How Nonprofits Can Use Data to Solve the World’s Problems | TIME.com

How Nonprofits Can Use Data to Solve the World’s Problems | TIME.com: Edna McConnell Clark, which doled out $53 million in grants this year, is among a legion of foundations pushing nonprofits into the data-driven future by awarding money to organizations that have found ways to turn their lofty stated goals into specific data points measuring impact. Youth Villages, a grant-winner that provides housing and programming for at-risk children in the foster care and juvenile detention systems, measures success not by the number of young people served but by the percentage of those young people who are successfully living at home 12 months after being discharged. Students who go through the program are surveyed 6 months, 12 months, and 24 months after leaving. Data gathered is used both to measure success and to highlight areas where program structure could be improved. “We didn’t just want to give kids a happy experience,” says CEO Patrick Lawler. “We wanted to give kids a happy life.”