Knowledge

Identifying what we need to know to move forward and making sense of all of the information that bombards us every day

Knowledge is not always about solutions. It is often about knowing the right questions to ask and being able to understand the implications of our choices. Becoming a learning organization means constantly asking itself questions about what it knows about what works and what doesn’t, and about what success might look like. Whether it is planning, organizational or program assessment, or board development, we help organizations focus on their core questions and use data effectively.

Balance data with intuition, aspirations with the pragmatic.

While rooted in data and analysis, much of planning and assessment is also an art, requiring wisdom and intuition. Even decisions around data collection are subtle, calling for a balance between the need to spend resources wisely and the need for good information. How much data is enough? How many experts should be consulted, and what are the best sources? Which perspectives matter most? What is already known through experience, or can be safely assumed? Crafting the right approach, one that yields insights into current trends, a validation of an organization’s own thinking, and an understanding of how it is perceived by the outside world, is essential to good decision making.

However complex data collection may be, making sense of the data is even harder.

What are the implications for the organization? How can it use that data to its advantage? Experience has shown that leaders sometimes overlook one of their greatest strengths in planning and assessment: their own history and experience. Leaders need to be encouraged to bring their experience to the task of analysis. There are typically no “obvious answers” during the planning process. There are some decisions that are easier than others, but true strategy comes from weighing the data and putting it into the larger context of mission, vision, and sustainability.

SKC has worked with nonprofits of all types to:

Some recent clients

Children’s Defense Fund of New York (with FrontLine Solutions)
Save the Children, US (with Management Assistance Group)
Ultimate Block Party

Identify the core issues facing the organization at this point in their life-cycle
Craft a Theory of Change that connects strategy to outcomes to eventual impact
Collect and analyze data through focus groups, surveys, interviews, and core research
Facilitate stakeholder conversations about what the data mean and prioritization among choices