The Elevate Playbook: Smarter Data + Better Strategy = Meaningful Change
Written by Amy Merritt Campbell
At Elevate, we believe that data and strategy are two sides of the same coin. You can’t separate them; good data fuels good strategy, and a strong evaluation plan ensures learning and accountability.
Over the past eight years, we’ve built and refined tools, frameworks, and approaches to support both, working with programs, organizations, and collaboratives to put them into action. We want to share what we’ve learned with you.
Over the next several months, we’ll share insights, tools, practical advice, and real-world examples in two focused series:
1. Turning Data into Knowledge
This series will explore the Learning Loop, our go-to approach for collecting and utilizing high-quality data for decision-making, storytelling, and impact measurement. We’ll walk you through the basic framework, share lessons learned, and offer tangible tools that we use every day to help communities turn data into useful knowledge.
2. Strategy for the Real World
We all know the legend of the 100-page strategic plan that gathers dust on a shelf. But a strong strategy isn’t just a document—it’s a living, flexible roadmap that drives real-world decision-making. In this series, we’ll explore how to engage stakeholders effectively, gather the right inputs to inform your plan, and build an actionable framework that evolves with your needs.
Each month, we’ll publish a new post in one of these series, offering insights and tangible tools you can apply in your own work. Whether you're looking to strengthen your evaluation efforts or develop a strategy that sticks, we’ve got you covered.
Stay tuned for our first post in the Turning Data into Knowledge series, coming soon!