The Data, Evidence-use, and Learning Strategy (DEAL): connecting Ontario's nonprofit data and knowledge sector
More than two years have gone by since our last post here, but a lot of great things have been going on during our blogging hiatus. We would like to introduce our latest project: the Data, Evidence-use, and Learning strategy. (DEAL). In collaboration with the Ontario Nonprofit Network, and with support from the Ontario Trillium Foundation, the DEAL project explores various approaches to connecting Ontario’s nonprofit data and knowledge sector to better support learning and enable evidence-informed decision-making. It also aims to address the fragmented state of knowledge in the nonprofit sector.
Despite Ontario’s nonprofit and philanthropic sectors developing and carrying out many innovative projects, the insights and findings from these projects are rarely shared between organizations. This limits the data available that can tell us which organizations are trying (or have tried) certain approaches, and the various outcomes of their attempts, restricting the ability of organizations to learn from one another. Moreover, the lack of sharing between organizations has impeded the sector’s ability to use its limited human and financial resources more efficiently.
“How can funders think through and support interventions that will build sector capacity for mobilizing knowledge? ”
We believe that this problem needs to be tackled through a field-building approach to develop a shared strategy. We hope to answer the question: how can funders think through and support interventions that will build sector capacity for mobilizing knowledge?
In search of the solution, we have engaged with an international group of funders to undertake field-building discussions. This group, known as the Learning Circle, is an informal and participant-led forum that facilitates a conversation focused on sharing and building on data infrastructure that is required to advance the state of data and learning in the global nonprofit sector. Rather than finding a specific solution, the goal of the Learning Circle is to have an open conversation that aids in developing our shared and individual understandings of the nonprofit sector’s learning practices.
If you would like to learn more about the DEAL strategy or the Learning Circle please click the links provided, and continue to follow the Powered by Data blog for more updates on the DEAL project.