Volume 15 | March 15, 2020
Using Data to Tell Your Community's Story
Did you know that your data can be the foundation of all kinds of great stories you can share about your prevention efforts? Here are a few things to keep in mind when you are crafting stories about your prevention work that will also include your data. Be thinking, " What is my story and how might I best tell it? "

  • Define your audience. Having a clear idea of your audience will help you to identify and target their priorities and interests. Further, consider what you want them to take away from your story or what you might want from them in return (i.e., donations, funding, volunteers, etc.).
  • Determine what to share. What kinds of data do you want to utilize in telling your story? Statistics and numbers? Quotes and testimonials? Pictures and graphics? It is all valuable! Identify what’s most important for your communication goals and your audience.
  • Use facts strengthened with emotional tools to boost the impact of your story. You may want to use data (perhaps numbers you pull from PBPS, VASIS, or surveys), combined with a powerful quote or anecdote, or moving photos. Make your audience feel something.
  • Share positive and negative outcomes. Positive outcomes are rewarding to share, but less desirable outcomes may be important, too! Each serves a purpose (e.g., a negative outcome might help you define a new need that a funder would be interested in helping you tackle).
  • Include visuals! Humans are hard-wired for viz and may more readily glean your message from a well-visualized component of your story or a photo.
Let Excel be Your Calculator!
The final edition of our multi-part series to make an Excel Pro out of anyone. Below are some simple formulas you can use in Excel to help make your life easier, and some tips on formatting cells.

Let Excel do the math for you!

  • Percentage of a Total - A percentage is a proportion, "the x out of a y." For instance 10 out of 100 would be 10%. To quickly calculate a percentage in excel, select an empty cell and type =(cell X)/(cell Y), clicking on the relevant cells to select your x and y values (See Image 1 above). Click enter and remember to format your cell to read as a percentage instead of a decimal! 
  • The Sum Function - To quickly add the values in multiple cells, navigate to an empty cell and type =SUM(drag the cells or use CTRL+click to select the cells you want to add) (See Image 2 above) or =SUM(B2,B3,B4,B5)). Please note the formula must be within a parenthesis, then click Enter! 
  • Dragging formulas - Click on the cell containing the formula you want to copy over to another cell. Hover your cursor on the bottom right corner of the cell and a solid black plus sign will appear. Drag this cursor to the cells that you want to fill in with the same formula. This will drag the formula and update the cell selection to match the pattern of the first cell (i.e. if you have a formula in row 2 that references cells in row 2, dragging the formula to row 3 will automatically switch the reference cells to row 3). 
  • Formatting Cells - To change how a cell looks or displays information, select the cells you want to format, right click, and select "Format Cells." In this menu, you can format your cell to read as a percentage or date, change the position of the text in the cell, add borders to your table or shading in the cells. 
  • Row Height or Column Width - To expand or reduce the row widths and column heights, select either the row/column, right-click, and select "column width" or "row height." Then, enter the desired value. Or, hover between the rows or columns to drag the boundary to the desired height or width. 
News You Can Use!
Build Capacity v. Implement
Staff time is tracked in two PBPS channels. Staff time attached to activities in the Implement Channel should only include hours spent actually implementing the activity (e.g., at a health fair, teaching a training).

Staff time spent preparing and coordinating strategies should be recorded in Build Capacity. Any hours not spent directly implementing a strategy with the target audience goes in Build Capacity.

Contact Marfel Barnett at DBHDS for Build Capacity questions and support. marfel.barnett@dbhds.virginia.gov
SEOW Deliverables
Some resources you may have missed…an ACE's report reviewing data specific to ACE's in Virginia and how they can be prevented, accessed here.

Also an overview on data released from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME), found here.
2-day Trainings in PBPS
Reminder that 8-hour trainings captured as Campaigns, and intended to be taught in one day, like MHFA, only need to be recorded once per training. 

Some trainers separate MHFA into 2 days. There should only be one activity per training - regardless of how many days it took to complete it. 

This does not apply to educational Cohorts.

Contact OMNI Support if you have specific questions.
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