Our next Building Data Culture course is nearly full. Early birds sold out before the deadline and now there are only a few standard price places left. If you've been considering joining, now's the time. Here's what Glen Winterbourne, who joined our pilot cohort, said about the course:

“It’s not just theory - already after the first session I was able to adapt an activity we did and use it in my organisation to start the conversation of what data culture means to us.”

Improving impact measurement isn't a once-and-done thing, it's a long-term strategic endeavour (much like improving data maturity). Our work with Third Sector Support Wales (TSSW) to lay the groundwork spanned almost three years.

A few years ago we noticed a clear pattern in users of our Data Maturity Assessment. The weakest area is always skills. We set out to do something about it with our training course offering.

"'Data maturity' is vague and hard to define". No - it's not. Our first data maturity framework was published back in 2017 and it's been honed and finessed since. It's been borrowed by many (including the Government Data Quality Hub for the Government Data Maturity Model).

Unpopular opinion: No AI wonder tool will fix a lack of data skills and leadership in your organisation, much less a poor data culture.

Our July newsletter - time to catch up! In this issue: - Advice: Build your data maturity before your AI tool - The 5 stages of data maturity - Feedback from our training courses - Case study: Improving impact measurement - Other interesting news - Upcoming courses Online here: buff.ly/a2hAcJ1

Good AI starts with good data... The Government Digital Service has said public sector organisations should focus on data quality, governance and skills before investing in AI. This is following a joint pilot project with the National Archives to explore how legal data could be optimised for AI use.

A quick reminder that the deadline to catch early bird prices for our next Data for Leaders course is tomorrow – 16 June.

"How can I lead on data even if I'm not necessarily in the leadership team?" We've been following the first open cohort of our Building Data Culture course and this is what many of the cohort were asking at the first session.

This week's Nonprofit Datafolk Club workshop is on Gender Inequality. We can't fight it if we don't talk about it. ALL of us. If you believe we should tackle gender inequality - and you have an inkling data can help - join us. Thu 11 Jun, 1-2pm FREE buff.ly/KZGqcsQ

Gender inequality: How's your organisation doing (really)? In June our Nonprofit Datafolk Club will be discussing how organisations are doing on gender equality and how data can support progress. Tackling gender inequality is a job for all of us, so we'd love to see a big, diverse group take part👇

How do you build data culture? Shaping data culture can be messy work. But it's also great fun and, ultimately, one of the most rewarding things you can do to make sure your organisation gets better at data. Our associate Jay has shared some key advice on building data culture: buff.ly/IPEBS0o

It's nearly time! We're finalists at the British Data Awards - shortlisted for Best Data for Good Consulting Initiative of the Year. The ceremony announcing the final winners is this Wednesday - 20 May - wish us luck! buff.ly/zk4txba

What makes for good data culture? Our Nonprofit Datafolk Club got together to discuss this in March. It's fair to say the group had lots of frustrations when it comes to data culture. But also lots of pointers for others to take away. Read a summary of their discussion here: buff.ly/ofWwP5a

Yes, it feels like AI is in everything, everywhere, all at once 👀 But what do charity CEOs, specifically, say about AI? Our Co-CEO Sian wrote for ACEVO on what CEOs in the ACEVO community said they feel about AI. Read the blog here: buff.ly/tG12bDC

The May newsletter is out! In this issue: - Our Nonprofit Datafolk Club's experiences of data culture - How to build data culture - Building Data Culture & Data for Leaders training courses - New free events - Other news to inform and amuse our fellow data folk Catch up now: buff.ly/0l8wIpI

Shaping data culture is one of the most effective things you can do to improve the impact data has in your organisation. Yes, it's hard. But it is possible, with the right techniques and a strong vision of where you want to get to. That's what we teach in our new Building Data Culture course.

The organisations we see doing well with data ALWAYS have strong data cultures. If you’ve ever experienced the struggle of getting teams to take shared responsibility for data, to stop working in silos and to drop the fear of embracing data, this course is for you. Still time to book buff.ly/Mf7Eu9x

Data: 'Fragmented', 'Fearful', 'Inefficient', 'Lacking focus on the people it serves'. Does this sound familiar? When we got our Nonprofit Datafolk Club together to talk about their experiences of data culture, these are some of the themes that emerged.

How do you identify your audience for data storytelling and what kind of prior knowledge would you assume they have? What makes a good data story/visualisation? What are some brilliant examples of data-driven stories? Our Nonprofit Datafolk Club got together recently to discuss: buff.ly/f63zwbM

We’ve been named a Finalist at the British Data Awards 2026 🤩 The British Data Awards is an annual quest to discover and celebrate data success stories in the UK. We're told a record 462 nominations were submitted this year, so we’re especially delighted to be chosen as a Finalist.

Last few weeks to catch old training course prices. The April Data for Leaders course is the last chance to catch lower prices. When we scheduled courses for the next financial year, we made the difficult decision to increase prices to cover our costs. buff.ly/6xB2klh

If you're a leader looking to improve how your organisation 'does' data, where do you start? Our research reveals some important insights into what drives data maturity. This article distills down some of the key things the research tells us about what leaders need to focus on: buff.ly/tXAvVsK

How do you build data culture? We've long felt that culture is one of the most important factors in getting better at data. And it's also one of the hardest to crack. Our associate Jay Dev has written about tips for building data culture in your organisation: buff.ly/awepZCr

The March newsletter is out: 🏗️ Tips on data culture 🎯 What leaders should focus on to improve data maturity 📖 Data visualisation and storytelling 🧑‍🏫 NEW data culture course 👩‍🏫 Training for leaders 🎫 Free events 💭 Other bits of news to inform and amuse our fellow data folk Catch up: buff.ly/pQBksG1

What advice would you give to other women getting into data? We're a women-led social enterprise helping organisations get better at data, and a high proportion of our team are women. But, despite this, 'data' is still considered a male-dominated profession.

What advice would you give to other women getting into data? It's International Women's Day soon. We're a women-led social enterprise helping organisations get better at data, and a high proportion of our team are women. But, despite this, 'data' is still considered a male-dominated profession.

Free online workshop: Thu 12 Feb, 1-2pm The cobwebs are well and truly blown away and we're scheduling a raft of free events for 2026. Join us for the first Nonprofit Datafolk Club of the year: Data visualisation and storytelling. buff.ly/u0PefwM

Nonprofit Datafolk Club: Data visualisation and storytelling — Data Orchard

The Nonprofit Datafolk Club is a friendly group of like-minded data folk working in or with nonprofits. In this free interactive workshop we’ll be discussing data visualisation and storytelling.

dataorchard.org.uk

Recently we've been taking stock and looking back at the impact we've had. Our 2024-25 Impact Report looks at how we delivered our Theory for Change in 2024-25. Sian's blog summarises what we did, the impact we had and some of our plans for the future: buff.ly/fPg50V8