Empowering Communities Through Data
The Regina Data for Good Chapter
Data For Good is a collective of do gooders, who want to use their powers for good, and not evil, to help make our communities better through data.
We help other not for profit, and non-governmental, organizations harness the power of their data to make more informed and better decisions in their quest to make their communities flourish.
Who we are
The team in Regina is led by Kevin Hayes and a host of other volunteers who are committed to making an impact through data in Regina.
We are a community of data professionals who provide pro-bono data analytics services to registered charities, non governmental and not for profit organizations.
Our aim is to unlock insights which may be lurking within your data assets that can support your strategic planning activities and improve your operational efficiency.
How we can help
Many non-profit organizations collect data from a variety of sources during the normal course of operations, including details on funding, campaigns, resource allocation and the clients they serve. Over time all such systems accrue vast amounts of data that can support the organization’s strategic decision making.
In-house data can be combined with external data from open sources such as census and economic data from government repositories like Statistics Canada. On past engagements, clients have been interested in, for example,
- understanding how to better target their donor base
- analysing their volunteers and where best to engage them
- optimising the locations of food banks
The output of our analysis is made up primarily of different types of visualisations. We use several types of tools ranging from Excel and Tableau to create charts and dashboards, to more sophisticated statistical software packages like R and Python for regression and time series analysis.
Data for Good can assist in a variety of ways depending on your needs. The engagement begins with a consultation with the Data Ambassador (the contact for the project) in order to assess how we can best add value and the feasibility of the engagement.
It is worth noting that you do not need to have any specific business questions in mind at the time of the engagement. Data for Good is often brought in for an undirected general exploration of trends and other interesting correlations that exist within the data. Usually this will then guide further analysis by prompting interest in drilling down deeper into specific subjects. Regular checkpoints with the client ensure that the ‘wheat’ remains separated from the ‘chaff’.
Regina Chapter Leads
Data Visualization Challenge
Data for Good in Saskatchewan is looking to engage the data community in a fun and educational way. This is for every person who is interested in data visualization, from newbie to seasoned vet.
The data viz challenge was launched on November 3rd and will wrap up in January. Anyone who wants to participate in the challenge, is welcome. From newbies to the seasoned vet, you can participate on your own or contact Scott Wells (details below) and request to be put on a team. The visualization challenge is meant to showcase the skills that the DfG community has right here in Saskatchewan, as well as help those looking to learn.
The outline of the challenge is listed below:
Rules
- You will be able to pick any dataset you want (see below list of example sources)
- You are allowed to use any other additional datasets you choose to include (not necessary though)
- You are allowed to use any BI or visualization tool
- Your submission will be a single page in PDF format
- You can work individually or as part of a team
Additional information
For those that would like to be part of a team, or would like to learn from others, please contact scott.wells@dataforgood.ca to be placed with a team. It is helpful to know what skills you have, or are trying to learn to fit you with the appropriate team.
Some datasets to get you going:
https://www.kaggle.com/datasets
https://data.fivethirtyeight.com/
Google Cloud Sources – https://bit.ly/31RIGEe
https://registry.opendata.aws/
Azure public datasets – https://bit.ly/31Qnhvf
https://www.gapminder.org/data/
Some of our Work in Regina
A sample of some of the organizations we’ve helped in the past.
United Way Regina

Pro Bono Law
Saskatchewan

211
Saskatchewan

Early Years Family Centre

Want to learn more, click here to see our case studies.
Are you a Not For Profit or an Non
Governmental Organization with a need for
help with a data project?
We are always on the lookout for a new challenge.
Drop us a note here to see if we can help.
Get Involved
Want to be part of the fun? You don’t need to be a data scientist or a PHD, there’s lots of ways that you can get involved with Data for Good.