Intended audience: DataKind Volunteers
Did you learn anything while doing this project that might be valuable for other DataKinders to know about? Did you do something that worked really well that you would love to share so that others can repeat your success, or make a mistake that you want to make sure others can learn from?
In most cases, the answer is “yes” to at least some of the above, which means you’re in luck: not only do you get to make an impact by supporting your partner organization in achieving their mission, you also get to share your learnings with the DataKind community and possibly the broader sector! This article outlines what you need to know about the various options for sharing your work both within and beyond the DataKind community. For any external sharing opportunities, start by referring back to the Project External Messaging Template for the pre-agreed language for sharing about the project externally, and confirm that the partner organization gives permission to share all or some of the work.
Sharing Learnings with the DataKind Community
You can ensure that your learnings benefit all of DataKind by working with your staff contact person to figure out the best format for sharing - be it adding content to this Playbook, sharing a post in Slack, or presenting at a Chapter meeting or event.
Categories to consider as you decide what you want to share:
- Key Project Highlights: [We want to understand key project highlights both with deliverables and volunteer engagement]
- Specific Challenges: [We want to understand any challenges that were encountered by the partner organization, volunteer team, or DataKind]
- Pluses: [We want to know what went well for the project in any of the stages of the project process]
- Deltas: [We want to know what could have been better for this project in any of the stages of the project process]
Creating a DataKind Case Study
If the partner organization has communicated that it is okay to write and share project learnings outside the internal team, you can share your project as a Case Study for the DataKind website. Liaise with the Communications team at DataKind Global for support and guidance on how to write a case study. Case studies should closely follow the Case Study Template . Here are some things to consider when documenting and sharing your project:
- Summarize how the project went and what the results were. Include background and contextual information and updates that have been agreed by both parties that the team can share externally.
- Include quotes that DataKind could share externally about the partner’s experience.
- If available, include any images that the partner organization feels comfortable sharing in external communication about the project.
- Identify challenges that the team may have had to overcome, in addition to project pivots. Document the story of what happened throughout the project and the results.
- Summarize any tough decisions or trade-offs that had to be made. Document these decisions, what the tradeoffs were, and why you ended up making the choices you did.
Writing a DataKind Blog Post
Similar to case studies, blogs are an additional way to tell the story of the work you and your team did. Blogs generally are 1,000 to 2,000 words, just long enough to inspire, inform, engage, and enrich the reader. Note that they are less technical than a Case Study or conference presentation since the goal is to reach a broad audience. Read more about how to contribute to a DataKind blog.
When authoring a blog, don’t forget to acknowledge teammates that may have contributed to the project before you joined. Ask a DataKind staff person to check the project’s salesforce record for the Scopers and anyone else involved in the project who would be good to thank. That said, always ask everyone you are considering acknowledging in the blog before publishing it, to confirm that they are comfortable with their name being included. Do not include any volunteer names without consent.
Presenting at a Conference or Publishing a Journal Article
You could also consider sharing the results through additional pathways, such as a conference, journal articles, podcasts, and more. Remember, it is important to confirm external communications with the partner organization before presenting or publishing your work. Be sure to let the DataKind Communications team know before submitting your work.
Contributer(s): Rachel Wells
Contact us
If you would like to learn more about us, partner with us, or get in touch, email us at community@datakind.org
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