Data comes in many forms and it's important to identify the type of data you want and how this is to be collected and analysed before you take action as it's often impossible to do this afterwards.

Qualitative i.e. information that cannot be counted, measured or easily expressed using numbers. This often takes the form of images, interviews or case studies.

Quantitative i.e. statistics, counts or numbers where each data set has a unique numerical value. These Collecting, storing and making sense of this information can be a huge challenge and all too often organisations press on with delivering services and making a difference without adequate planning for how this will be achieved. Unfortunately, this can lead to problems such as

• Ineffective or ill-informed operational decision-making
• Ineffective use of resources
• Mission drift
• The absence of vital evidence of your impact for use in future funding bids,
• The inability to give data to funders, commissioners and partners which you are legally contracted to provide.

At Heaward Solutions, we have the knowledge, skills and experience needed to help you navigate this challenging area. We can:

• Help you plan how to monitor and evaluate your organisation's work or a specific project
• Undertake independent external evaluations of your work at key stages of a project