A gentle introduction to the information your charity already collects — often without even realising it.
Most people think “data” means spreadsheets, reports, or donation histories. But charities hold far more data than they imagine — stories, conversations, forms, surveys, feedback, interactions, behaviours, preferences, permissions. When you broaden your view of data, you suddenly see just how much value the organisation already has at its fingertips.
This module helps you:
- Understand what counts as data (hint: it’s more than numbers),
- Spot the hidden sources you’re probably overlooking,
- Build confidence in exploring information without fear or jargon.
We finish with a simple, energising 10-minute activity that helps you uncover the data you already rely on every day — even if you’ve never called it “data” before.
Here’s a resource that might help -> Flipbook
Part 1 — What Counts as “Data” in a Charity?
Spoiler: more than you think.
When people hear the word data, they imagine complex dashboards, giant spreadsheets, or complicated tech systems. But in a charity, data is much simpler — and far more human.
Data is anything that helps you understand people, activity or performance.
If it tells you something useful about your supporters, your services, your fundraising or your organisation, then it’s data.
Let’s break it down:
This is the “classic” charity data:
- Names and contact details
- Donation history
- Event attendance
- Gift Aid records
- Mailing preferences
- Volunteer applications
- Service-user sign-ups
- Finance codes and income lines
- Reports and dashboards
These are the familiar building blocks — but they’re only the start.
These are incredibly valuable but often overlooked:
- Email exchanges with supporters
- Notes from conversations
- “Soft data” like someone’s interests or motivations
- Returned mail
- Call logs and voicemail messages
- Feedback from service users or volunteers
- Social media messages and comments
- Complaints and compliments
- Attendance at online events or webinars
All of this helps you understand behaviour, patterns and needs.
This includes:
- Direct debit reports
- Finance reconciliation
- Coding structures
- Project reference numbers
- Joint appeals or matched-funding data
- HR and volunteering availability
- Training records
- Safeguarding logs (usually in secure systems)
- Internal performance measures
These data types help your organisation stay stable and accountable.
Every interaction tells a story:
- Email opens and clicks
- Website journeys
- Abandoned donations
- Social shares
- Advocacy activity
- Event sign-ups and drop-offs
This data shows what supporters care about — and what they ignore.
Charities are rich in narrative:
- Case studies
- Testimonies
- Impact stories
- Volunteer reflections
- Quotes from beneficiaries
- Photos and videos
- Feedback in natural language
It’s all data — because it helps you understand impact.
Not glamorous, but essential:
- Permissions and consent records
- Privacy notices delivered
- Opt-outs
- Data-retention categories
- Subject Access Requests
- Disclosure logs
This protects your organisation and builds trust.
The important message:
You already have more data than you think.
You don’t need a new system, a migration or a dashboard to “start using data”.
You’re already using it — every day — whether you realise it or not.
This module is about helping you see it, value it, and use it confidently.
Part 2 — Hidden Data Sources Where You Might Be Missing Important Messages
The quietly powerful information your charity already holds — but rarely counts as “data.”
Most charities focus on the obvious sources of data: the CRM, online donations, event sign-ups, reporting spreadsheets. But the truth is, some of the richest, most revealing information sits in places no one thinks to look.
When you shine a light on these hidden sources, you suddenly unlock insights about supporter behaviour, service needs, fundraising opportunities, and organisational health. These overlooked pockets of information are often the missing links that help everything else make sense.
This lesson helps you find them.
Inbox data is hugely valuable and often forgotten. Inside email threads you’ll find:
If you’ve ever thought, “This should go in the CRM,” you were right.
Why it matters: These details shape supporter experience more than any report ever will.
SurveyMonkey, Google Forms, Typeform, Jotform and others often hold:
Why it matters: This is insight gold — and usually sits outside the CRM unless someone manually moves it.
Tools like Engaging Networks, Action Network, Mobilise, and Change.org hold:
Why it matters: This data tells you what people care about, not just what they give.
Eventbrite, Spektrix, Zoom registrations, webinar attendance logs etc. They contain:
Why it matters: This is relationship data that should guide stewardship and future programming.
