Digital Impact was created by the Digital Civil Society Lab at Stanford PACS and was managed until 2024. It is no longer being updated.
All nonprofits and foundations are dependent on digital data and infrastructure. Just like financial and human resources, these data must be managed safely, ethically and effectively toward mission.
We are all digital organizations
While some organizations are more “digital” than others, any office with e-mail addresses, internet-connected computers, voicemail systems, or networked printers is collecting, using and managing digitized data.
Data are all around us
Most organizations are awash in digital data: – from email, websites, social media, phones, surveys, sensors, multimedia, databases, and more. Data are a resource and can be both an asset and a liability.
We need new approaches
The ubiquity of digital data, the opportunities it offers, and the questions it raises about power and access require the entire sector to reconsider how we use digital data to advance our missions safely, ethically and effectively.
