Memos and metrics, emails and texts, newsletters and reports: Is your organization suffering from information overload? We consume 34 gigabytes, or 100,500 words, of information every day. Our brains are overwhelmed and struggling to keep up.

Data visualization–or dataviz–is one of the strongest weapons against information overload. Colorful diagrams, well-designed charts, and engaging infographics are easy to digest and fun to share. Dataviz can get your colleagues to pay attention to your organization’s most important data. Dataviz can captivate and catalyze your supporters. And dataviz can improve your communication power with pretty much every audience you’re hoping to inform or sway. So get started!

On January 30, 2014, Innovation Network’s Ann Emery will lead an EPIP brown bag titled “Dataviz for Philanthropists: How to Communicate Better with Charts.” She’ll start by setting the stage: What is dataviz? Why do our brains crave images over text? We’ll also discuss how you can use charts to communicate information better during your Board meetings; in your annual reports, newsletters, and mailings; and through your group’s social media channels. Next, Ann will share simple strategies for improving any chart–like reducing clutter, adding a Twitter-like headline, and using colors to emphasize your most important points. We’ll conclude with hands-on practice, focusing on before-and-after remakes from foundations and affinity groups like yours.

Want to get the most from this session? Submit a chart or two from your group that Ann can use an example during the workshop. Please email charts to annkemery@gmail.com by 1/24.

Register: eventbrite.com/e/dataviz-for-philanthropists-how-to-communicate-better-with-charts-registration-10105023397

Slides and handout: www.annkemery.com/portfolio/dataviz-for-philanthropists