by Samin Pogoff •
11.14.2023
Director of Analytics & Strategy
she/her/hers
Your organization’s ability to raise awareness, engage folks, and make a positive impact is crucial to move the needle on your mission. And you know what turns the gears smoothly? Digital analytics. It’s like a backstage pass to see how well your online moves are really doing. Digital analytics connect the dots between your digital efforts and the impact you’re making in the real world.
For your nonprofit, it’s all about setting up Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that are specific and meaningful to your cause. With digital analytics you can gather and make sense of the data, link the data to KPIs and a customized ‘impact funnel,’ and get the lowdown on how your supporters are navigating your digital world.
Nonprofit impact funnels, unlike the traditional marketing funnels, are not one-size-fits-all. They need to be highly customized to reflect your unique mission and end goals. It’s like a map for visualizing how involved your audience is and where they are on their journey. The top is for growing your audience, middle for building connections, and bottom for ramping up your impact.
Not everyone strolls down the funnel, but for those who do, you want to know who they are, how they’re engaging with your digital ecosystem, what other organizations they support, and how they like to stay connected to your organization. Keeping tabs on this data is the only way you can assess and optimize your digital ecosystem and marketing strategies.
And here’s the real magic: only by understanding your whole digital ecosystem (website, email, CRM, and marketing tools) can you make sure everything’s playing nice together to make tangible progress toward your organization’s mission.
Through regular, automated, and straightforward reporting, your different team members – no matter their data literacy – can pull insights from and make sense of analytics. This helps break down data silos and empowers your organization to optimize your digital efforts holistically.
Once you have data you can trust and a story that connects the dots across your whole ecosystem, your organization has a much better chance to illustrate the effectiveness of your marketing efforts. You can show your stakeholders exactly how you’re making a greater impact in the community you serve.
