Flickr Photo: EugeniusD80Earlier this week, I wrote about sifting through a mountain of data as we re-think our metrics for 2009.  We're creating internal numbers to track faster than we can track them.  Then, there's all the data we're producing about our causes, our donors, and our clients.  We're creating a forest of numbers to navigate through. I bet you all have similar issues.

But, as the old saying goes, are we seeing that forest, or are we obsessing about trees?

One of the great challenges for the sector over the next few years will be finding the tools and systems that can help us interpret this data, to make meaning of all these numbers.  We'll need to develop these skills if we're going to understand what's happening to our organizations, as well as our causes.  One of the best way to accomplish this is with pictures.

Of course, we've all seen our share of pie charts and bar graphs.  They help, but they don't always tell the best story about relationships between sets of data, or data over time.  There are now a great many tools that can make these complex relationships between data more explicit.  Many Eyes is one of my favorites. Google also has a motion chart tool, which is fantastic.

The Sunlight Foundation has come up with one of the most effective "storytelling with data" examples I've seen in a long time.  Check out the screencast below,  then go play with the chart yourself.