Comments on: Why Doesn’t Data.Org Exist? http://www.preludeinteractive.com/2010/03/why-doesnt-data-org-exist/ Nonprofit technology in the trenches Thu, 02 Feb 2012 18:31:59 +0000 hourly 1 By: Will S http://www.preludeinteractive.com/2010/03/why-doesnt-data-org-exist/comment-page-1/#comment-285 Will S Thu, 29 Apr 2010 17:16:09 +0000 http://www.preludeinteractive.com/?p=627#comment-285 I agree with Marc the financials - and therefore the funders - are the only practical primary driver. However, what about a financial incentive by reducing existing expenses? Could government drive a small piece like this by offering a way to do government reporting in a standard way - Form 990 electronic reporting methods perhaps? Perhaps standards development could be funded/led by a trade organization of some sort? AICPA (Accounting trade organization) drove the creation of the reporting standard XBRL. NTEN? Trade groups for specific trade groups of nonprofits? I agree with Marc the financials – and therefore the funders – are the only practical primary driver.
However, what about a financial incentive by reducing existing expenses? Could government drive a small piece like this by offering a way to do government reporting in a standard way – Form 990 electronic reporting methods perhaps?
Perhaps standards development could be funded/led by a trade organization of some sort? AICPA (Accounting trade organization) drove the creation of the reporting standard XBRL. NTEN? Trade groups for specific trade groups of nonprofits?

]]> By: Ehren http://www.preludeinteractive.com/2010/03/why-doesnt-data-org-exist/comment-page-1/#comment-280 Ehren Tue, 30 Mar 2010 15:05:31 +0000 http://www.preludeinteractive.com/?p=627#comment-280 Awesome Marc, thanks for the link. I wasn't aware of that effort. Do you think the financial incentive would need to be on par with the resource costs, or would it need to be far higher (in order to show up on the radar of decision makers)? Awesome Marc, thanks for the link. I wasn’t aware of that effort. Do you think the financial incentive would need to be on par with the resource costs, or would it need to be far higher (in order to show up on the radar of decision makers)?

]]> By: Marc B http://www.preludeinteractive.com/2010/03/why-doesnt-data-org-exist/comment-page-1/#comment-279 Marc B Tue, 30 Mar 2010 14:31:32 +0000 http://www.preludeinteractive.com/?p=627#comment-279 Data.org won't exist until there is a financial incentive for nonprofits to share data with non-funding organizations. It's really that simple. Sharing data requires effort, staff time, and some light technical know-how, and there's no reason to use those precious resources unless there's a clear financial return on the investment (solving the larger social problem often takes a back seat to org sustainability). Also, agreeing on a format on how that data should be shared is a non-trivial task. Check out http://www.iris-standards.org, for a great example of how this was done (it took a couple years, but at least the standard exists). Data.org won’t exist until there is a financial incentive for nonprofits to share data with non-funding organizations. It’s really that simple.

Sharing data requires effort, staff time, and some light technical know-how, and there’s no reason to use those precious resources unless there’s a clear financial return on the investment (solving the larger social problem often takes a back seat to org sustainability). Also, agreeing on a format on how that data should be shared is a non-trivial task. Check out http://www.iris-standards.org, for a great example of how this was done (it took a couple years, but at least the standard exists).

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