Bee Measure

Get Direction From Your Data

By

Was the Facebook Ads Boycott a Success, Your Guide to Google Analytics & New Charity Navigator Rating System

The Results Are In: Facebook Ads Boycott

One fact we can all agree on? The boycott was not successful. Not only did Facebook ad spend increase last month — from $3.78 million in June to $3.83 million in July — but the recommendation of changes from Stop Hate for Profit were largely unmet. Despite this, many big-name companies are done posturing and have returned to the platform to advertise (or never stopped advertising on other Facebook-owned platforms). Also, the majority of Facebook’s total ad revenue comes from small advertisers — a group that includes many nonprofits — and many didn’t feel they could afford to pause campaigns during the COVID crisis. This boycott gives us all a lot to think about.

A Move To Smaller, More Frequent Donations

Did you know the average donation in 2018 was $128? If you think that number seems high for current times, you’re not alone. There’s a new wave pushing to lower the bar for smaller donations as a way to expand your donor pool. Especially if your nonprofit is targeting Millennial and Gen Z donors, smaller, more frequent donations make giving more manageable. If you’re wondering how to implement this, a good place to start is to encourage donors to round-up their donations or “set up their own peer-to-peer fundraising campaigns” that typically garner a few dozen dollars for your cause.

[Read more…]

By

Anti-Racism in Data Viz’s, Charitable Giving & COVID-19 & Taxing Internet Ads

Anti-Racism in Data Visualizations

“Photos are powerful and important, but so is the data that illustrates the disparities in our country.” As someone who looks to data to find opportunities, make decisions, and see the bigger picture, I came to this same conclusion. This article explains why data visualizations of COVID-19 — but not the Black Lives Matter movement — are so prevalent in our news cycle right now. And data viz designer Amanda Makulec lists 5 questions to ask ourselves when thinking about how we “data people” play can play a key role in the current anti-racism movement.

The Work-from-Home Guide to Filtering Google Analytics

With many organizations working remotely, now is a great time to talk about how to filter your employees out of your Google Analytics. Why is this important? So they don’t skew your stats! Data is only helpful if it’s accurate. And if you’re curious which method to employ since Simo Ahava gave a few, here’s what he suggests: “the URL query parameter solution is simple, because optimally your users only need to do this once per browser.”

[Read more…]

By

Google’s Advice for Ads, Drowning in Donor Data & Political Ads Online

My favorite part of December isn’t the decadent food, cheesy Netflix movies or the endless holiday parties (though, I do love all those things). It’s the year-end “best of” lists. This month, however, is not only the end of 2019… it’s the end of an entire decade. That means an abundance of 2010s nostalgia lists.

Everyone from Buzzfeed to The New York Times is pondering how this decade will be remembered (What will we wear to the 2010s theme parties of the future???). Journalists can argue about whether this decade’s key historical contributions were meme culture, smartphones, YouTube or #MeToo. But I feel like a decade’s culture doesn’t quite solidify until well into the next one.

What seems so clearly defined in retrospect is fuzzy and haphazard when you are living through it. But in reading through these lists, one thing *is* clear to me. The digital world is ever-changing. Staying up-to-date with the trends and skills ⁠— from targeted ads to better UX to online privacy ⁠— is both more important and more difficult than ever. For me, writing this newsletter has been an excellent way to keep up, and I hope you all feel the same.

So raise your glass to the end of 2019 and the start of the 2020s! 🥂

From Fake News to Full Transparency

The 2010s can be described as the decade “fake news” became prominent as a buzzword online. Yes, it’s been around for longer than that, but digital media secured its prominence. People are very skeptical these days with so much fake information out there, so it’s important we keep that in mind as we create new digital content and products. Designing for transparency should be our goal in 2020 (and beyond).

[Read more…]