Know Your Soil — Intentional Data

Section 01 of 04

Program Design Clarity

Do you know what you're trying to change, for whom, and why, before any tool arrives?

1 / 4

Can your organization articulate a specific, named problem your program is designed to address, not a broad mission area, but a concrete change for a defined population?

Does your program have a clear theory of change, a documented logic connecting your activities to your intended outcomes?

Do you know what success looks like for the people your program serves, defined by them, not just by your funder's reporting requirements?

Reflect

If you handed a new staff member your program design documents today, could they tell you exactly what change you're trying to make and for whom? If not, what's missing?

Your notes (optional)

Section 02 of 04

Community Voice Foundation

Did the people most affected have real input in what you measure and why?

2 / 4

Were community members, the people your program serves, involved in defining what your program measures before data collection began?

Does your organization have a formal process for sharing findings back to the community that provided them, not just reporting up to funders?

Is community participation in your data process designed for access, accounting for language, scheduling, compensation, and logistics, or is it available only to those who can already show up?

Next step

The Who Tends the Garden audit is dedicated entirely to this dimension. Go there next.

Your notes (optional)

Section 03 of 04

Data Infrastructure

Are you collecting what your program design requires, consistently, accessibly, in a form you can use?

3 / 4

Does your organization consistently collect the data your program design says you need, not just what funders require, but what would actually tell you whether your theory of change is working?

Is your data collection practice documented and transferable. Could a new staff member run it without starting from scratch?

Does your organization collect both quantitative data (counts, scores, percentages) and qualitative data (stories, interviews, focus groups), and use both to make decisions?

Reflect

If your most data-literate staff member left tomorrow, what would happen to your data collection practice? What lives in their head rather than in a system?

Your notes (optional)

Section 04 of 04

AI Readiness

Now that we know what your program does, who it serves, what you measure, and how you collect, is your organization ready to bring AI in responsibly?

4 / 4

Can you name the specific problem you want AI to help solve, not a vague efficiency goal, but a concrete, named challenge in your current workflow?

Does your organization have someone who can evaluate AI outputs critically, not just use them? Can they catch errors before those outputs reach a program decision, funder report, or community member?

Do you know what community or client data would flow into any AI tool you adopt, and have you reviewed the terms of service to understand how that data is stored, used, and protected?

Have the community members or clients most affected by this AI tool been informed or consulted about its use? If the tool touches their data or their experience of your services, they should not be the last to know.

Before adopting this tool, has your organization defined what success looks like in terms your community would recognize, not just what the vendor promises or what is convenient to measure?

Reflect

AI readiness is the final question in this assessment, not the first one. If the three sections before this one revealed gaps, address those first. AI cannot fix a program design problem or a data infrastructure problem. It will amplify them.

Your notes (optional)

Your Foundation Snapshot

Bridge to Tool 2

"I know where we stand. But I realize I haven't asked the people most affected."

The Who Tends the Garden audit goes deep on community voice, auditing whether it's structurally in your process or just referenced in your mission statement.

Coming soon

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