Data dashboards vs. deep dives: How to share grant impact internally 

Internal stakeholders — like board members and partners — are crucial to the success of your grantmaking cause. But, each stakeholder plays a different role in support of your mission. That means the information they receive about your mission should be different, too.

In this article, we’ll highlight a few different ways of communicating impact with stakeholders and when to use each so you can connect with everyone in the most effective way possible.

Why is it important to tailor your data?

As Peak Grantmaking says, the key to making your data work in your favor is to fine-tune how you present it to different audiences.

Here’s what that means: Tailoring your data to different audiences allows those audiences to better understand and connect with your mission and your goals. Instead of overwhelming or confusing stakeholders, tailored data helps them feel educated and empowered.

What to consider when tailoring your data

When assessing what information to send and how to present that data, you’ll want to consider a few things about your audience, including their:

Connection to your organisation: Consider whether your audience is made up of crucial decision-makers at your organisation or not. Plus, consider their familiarity with your mission, too — how much do they know about your work?

Time constraints: Is your audience busy and time-restricted, or do they have the energy and focus to read in-depth information about your cause?

Priorities: What your board members will want to hear might be different than what a potential partner both wants and needs to hear. Consider what information is essential for each audience to know, and what can be left out.

What are the different data formats grantmakers can use?

There are plenty of ways to communicate data to internal stakeholders. Typically, grantmakers use both short-form content and long-form content, depending on the audience and the information they need to convey.

Short-form content

Shorter form content offers a quick snapshot into your organisation and a more high-level overview of your work — a great strategy for informing stakeholders without bogging them down with too much detail.

While the format can vary, short-form content can include:

• Data analytics dashboards
• Infographics
• Charts
• One-pagers/PDFs
• Executive summaries
• Fact sheets
• Maps

Long-form content

Longer form content provides a more in-depth view of your organisation. This format is ideal for stakeholders who need more context and/or who need to be more emotionally connected with your mission.

Usually, long-form content takes the shape of:

• Case studies
• Stories
• Full reports or memos
• Annual reports
• Full presentations

When should you use each kind of data presentation?

Grantmakers should always use discretion as to when and to whom each type of data presentation is used.

When to use short-form content

Shorter form content is great for boards of directors with limited time and who need a quick snapshot into your organisation. Likewise, they’re ideal for internal stakeholders who are juggling multiple projects at once and need a high-level overview to stay organised (think grants management dashboard).

This type of content can highlight or include information like:

• Number of grants awarded
• Total funds disbursed
• Geographic reach (maps are great here)
• Key performance indicators (KPIs) like people served, projects completed or cost per outcome
• Grant pipeline or lifecycle stage tracking

When to use long-form content

Longer content like case studies and in-depth reports are ideal for helping stakeholders connect more deeply with your mission. Robust data and information on your cause can help them understand the full context of what you do.

Typically, long-form content includes information around your organisation’s:

• Overall mission and goals
• Progress information including challenges, obstacles and small wins
• Supporting qualitative and quantitative evidence
• Lessons learned, reflections and insights into the future

Collect all the data you need with Good Grants

No matter how you choose to tailor your impact communications, ensure your information is transparent, mission-aligned and meets the needs and priorities of your intended audience.

With Good Grants, grantmakers can collect as much data as they need to present to internal stakeholders. From soliciting grant reports to securely tracking and managing disbursements, Good Grants helps you keep everyone up to speed and on track.