Advancing Financial Sustainability for Data Dashboards with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

Key Takeaways

• A 7-part learning series, developed by Envoy for RWJF grantees, is helping organizations operating data dashboards strengthen their long-term financial sustainability.

• The series addresses urgent funding challenges and supports data dashboards by providing guidance on different sustainability models and best practices, such as new revenue generation and fee-for-service model development.

• Alongside the series, participants are developing pilot projects that allow them to test and apply learnings in real-world settings.

• Early feedback shows stronger clarity, increased confidence, and promising shifts in sustainability planning.

• This initiative reflects an exciting approach to developing learning communities that build sustainable, equity-focused data infrastructure.

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Data dashboards, typically built and maintained by Universities and spin-off organizations, play an integral role in advancing research, policy development, and decision making. They serve as foundational tools that help inform community insight, policy planning, and local economic development. Despite their clear value, data dashboards often struggle to secure and retain long-term funding, leaving their continuity and impact at risk. Recognizing this issue, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has partnered with Envoy to launch an initiative meant to address these funding challenges by developing a seven-part learning series dedicated to strengthening the financial sustainability of data dashboards across the country.

This series represents a unique collaboration between leaders in philanthropy, higher education, and the social sciences. Combining instruction, expert perspectives, and peer learning, we created a curriculum that helps data dashboard teams identify business models, clarify user needs, segment audiences, and refine messaging to better position themselves for long-term financial sustainability. Each session is designed to build on the last, offering frameworks for sustainability planning that support data dashboard teams through early-stage new product development, or scaling existing tools to better meet the needs of communities and policymakers. 

The series is intentional about developing a learning community where data dashboards have opportunities to learn from one another. We believe this is an important and replicable model to support organizational health in the nonprofit sector - especially in times of funding uncertainty. In this series,  participants are both engaging through regular modules and individual pilot projects that enable them to apply new insights in real time. By testing strategies around earned revenue, partnership development, and operational improvements, series participants are building internal capacity and gaining practical experience that strengthens their position in today’s competitive funding environment. This hands-on component helps bridge the gap between learning and implementation, ensuring data dashboard teams are supported through coaching and technical assistance throughout the process. 

While the series is still underway, early results have been promising. Participants are reporting increased clarity around their value proposition, stronger engagement with target audiences, and greater confidence in navigating funding conversations. We have also heard from participants that having a learning community during a season of public policy shifts that deeply affect national data and organizational funding has been critical. While facilitating the series, we have adapted the content to ensure organizations can address the real-time challenges facing their sector. 

As this initiative continues, we are excited to see how these tools and strategies translate into lasting impact for data dashboards and the communities they serve. We anticipate the work will not only support the dashboards themselves, but also strengthen the broader data ecosystem, creating more resilient infrastructure to drive equitable, evidence-based community development.