation Percent Fell Beginning 2004

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Areas of Growth and Decline in the Continuum

UW1 Discretionary Funds $2.71B to $2.69B Leveraged Funds $225M to $221M

Annual Campaign $3.61B to $3.63B Government Grants $134M to $151M Gifts to Initiatives $84M to $102M Corporate Sponsorships $4.3M to $6.0M Volunteer Time $161M to $165M Planned Giving (EPG) $62M to $67M Major Gifts (non campaign) $4.7M to $24M

Source: UWA ResearchNational Drop in Unrestricted Real Dollars

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Key Club Givers

Key Club consistent with Tocqueville Society

71.4% 70.8%

0.0%

10.0%20.0%

30.0%

40.0%50.0%

60.0%

70.0%

80.0%90.0%

100.0%

2006 2007

UnrestrictedGiving %

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Leadership Giving: Potential Reasons

• Recruiting to Tocqueville Society often focused on existing philanthropy through United Way– Meets donor desire to show support of United Way

without significant increase in overall philanthropy

• National trend is for donors to give specifically so they know where dollars are going

• Opportunity for greater emphasis on importance of unrestricted giving

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Local Trends

81.3% 80.0% 80.2% 79.3% 78.9% 79.1% 79.3%

75.50% 75.10% 74.20% 74.60% 74.40%

50.0%

60.0%

70.0%

80.0%

90.0%

100.0%

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

Private -UnrestrictedGiving %

Overall -UnrestrictedGiving %

Total Private Sector Unrestricted % Flattening?

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Local Donor Retention

14011611

17711868

1504

0

250

500

750

1000

1250

1500

1750

2000

2005 (baseline) 2006 2007

Retained from prev. yr. Total Donors

87% retained

84.7% retained

70% of lost donors had opportunity to give

77% of lost donors had opportunity to give

33% of 2005 lost donors came back in 2007

Actual 2-year retention 2006 to 2007 = 91%

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2006 Churn Rates: Metro 1

0

10

20

30

40

50

Source: UWA Research, 2006-07 Database 2 Survey

Percent

Max: 45% Churn Rate

Average: 21%

31% Churn Rate

7% Churn Rate

UWs losing 1 out of every 5

donors

UWs losing 1 out of every 3

donors

UWs losing 1 out of every 2

donors

Twenty-five percent (25%) of Metro 1 UWs lose between 1 out of 2 to 1 out of 3 donors

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UWs w/Year-Round Relationships Among More Donors have Lower “Churn” Rates

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

0-9% 10-29%

30-49%

50-69%

70-89%

90-100%

Ttl Donors

Leadership

UWs w/Yr RoundRelationships Among % of Donors:

Ch

urn

Rat

e %

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Total Donors

49,909 48,858

44,551 44,293 43,07340,849 39,456

0

10000

20000

30000

40000

50000

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

Total Donors

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Average Gift

$191$212

$229$247

$266$289

$314 $327

0

100

200

300

400

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

Average Gift

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Data should engage and tell a story

• Data walls, not projected presentation

• Headline and conclusion, not label

• Use color• Sources• Pay attention to the

message you’re sending• Combine data elements

to contextualize

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Presentations should be good teaching

• Eliminate hierarchical bulleted lists

• Danger: paralysis by analysis

• Use techniques to prompt discussion

Data Information Knowledge WisdomData

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Data builds accountability, credibility, and trust

Use community data The internet is your

friend Seek new data partners Capture scope and

dimension May take years….and

then you’ll refine it some more

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Data is not always reliable or timely - changes can impact the work we do.

• SOH – change in the 3rd grade reading test

• School district changes definition of homeless children

• Department of Corrections changed definition of recidivism

Prison Releases to Dane County

518 527627

588

199 220290

38%42%

46%

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

2003 2004 2005 2006

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

Releases

Re-offend/sent backto prison

Percentage

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An effective accountability system will create impact

Research informs practice

Practice provides evidence

Evidence informs community

Community allocates resources

Resources support effective work, practice, research

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Percent of students completing algebra at beginning of 10th grade

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

99-00 00-01 01-02 02-03 03-04 04-05 05-06 06-07

African Amer Hispanic Asian White

Source: Madison Metropolitan School District

Students of color achieve at the same rate as white students.

2004 - 3rd grade reading

--gap eliminated in

MMSD

10th grade algebra—in process in

MMSD

Sun Prairie in 2nd year for elementary literacy; 1st

year for middle school math

Verona in 1st year for

elementary literacy

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Fewer children have the skills they need to start school.

