So I'd say that there's three major ways that data shows up when we're looking at grants and thinking about grant making. The first is to define the population and the need. In specific regard to a proposal, you know, most of the proposal formats that you'll see from funders will ask, you know, for a definition of what you're trying to accomplish and who you'll be serving. And they will look for data that gives them a sense that you have understood the issues and community beyond just what you're seeing in your direct day-to-day services. That you understand the data that’s available in the larger world, so that you're making access of things like the Community Health Equity Survey data, other data that might be available in a public setting. So that they have some sense that you can evaluate what you're seeing and what is out there for information and figure out where you best fit in addressing needs. The second area that we look for is data informing the course of action that you're choosing to take. So oftentimes if you're thinking about a direct intervention or program, funders will wonder, you know, how did you land on that particular model? Why is that the model that fits your organization, your community, and the needs you're trying to address? And so there it might be more specific information regarding where that model's been used, where it's shown to be effective, if there is data support for that particular intervention or model, you know, the ability to reflect on that a little bit in a proposal is helpful for the funder to understand that you've done some critical thinking and analysis about what you're trying to accomplish, what's going to give you the greatest advantage, but also what's going to fit what is the right model for the people that you're serving, for the organization and the way you're operating and the capacity that you've developed over time. And then the third area is a sense of how you might measure your progress. And so oftentimes funders will have a section of the proposal labeled evaluation, and I want to talk about that a little bit more in a minute. But we will look for some sense of how you're going to look at what you're doing to learn from it, to adjust as necessary, and at the end of the day, to be able to tell some level of story about what you set out to accomplish and what you are able to learn and accomplish through that work. So again, here the data may be as simple as you tracking who's participating, the number of people that are showing up for events, gatherings, sessions, the outreach that you're doing and the number of people that you can expect to reach through the outreach that you're that you're undertaking, the number of partners that you're attracting or the number of conversations you may be having about the intervention of the program that you're undertaking as you try to share what you're doing with others around you, whether they be partners, other funders, elected officials and decision makers, whatever it might be. But that's another critical piece. And back to that gears metaphor that you saw earlier on the slides, you know, funders often think about this as kind of a virtuous cycle where you are looking at the needs in your community and adding to your first person experience with serving individuals in your community to understand, so, what are the other needs and how is this happening in a larger context, to then thinking about what's the right approach to address those needs and then talking about how you're going to measure your progress, in part at least, so you can adapt what you're doing to make sure that it's being as effective as you want it to be.
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