Data Collection and COVID-19 – Why Now? And How?

Data collection for nonprofits has always been important. It helps us understand the communities we serve and to monitor and measure the impacts of our work. Data collection helps inform the future direction of our work, it helps identify gaps and challenges, and it informs funders about not only our impact, but also about what is happening on the ground. Last but certainly not least, data collection helps us grow, maintain, and strengthen community relationships!

Have we convinced you that data collection is important yet? It’s always been important and it should be embedded in all the work we do, but in light of COVID-19, data collection has become more important than ever. Most of us work directly or indirectly on addressing disparities in health and wealth in our communities and this virus has exacerbated already glaring disparities. The virus is not a great equalizer – it is disproportionately harming low-income communities of color who have less access to high-quality healthcare, are more likely to live in overcrowded housing, and more likely to work “essential” jobs. As this health crisis and the growing economic crisis behind it unfold, it is crucial for us to collect data so we can understand the emerging needs in our communities and determine how we can best help.

Questions you might consider asking in your existing or new data collection include:

• How are people accessing healthy, affordable foods during this time? Has food insecurity become an issue?

• Is the housing status of people in your community changing? Do people fear eviction? Is there more overcrowding?

• Is job security a concern? If so, do people need help with unemployment benefits? Do they need training to pivot into emerging jobs?

• As we increasingly move online because of physical distancing, do members of your community have access to digital tools such as computers, tablets, smartphones, and internet? Are there high or low digital literacy levels?

• Do people have adequate access to high-quality healthcare, including insurance, physical access to a provider, and telemedicine?

• What is the mental health status of people in your community? Is it changing, and if so, what kind of supports are currently needed?

It’s unlikely that you work in all of the spaces described above, but having this information will help you in the following ways:

• Perhaps your work is peripheral to an issue, but now you can pivot to provide a new service based on need. Do you already run a peer to peer program? Maybe it can be reconfigured to help address mental health needs.

• You can also leverage resources by identifying partner organizations that do directly provide needed services. Maybe you are providing healthcare services and you can partner with an organization that can provide fresh food to your patients too.

• Be flexible and creative! Now is the time to identify the infrastructure and attributes that make your organization uniquely able to meet this moment!

So now that we’ve shared some of the important questions you might consider, what are the methods and tools you can use to collect data? Luckily, a lot of the data collection methods that are safely deployed remotely are not different from in-person data collection. You can use online tools like Survey Monkey and Google Forms to collect surveys; or you can conduct phone or video interviews which can be recorded and transcribed using tools like Zoom, Google Meet, and Rev. You can also deploy population-scale phone surveys or social media polls.

Remote data collection is not without its challenges. You may see lower levels of trust from individuals which translates into fewer surveys collected or fewer interview participants. You might run into digital divide challenges – some people do not have access to the digital tools needed to participate in data collection. Finally, during this crisis people are feeling very stretched and you may need to adapt your data collection to be shorter and faster to complete. Where you once may have been able to conduct an hour long interview, you might only be able to get 30 minutes of someone’s time now. 

Some things that might make remote data collection easier:

• Engage with community members and partners to develop effective tools

• Communicate early and often with your participants about changes

• Consider developing guiding principles to ensure equity and safety in data collection

• Reach out to the community you serve to make sure they have the resources necessary to participate in remote data collection. For example, knowing that folks only have access to a phone will help inform the way you move your data collection “online”

Interested in learning more about how we can help you incorporate data collection into your current programs? You can contact us here to start the conversation.

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