Nonprofit organizations are collecting and deploying greater amounts of data on the people they serve to measure success, boost efficiency, and garner backing from increasingly results-focused donors, Time magazine writes.

Sophisticated tracking by charities such Nurse-Family Partnerships, which pairs low-income mothers and family nurses for home visits, and Youth Villages, which serves at-risk youth in the foster-care and juvenile-justice systems, helps them adapt quickly to health and social indicators about their clients and show progress, Time says. Many supporters are encouraging the trend, directing grants to data-deploying groups.