Just as a picture often does a more effective job of conveying emotion, mood and setting than 1,000 words (especially if it’s someone like me doing the describing), one nugget of research data can evoke passion and inspire action.
I’m combing through piles of information on education and philanthropy, discovering why grantmakers fund what they do, as I put together MCF’s next issue of Giving Forum, due out at the end of June.
Here are a few data nuggets I’ve come across. I could spend hours trying to craft the right words to explain circumstances and inspire change. Or I could simply let the data do the talking (or picture painting):
Of every 100 white kindergartners in the U.S., 94 graduate from high school, 66 complete at least some college, 34 obtain at least a bachelor’s degree.
Of every 100 Latino kindergartners, 62 graduate from high school, 31 complete at least some college, 10 obtain at least a bachelor’s degree.
Between 2000 and 2020, the white population is expected to grow by under two million, the Latino population by 11 million.
Powerful, aren’t they?
And there’s more … so in my next blog, I’ll add to this list.
Have you come across any data nuggets lately that paint a picture worth 1,000 words?
- Chris Murakami Noonan, MCF Communications Associate
Luise, thanks for adding to the conversation about numbers vs. humans. I found your IssueLab blog insightful and appreciate reading examples of causes that have found a way to combine data and compelling stories. You might also be interested in a piece written by Jeff Peterson, director of Best Buy Community Relations and the Best Buy Children’s Foundation. I included his insights in my blog titled “Not Everything That Counts Can be Counted.” (http://blog.mcf.org/2009/05/26/what-counts/)
Yes! This is a great anecdote for how caught up in productivity and reporting we sometimes get. Glad you like the Footnotes blog!
Hi Chris!
I also recently wrote about “Numbers vs. Humans” in nonprofit storytelling. We at IssueLab are a little biased, as you may know, toward data and hard research ;)
In my piece, I cite a few organizations that are doing a good job of focusing on, or at least mixing numbers with other ways of telling a compelling story for their cause. You can find it here: http://issuelabfootnotes.blogspot.com/2009/06/numbers-vs-humans.html
I think all of this is completely applicable for foundations, as well.
Jeanne: There is a link to the source in the blog – it’s the text in parentheses that follows the statistics – a PowerPoint presentation titled “Achievement in America” from a national Council on Foundations Mini-Summit in May 2008. Here’s the link. The statistics referencing the white and Latino kindergarteners are on pages 105-111 of the presentation.
https://www.cof.org/files/Documents/Conferences/2008Summit/MiniSummitFundingPublicEducation2.pdf
Hope this helps. Chris
Chris, I was wondering what is the source of the comment on white kindergarteners compared to Latino kindergartners. Is that from the Minnesota Council on Foundations or the national organization? I looked on both websites and can’t find such a report, I was wondering if you would direct me to where I can find it. Thanks so much. Jeanne Katz