Data Tracking

Data tracking for NPOs

Does your your nonprofit wants to set up efficient data tracking but doesn’t know where to start? We’re here to help!

What does it involve?

Data tracking is the process of collecting and analyzing data related to the behavior of your online visitors. For example, your nonprofit may collect data on user behavior, such as pages visited, time spent on the site, interactions with content, etc.

You can then analyze them to understand trends, improve the user experience, personalize content and better meet the needs of your community.

Several free tools, such as Google Tag Manager, Google Analytics and Google Looker Studio, can help you track your data in detail.

Why should your nonprofit track its data?

Keeping track of your data is essential to get a better view of your digital performance. This follow-up enables you to:

  • Evaluate the impact of your marketing efforts;

  • Better understand your community;

  • Make more informed decisions to meet your nonprofit’s needs

Data tracking provides crucial information for improving program effectiveness and demonstrating your nonprofit’s positive impact. It must be carried out ethically and in compliance with legal obligations in terms of confidentiality and data protection.

Where to start?

Starting data tracking at your nonprofit may seem complex, but by following a few simple steps, you can establish a solid process. Here’s a guide to get you started:

1. Define your goals

Clearly identify your organization’s objectives. Defining your objectives is a crucial step in identifying the essential data you need to track on your website. Here are just a few examples:

  • Increase your donations
  • Get new members
  • Increase your visibility

Browse more examples by discovering our members’ objectives

2. Identify Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

Determine the indicators that will measure the success of your activities in relation to your objectives. These indicators may vary depending on your NPO’s areas of activity (programs, fundraising, communications, etc.). Here are two examples of the most common KPIs:

  • Number of conversions: A conversion is an action that is important and significant for your nonprofit and that will be carried out by a visitor. It could be completing a registration or form, making a donation, etc. You decide what really counts as a conversion for your nonprofit.
  • Website traffic: If your aim is to get as many people as possible to your website, you’ll want to monitor the number of visitors as well as the number of visits to your website.

3. Select and configure your tracking tools

Choose the monitoring tools and methods best suited to your needs. Several tools are available, but Google tools are the most commonly used, given their flexibility and accessibility (They are free!). Google Tag Manager and Google Analytics are tools that can help you track all the data you need on your website.

If you would like to explore the various options, our pilots are available to advise you. Contact us now for help.

4. Protect the confidentiality of your users’ data

Make sure you comply with legal obligations regarding confidentiality and data security. In Quebec, for example, all organizations (including NPOs) must implement a number of practices to comply with Bill 25. Learn more about Bill 25 now.

5. Analyze and interpret data

It can be difficult to properly analyze and interpret data when faced with a galaxy of raw data. Use dashboard-building tools such as Google Looker Studio to facilitate the analysis and interpretation process. Consult our pilots to develop a dashboard that reflects your needs!

Spend time analyzing data to better understand your performance and reach to the stars in the future!

Get support

Configuring analysis tools efficiently is a complex process when you have no expertise in data analysis. To obtain a solid long-term configuration and facilitate interpretation of the results, data monitoring must be properly planned.

Discuss your objectives with one of our experts, who will guide you through effective data tracking! Psst, our advice is free for our members!

F.A.Q.

What are the best data tracking tools?

The choice of data tracking tools largely depends on the specific needs of your non-profit organization (NPO), the nature of the data you’re collecting and the objectives of your tracking.

A wide range of tools are available, and their recommendation depends on the decision-making criteria and constraints (often legal) of each NPO.

However, we more often than not recommend Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager and Google Looker Studio for effective tracking of website data.

To find out where your website traffic is coming from, you can use web traffic analysis tools. One of the most commonly used tools for this purpose is Google Analytics. Contact our experts to help you configure this tool.

To find out which pages are performing best, check out the engagement reports available in your Google Analytics property.

The Google Tag Manager tool lets you quickly implement conversion tracking tags on your website and effectively measure the results of your campaigns. Our experts are available to help you configure them!

UTM (Urchin Tracking Module) parameters are tags added to the URL of a link to track and analyze the performance of online marketing campaigns. These beacons are particularly useful for measuring the effectiveness of marketing efforts, by identifying the source of traffic, the specific campaign, the advertising medium and so on.

Here are the three main UTM parameters:

  • utm_source: The source of the traffic, indicating the site, search engine, newsletter, etc., that generated the click. .
  • utm_medium: The marketing medium used, such as cost-per-click (cpc), e-mail marketing, social networks, etc.
  • utm_campaign: The name of the promotional or advertising campaign.

Google Looker Studio is a free platform for creating reports and dashboards. Benefits include:

  • Easy integration with other Google products;
  • Extensive report customization and interactivity;
  • Real-time collaboration;
  • Connectivity to multiple data sources,
  • Automatic updates

This solution is suitable for users of different skill levels to visualize and share data efficiently.

Ask our pilots for help!

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