Next year’s Nonprofit Technology Conference (NTC) is set to take place in Washington, DC from March 23-25, 2017. We’ve been honored to speak in previous NTC conferences and are hoping to share some new insights and advice to the nonprofit community to extend their influence in digital communications.

Session voting is now open, with a deadline of August 1st, 2016. Have a look below at the following sessions that the Forum One team has submitted with its partners, and vote for your favorites. Thank you so much and see you in March!

Removing Barriers to Telling Stories with DataViz

Many organizations have data—important, valuable data that can change opinions and behaviors—and are are trying to better use it in visualizations and infographics. There are challenges, though, particularly if you want to make it an ongoing program. There are also limitations of time, rigid research standards, tricky data, and/or complex stakeholder dynamics.

We know these challenges because we have lived them, designing and building interactive data reports for the National Assessment of Educational Progress for the last three years. In this session, we will help you to develop a data visualization program that  can succeed in the environments in which you work.

Audience Research on a Dime

You need it. You know you do. Audience research is a vital part of any project, but it’s often the first thing to be cut. “We know our audiences well enough,” they say. “We know what they want.” But is that true?

No! Of course not! If we knew what audiences wanted, we’d have an excess of donations, volunteers, newsletter subscribers, report readers, and we wouldn’t be having conversations about how to get audiences to act or increase awareness. By the end of this session, you’ll have what you need to do some quick and dirty audience research and convince others that it’s necessary!

Communicating Data for Action and Impact

You have the data that can help tell your story and move your mission…now what? Many nonprofits struggle with communicating data. Some jump to visualizations without considering their goals or audience needs. Some have a clear idea of whom they are trying to reach, but don’t know how to best tell their data stories. 

This interactive session will provide real world examples and actionable advice on applying “The Five A’s of Data Communication” — Analysis, Audience, Action, Art and Analytics — to help you achieve your desired outcomes. If you are facing a data communication challenge, bring your questions to this session and leave with a practical plan for your organization.

We are the Champions of… What, Exactly? Tracking Digital Metrics that Matter

You champion a cause, but are you the champion of online communications? Quantifying your impact via data — collected from web analytics, email marketing platforms, social traffic and media mentions— and understanding how to use that analysis to do better work across platforms are both paramount to achieving the change you are looking to make.

By the end of this session, you will walk away with a clear understanding of how to demonstrate impact, quantify your success, and identify opportunities for improvement.

Proving ROI: Quantitative and Qualitative Measures of a Successful Digital Campaign

In partnership with EveryAction

Nonprofits face the unique challenge of promoting a cause or mission rather than a product for purchase, making it difficult to measure a return on investment for their digital campaigns. With digital channels becoming more and more crowded, understanding how to strategically plan your campaign is more important than ever. How do you know what to measure and how to communicate that success?

To vote on Forum One’s NTC sessions, please take a moment to log into your existing Nonprofit Technology Network (NTEN) account or create a new one today.