Talisman Thinking Out Loud

Infogram Organigrams – Visual Data for Storytelling

March 12, 2012 at 10:08 am Barbara Talisman, CFRE Leave a comment

In the March 8 issue of The Chronicle of Philanthropy the front page article on visualizing data got my attention. You can read the full article here if you are a Chronicle subscriber.

I have to say – how well we share our story has always been at the heart of fundraising success.

Telling our story using graphics is a GREAT idea! Not that we weren’t doing it before – but the graphics were photos and I will agree really boring pie and bar charts.

We can always improve how we tell our stories and “infograms” are one way we can update a fundraising 101 best practice. The Chronicle article offered some great tips:

• Take a look at how for- and non-profits are using infographics – see some samples here.
• Identify what data your organization has collected and what outside sources reinforce your information and help with context
• Balance aesthetics and substance. Your infogram needs to be useful and visually appealing

I also believe you need to know your audience and where you are using your infographics. Think about these questions and ideas when developing your infographics.

• Can an annual report be full of infographics or replaced by them?
• How can infographics inform your e-news readers?
• On your website will an infogram make your mission and accomplishments clearer?
• Will the infograms inspire and educate your advocates and donors?
• Ask your readers what they want to know and how they want to see it.
• Share your infogram beyond your staff before your post – sometimes we are too close to our stories to be objective about the information or how we are sharing it.

How will you use infographics to inform, educate and inspire???

Entry filed under: Fundraising, Nonprofit fundraising, nonprofit social media, Resources You Can Use!, Social Media. Tags: fund raising, Fundraising, Infographics, nonprofit, Nonprofit fundraising, Social Media, telling a story.