In today’s rapidly evolving landscape, data is more than just numbers—it’s the foundation for strategic decision-making, organizational growth, and quantifiably measuring success. At the Iowa State University Foundation, we embarked on the journey of becoming more data-driven by developing a multi-layered, multi-year approach to systemically growing data accessibility and data literacy at all levels of the organization. 

This article outlines the key phases of our multi-layered approach: 

1. Establishing an executive-level vision – strategic planning, organizational values & competencies, and a “Year-of-Data” 

2. Tying organizational structure and analytical needs together – creating a blueprint 

3. Inspiring Adoption Through Key People Leaders – showing value & energizing key change makers 

4. Operationalizing Broad-Based Needs – shared data points, standardized dashboards, and unified terminology 

Establishing an Executive-Level Vision 

The organization has long operated under the guiding principle of establishing a strategic plan. Like many others, the ISU Foundation has, over the past decade, recognized the need to evolve from relying on subjective impressions of progress to implementing quantifiable, repeatable methods for measuring success. This shift moves the organization away from anecdotal assessments and toward data-informed decision-making. 

To foster organization-wide adoption of this new mindset, a three-step approach was developed to communicate the collective vision and actively engage all members in the process: 

1. Defining Organizational Values 
   One of the five core values introduced was Accountability for Results. This value emphasized the importance of measuring and tracking progress across strategic plans, team goals, and individual objectives. It reinforced the expectation that statements of success must be supported by evidence. 

2. Establishing Core Competencies 
   The ISU Foundation identified seven competencies essential to success across all roles—though their relative importance may vary by position. Among these, Data & Technology Literacy was particularly transformative, helping individuals understand that regardless of their role, being data literate is critical to achieving organizational goals. 

3. Declaring the Year of Data 
   This declaration announced by our CEO for fiscal year 2025 signaled a cultural shift for staff in how data is consumed and utilized. It encouraged every team member to become an active participant in the data journey, rather than a passive observer, reinforcing that data engagement is a shared responsibility. 

Tying Organizational Structure and Analytical Needs Together 

To identify the reporting and analytical needs across the organization, a dedicated workgroup was formed to map out the organizational layers—from the Board of Directors and Executive Team to Marketplace Leads, Prospect Development, Managing AVPs, Unit Managers, Individual Fundraisers, and Campus Partners. Each group brings distinct data needs and perspectives. 

The workgroup then outlined what information each group needs, to what extent they need it, and which specific data points are required. This exercise resulted in a blueprint that defined organizational layers, prioritized analytical needs based on business objectives, and identified commonalities across roles and functions. 

In our case, the workgroup included our CEO, the lead for strategic initiatives, the lead for data analytics (myself), and the lead for prospect management—ensuring a well-rounded view of both strategic and operational data requirements. 

Inspiring Adoption Through Key People Leaders 

After creation of the blueprint, efforts focused on one particular group titled the Strategic Advisory Team (SAT). This team comprises executive leaders and staff with managerial responsibilities, often overseeing multiple teams. SAT members are expected to maintain broad awareness of organizational projects, initiatives, and goals, while also being accountable for performance metrics within their areas of expertise. If this group embraces the value of analytics, they are uniquely positioned to spark enthusiasm and foster widespread adoption across the organization. 

To generate this enthusiasm, the data analytics team developed a dashboard tailored to SAT’s needs. This dashboard consolidated high-level metrics from the strategic plan—metrics that SAT members previously had to locate across multiple sources, often presented in less intuitive formats and lacking historical context. By embedding the dashboard directly within the CRM, access was streamlined. The addition of tooltips comparing current performance to previous years provided immediate, contextual insights. This not only enhanced usability but also accelerated understanding, enabling SAT members to make informed decisions in real time. 

Operationalizing Broad Based Needs 

Another key insight that came from mapping out the organizational structure and analytics needs was the recognition that several critical datapoints span multiple layers of the organization. For example, fundraising goals, funding opportunities, and household activity are crucial to Marketplace Leads, Managing AVPs, Unit Managers, Prospect Development, and Individual Fundraisers alike.  

To address this, the second set of dashboards was designed to focus on these shared data points. Equipped with filters, these dashboards allow each layer of the organization to tailor the information to their specific use cases while maintaining a unified data foundation. Internally referred to as the Decision Tree, these dashboards integrate funding opportunity/proposal data with recent activity/significant contact data, categorizing funding opportunities based on their likelihood to close within the designated fiscal year. 

Implementing shared dashboards across multiple organizational layers brought two major advantages; firstly, Consistent Terminology – Standardized category names and color coding fostered a common language across teams. Secondly Cross-Training Opportunities – As individuals deepened their data literacy, they were able to support and educate one another, accelerating collective upskilling. 

Summary 

The Iowa State University Foundation’s journey toward building a data-driven culture was guided by a cascading model of inspiration and strategic deployment. Beginning with executive-level vision and organizational values, the approach moved through multi-team managers and key people leaders, ultimately reaching individual contributors. By aligning organizational structure with analytical needs, we created a blueprint for establishing a sustainable framework for data accessibility and literacy. This intentional, multi-layered strategy has helped embed data into the fabric of decision-making, fostering a culture where insights drive impact at every level.