This week’s episode is about counting and using what that data reveals to tell stories about people and programs. It took me years to figure out that counting people, sales, test results, donors and dollars, partnerships, visitors and the like is worth every bit of effort. First, you get grounded in what’s actually happening so you can build on what works and eliminate what doesn’t. Second, it makes your communications and fundraising powerful.

My guest this week is Jinna Halperin, a consultant based in Arlington, Massachusetts who has more than 15 years of experience working with international and domestic nonprofits. Her work has encompassed fundraising, research, data collection and analysis, advocacy, and communications. In other words, she’s done a lot of counting and writing! We all have been hearing about evaluation and measuring outcomes, but how do you get started? By counting! Jinna and I come up with three types of nonprofits and what to count and how to count it. By the way, a great companion show to this is one that aired the week of October 1, 2012: A knockout nonprofit annual report: storytelling at its best. You’ll hear and see how Open Arms of Minnesota uses numbers and counting to create a fun annual report.

This week’s show has to be the most practical one we’ve produced on Nonprofit Spark. Enjoy.