Kindergarten Readiness 2000 - 2007 Percent of children entering kindergarten with needed skills*

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

African American Hispanic Other AsianSE Asian White Total

* Screening tool changed in 2002 Source: Madison Metropolitan School District

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Top mental health issues are consistent across levels

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30%

Elementary

Middle

High

% of students by grade level

Anger Anxiety Impulsivity Depression AODA

Actual number of students listed in each bar

259567

178

387395

325

378538

446

206191

313

412

Source: MMSD data, first semester 05/06

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Homeless children in Madison

Source: Madison Metropolitan School District

There is a decrease in homelessness.

1216

902 865 831 873

330417

255 233 235165

221130 121 132

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

Homeless Children in Shelter (Target)

Homeless children referred to schools (subset of Above)

Those referred who are from Dane County (Indicator)

Nu

mb

er

of

ch

ild

ren

Children in shelter

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Surplus food distributed through

pantries and meal sites + 50% in 3 years.

Surplus Food Distributed in Dane County

1.3 1.51.9

2.4 2.63

1.9 1.81.9

2.22.3

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

Po

un

ds o

f F

oo

d (

mil

lio

ns)

Community Action Coalition Second Harvest

Sources: Community Action Coalition reports, Second Harvest Food Bank reports

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Who Needed the Model?Who Needed the Model?

Needed uniform structure and language for investment

decision

Need to quickly understand

the impact fromtheir investment

Limited service

information forthe clients

Limitedaccessibilityto availableresources

CaregiversCare-receivers

Case Case ManagersManagers DonorsDonors CSTCST

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Seniors in Dane County, 1997-2005

3834038910

3941039860

4063041180

4199442490

43488

2008

1948

1869

1790

17551737 1727

1693

1655

35000

36000

37000

38000

39000

40000

41000

42000

43000

44000

1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005Year

Se

nio

r P

op

ula

tion

1600

1650

1700

1750

1800

1850

1900

1950

2000

2050

To

tal P

op

ula

tion

in S

kille

d

Nu

rsin

g F

aci

litie

s (P

erc

en

tag

e o

f P

op

ula

tion

)

Senior Population Total Population in Skilled Care

Sources: US Census, Dane County Public Health Profiles, State of WI Dept of Health & Family Services, WSJ 2007 Book of Buisness

Seniors are supported in their homes

Since 2001, less than 4% of seniors in Dane County are in skilled nursing facilities

4242

17%17%

32%32%

23%23%

28%28%

4343

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Non-profit agencies and volunteers are

strong partners in achieving measurable

results. 69.8

43.5

66.760.8

32.7

01020304050607080

Ex

ec

Dir

ec

tor

3+

Ye

ars

3+

Mo

nth

s$

Re

se

rve

s

Sta

ffT

urn

ov

er

Un

de

r 2

5%

Be

st

Pra

c.

To

ol

Co

mp

lete

d

35

0+

Vo

lun

tee

rs

Strength of agencies

Survey of Agencies, June 2005, 54 responses2005 Agency Year-end Reports

79.5

57.5

66.7

*Completed UWDC Best Practices Tool, National Tool, or another recognized tool

27.6

41.9

71.5

51.6

80

24.2

2006 Agency Year-end Reports

78*

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UWDC Days of Caring links volunteers and agencies

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

2003 2004 2005 2006

Volunteers

Companies

Days of Caring is a three day volunteer event which links volunteers and agencies.

Volunteer Participation Agency Participation

0

50

100

150

200

250

2003 2004 2005 2006

Agencies

Projects

207121272174 2207

145 129 123 143

107

79

7086

139

219

Source: Volunteer Solutions / VolunteerYourTime.org

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Chart 2: Length of Impact United Way of Dane County Has on the Community

Mostly long-term, 37%

Somewhat long-term, 38%

Both long- and short-term, 7%

Somewhat short-term, 9%

Mostly short-term, 9%

Source: Gene Kroupa & Associates April 2005 DaneTrak Survey

73% think United Way of Dane County creates long term impact

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Chart 1: Top of Mind Awareness of Local Non-Profit Organizations Making a Long-Term Difference in the Quality of Our Community

11%

11%

15%

19%

36%

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40%

Habitat for Humanity

Churches

Salvation Army

Red Cross

United Way of Dane County

Percent Mentioning OrganizationSource: Gene Kroupa & Associates April 2005 DaneTrak Survey

United Way of Dane County has highest top-of-mind awareness

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Your presentation of data is dependent on the quality, relevance, and integrity of content

• Designer format doesn’t salvage weak content

• Audience boredom is a content failure, not a decoration failure

• Don’t get taken in by Phluff tools