data governance

An image that represents a team reviewing a data retention policy for legal services

Data Retention Policy for Legal Services: Keep What You Need, Delete What You Should, Defend What You Keep

Your team didn’t choose legal services because you love filing systems. You chose it to help people through high-stakes moments. But the intake queue grows, staff copy and paste notes across tools, and every year brings a new report, audit, or public records question. Meanwhile, old client data sits everywhere, quietly piling up. Keeping everything […]

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Build a practical data governance policy for justice nonprofits

Build a practical data governance policy for justice nonprofits that protects clients and satisfies funders

The intake queue is growing, a partner needs a quick data pull, and a funder report is due Friday. You open the spreadsheet, then the case system export, then the shared drive folder someone swears is “the real one.” The numbers don’t match, and no one’s sure which version is safe to share. That’s the

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A Guide to Legal Nonprofit Knowledge Management Systems

For leaders at justice-focused organizations, a knowledge management system is much more than software. It’s a strategic discipline for capturing, protecting, and using the vital institutional knowledge your team builds every day. Done right, it moves you past scattered spreadsheets and last-minute reporting scrambles to a single source of truth that empowers advocates and proves

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Stop asking clients to repeat their story, set up a single client facts record that feeds every program, reduce re-traumatizing repeats, and cut intake time in 30 days

The intake queue is blowing up, staff are hopping between forms, and someone is asking, again, “Can you tell me what happened?” The client pauses. You can hear the strain in the silence. Your team isn’t trying to be careless. The system is. When a person has to repeat their story across programs, partners, and

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An image of a team performing nonprofit systems map workshop

The Nonprofit Systems Map Workshop, How to Document Your Real Workflows in 2 Workshops

The intake queue is exploding. A partner handoff failed again. A funder report is due Friday, and the numbers don’t reconcile with last quarter’s spreadsheet. When that happens, it’s tempting to hunt for a new tool. But the tool isn’t the work. The work is the flow of decisions, handoffs, approvals, and sensitive information that

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An image of team in a justice lab data and technology support

How Justice Lab’s Data and Technology Support Strengthens Legal Nonprofits

If you run a justice-focused nonprofit, you probably feel the weight of your systems every day. Spreadsheets everywhere. Case notes in email. Fragile tools that buckle whenever a new grant report is due. This is where justice lab data and technology support comes in. In plain terms, a Justice Lab is a team that uses

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A Strategic Guide to Virtual CISO for Legal Partner Organizations

A virtual CISO for legal partner organizations is your on-demand, senior cybersecurity leader. They bring strategic guidance to the table on a fractional basis, helping your network, coalition, or advocacy hub manage digital risks and protect incredibly sensitive client data—all without the hefty price tag of a full-time executive. Key Takeaways Move from Chaos to

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An image of a team performing information governance for justice organizations

Information governance for justice organizations: from chaos to clarity

Challenges in information exchange. Shared drives that feel like a maze. People quietly pasting client details into email, chat, and AI tools because they just need to get the work done. That is the daily reality for many justice organizations operating within the justice system. Legal aid nonprofits, clinics, impact hubs, coalitions, and intermediaries in

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An image of a team reducing spreadsheet overload in legal aid

From Spreadsheet Chaos to Clarity: Reducing Spreadsheet Overload in Legal Aid

Legal teams did what they had to do. Intake logs in Excel. Clinic rosters in Google Sheets. Grant reports in a dozen different files, each with its own tabs, color codes, and macros that only one person understands. Over time, those quick fixes turn into a shadow system. Dozens of trackers live in different folders

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Featured data classification guide for justice nonprofits image of data being sorted into different categories.

A Practical Data Classification Guide for Justice Nonprofits (Public, Internal, Sensitive, Restricted)

If your organization supports legal advocates, you already know the feeling: information is everywhere. Case notes in shared drives. Training rosters in spreadsheets. Partner lists in email threads. A “final” report living in five versions. A data classification policy (which is a key part of our data classification guide for justice nonprofits) is the simple

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