Monitoring, evaluation & learning
Data collection tool design and implementation for nonprofits
Your team uses a patchwork of spreadsheets, paper forms, and ad hoc surveys — data is incomplete, inconsistent, and impossible to aggregate.
What you'll achieve
Standardised, easy-to-use data collection tools that your team will actually use and that produce clean, analysable data.
How a Nonprofit Builder consultant helps
- Map your data needs, design tools suited to your context and digital capacity, and train staff in their use.
Key deliverables
- Designed data collection tools, data entry guide, staff training session, data management protocol.
Related projects
More from Monitoring, evaluation & learning
Data visualisation for impact reporting
“You have the data but it sits in spreadsheets — your reports are walls of text and numbers that fail to communicate what you have actually achieved.”See project
Impact assessment & reporting
“When a funder asks 'what was your impact?', you can only provide a list of activities you completed.”See project
Knowledge management system design
“When a key person leaves, everything they know about projects, funders, and relationships walks out the door with them.”See project
Often paired with
Responsible data use policy
“You collect sensitive data from beneficiaries and partners but your storage, access, and consent practices are inconsistent — and you are not confident you could defend them.”See project
GDPR & data protection compliance
“You collect personal data from donors, beneficiaries, and partners with no formal compliance framework — and you know it is only a matter of time before that becomes a problem.”See project
From the resource library
Free tools and guides to get started
- 7.5C100
Building a Performance Measurement System
A short book from Root Cause that sets out a 5-step process for creating or improving a performance measurement system in a nonprofit. It covers choosing what to measure, building dashboards and involving managers, staff and board members in using the data. It also introduces performance measurement in general and the problems specific to nonprofits. Appendices include dashboard templates and a performance audit.
Start hereClassicKey manual or guideFree - 7.1C086
A Practical Guide to Nonprofit Measurement, Evaluation, and Learning
A guide for nonprofits of any size on setting up measurement, evaluation and learning with limited resources. It works through 3 steps: define outcomes and metrics from your theory of change, measure them without overloading staff and clients, and learn and improve through a dashboard and regular data reviews. It also covers when a formal evaluation is worth the cost and how to start without a data team.
EmergingKey manual or guideFree