Better Impact, Assemble, Rosterfy or even simple spreadsheets might hold:
Why it matters: Volunteers are often also donors, advocates and champions — linking these identities is a quiet superpower.
Finance teams hold:
Why it matters: This is where your fundraising actually becomes auditable income. Finance insight often fixes reporting inconsistencies immediately.
Not everything belongs in the CRM (and much shouldn’t!), but HR holds:
Why it matters: These crossovers help prevent duplicate identities and support compliance.
Not just likes and shares — but patterns:
Why it matters: This is narrative data. Motivation data. Relationship data. It often explains why someone donates, not just how much.
Google Analytics, heatmaps, user flows can show:
Why it matters: Behavioural insight helps you tailor communications and journeys.
Paper forms, offline notes, meeting minutes
Often the most hidden data of all.
Why it matters: This information is real, relational, and often never transferred into systems.
What all these hidden sources have in common
They each hold:
- Useful information
- Context
- Nuance
- Patterns
- Expectations
- Risks
- Opportunities
And they are almost always outside the CRM — which means they are also outside your reporting, supporter journeys and day-to-day decision-making.
Bringing them into view (even just on a map) transforms how confidently your organisation uses data.
Part 3 — Quick Win: The 10-Minute Data Hunt
A simple, energising exercise to uncover the data your charity already relies on — even if you’ve never called it “data” before.
Most people think they don’t work with data. But spend 10 minutes looking closely at what you do day-to-day, and you’ll realise you’re surrounded by it.
This activity helps you surface those hidden pockets of information — the notes, forms, inboxes, spreadsheets, and systems that fuel your organisation’s decisions without ever appearing on a dashboard.
It’s quick, it’s fun, and it gives you a clearer picture of your real data landscape.
This works best when you keep it short. No overthinking. No perfection.
Just curiosity.
Scan the tools you naturally use every day:
Every one of these contains data.
Look for anything that:
- Helps you do your job
- Tells you something about a supporter, volunteer, service user, or colleague
- Tracks a task, process or interaction
- Holds information that should (or one day should) live in the CRM
Use three simple headings:
1. Data I use every day
(e.g., donor emails, spreadsheets, volunteer schedules)
2. Data that should probably live somewhere safer
(e.g., handwritten notes, lists on desktops, duplicated spreadsheets)
3. Data I didn’t realise we had
(e.g., event attendance exports, advocacy reports, service feedback)
No judgement.
No shaming.
Just awareness.
Choose one item from your list and make a small decision:
- Should this move into the CRM?
- Should it be shared with a colleague?
- Should it be deleted?
- Should we create a better process for capturing it?
- Should this become part of our data policy?
This tiny action builds confidence and starts creating better habits.
You don’t need a meeting. A quick message works:
- “I realised I’ve been keeping event check-ins on my desktop — should we store them in the shared drive instead?”
- “Turns out our volunteer interests list is in three different spreadsheets. Could we centralise it?”
- “We have valuable supporter comments in the inbox — let’s get them into the CRM.”
These small conversations create big cultural shifts.
Worked examples (to help learners think like “data people”)
Example A — Fundraising Officer
Found: A spreadsheet for last year’s community events with donor notes.
Decision: Move key notes into CRM → delete old versions.
Example B — Volunteer Coordinator
Found: Call notes saved in a personal notebook.
Decision: Add summaries into volunteer system or CRM → shred notebook pages with personal data.
Example C — Service Delivery
Found: Local Word docs with case feedback.
Decision: Store anonymised versions centrally → check retention rules.
Example D — CEO / Leadership
Found: Screenshots of dashboards emailed monthly.
Decision: Create one shared source of truth → remove duplicates.
Why this exercise works
It helps people realise:
- They already work with data — all the time.
- Data isn’t scary; it’s familiar.
- Some of the most important information sits outside the CRM.
- Small improvements create big clarity.
- Data confidence grows from curiosity, not technical skill.
This activity generates early momentum for the whole course.