Data science and nonprofit service organizations

- [Barton] Giant tech companies like Google, Amazon, and Netflix have done amazing things with data science, which is one of the reasons that data science is so often associated with the world of commerce. But if your interest is more in the realm of making a difference than in just making money, then you'll find that data science has extraordinary things to offer service-oriented nonprofit organizations as well. I'm Barton Poulson, and in this brief course we'll take a non-technical, conceptually-oriented look at how nonprofit service organizations can use data science to reach their goals more effectively and more efficiently. We'll explore the ways that the principles and practices of data science can be used to help nonprofits better understand the communities they serve, assess needs and evaluate impact, accomplish more with the resources that they have, connect with new donors and funding agencies, and work productively to fulfill their missions. We'll mention some of the important procedures that are used in data science, but more importantly, we'll explore how those ideas are used in nonprofit service organizations. Because this is a non-technical overview, anyone with an interest in nonprofits, regardless of their technical background, can get important ideas and insights from this course. And so let's get started with The Data Science of Nonprofit Service Organizations.