The Untapped Power of Data in Social Impact Work

I had an exciting conversation today which made me realise how far advanced we are with our use of data in the impact space—and simultaneously, how much untapped potential remains.

The business world has long embraced data-driven decision-making as essential for growth and efficiency. Companies invest millions in data infrastructure, analytics teams, and sophisticated modeling to gain competitive advantages. But what about those of us working to solve society’s most pressing challenges?

Data-driven decision-making should not only be useful in business. The social impact space can find immense benefits in using data to inform decision making—perhaps even more so than the commercial sector. When resources are limited and the stakes involve human wellbeing, shouldn’t we be equally rigorous in how we deploy our solutions?

Some organizations in our sector are leading the way:

Using longitudinal impact data to refine program delivery, leveraging predictive analytics to identify vulnerable populations before crises occur

Creating data collaboratives across organizations to break down silos and enhance collective knowledge

However, many social impact organizations still face significant barriers—limited budgets for data infrastructure, shortage of analytical talent, and even cultural resistance to measurement-based approaches.

I believe we stand at a critical inflection point. The tools and methodologies exist. The question is whether we’ll embrace them to maximize our impact or continue to rely primarily on intuition and anecdotal evidence.

I am curious, if you are in the social impact space, how are you using data? What successes have you seen? What challenges have you encountered? And if you’re not yet using data systematically, what’s standing in your way?

Let’s start a conversation about bringing the same data-driven rigor to social change that we expect in business. After all, when the mission is improving lives, don’t we owe it to our beneficiaries to use every tool at our disposal?