Site Data Management Software for NonProfits...Tracking Impact

March 18, 2018 10:46 AM

I've searched here in AskMe and online, and there are a LOT of discussions about software used by non-profits, however, most of what comes up is related to CRM and donor-side tracking, or grant seeking. I'm looking for the holy grail of tracking site management data that changes over time. In the Cloud. Help?

We're a small NGO with 16 community sites in another country and each of those sites has about 40-50 data variables that we need to track to roll up into:

- Assessing project status, including implementation of sub-projects and costs
- Assessing which sites are missing needed data, or need a data update

We do use this data for internal purposes (strategy, assessment of programs, planning) as well as external reporting (local government agencies, grantees, prospective donors).

The ability to track changes in data over time per site (and compare it site by site) is key. That is the priority functionality. We would love something that has a visual dashboard, but that's even a "nice to have" not a "need to have" function.

For example, if we are investing resources in a school in Area 1 in order to decrease their dropout rate and raise academic results, we want to be able to track:

1) where they started in 5 different sub-program areas
2) what interventions were implemented over time
3) what the new data is in those 5 different sub-program areas over time
4) how this school compares to another school in another area over time

I'm vastly oversimplifying this for the sake of brevity.

And it has to be accessible in the Cloud.

Right now we are using Excel and trading spreadsheets back and forth and it's AUGHHHH.

I know about BaseCamp, Filemaker Pro, Trello, etc. I'm hoping to hear from someone who has actually managed multiple site data who can give me the pluses/minuses of what they've tried, if there is something more "out of the box". Even if I can hack some Facilities Management software or District Management software, that would be fine.

I've been searching for this holy grail for a few weeks now and I'm hoping the HiveMind can reinspire me because I'm wondering if this wonderous software actually exists.

Thanks.

posted by jeanmari to Technology (6 answers total)

I’m not sure if it meets all of your needs but it sounds like something like AirTable would at least solve the sharing back and forth issue?
posted by stefnet at 11:21 AM on March 18, 2018

I was also going to suggest AirTable.
posted by Winnie the Proust at 11:21 AM on March 18, 2018

Response by poster: I've been using AirTable over the past few weeks in order to park data. It definitely is the closest thus far to what I'm looking for but it is a nightmare to navigate unless you already have a very clear mental map of how the data is structured. If it was just me using it, I could swing it. But I don't think the interface is going to fly with the other stakeholders who need to interact with it.

I'm also evaluating Clear Impact which might be a contender, but the RBA model it uses is very inflexible if it needs any customization.

Still wondering if there is anything like AirTable but with a better, cleaner user interface or something to easily hook up to AirTable to create an easier interface.
posted by jeanmari at 12:45 PM on March 18, 2018

The non-profit I worked at ended up building something very much as you describe (minus financial info) custom with a CiviCRM back-end and a web front-end sorting/reporting tool. However, I think they were looking to transition to Salesforce most recently - being able to get it very affordably as an NPO, as well as their case management, program management and other available tools. It seemed like it was overkill in a lot of ways, but also could do everything they needed.
posted by jdl at 5:08 PM on March 18, 2018

This is a shot in the dark. I have not used AirTable (yet) myself. But they do have templates, and I believe one can customize your base and/or the template (I'm familiar conceptually with using customizable/extendable SaaS database products; just don't know AirTable's lingo yet)...

Sooo - depending on your time commitment and/or access to development chops you could create, or have created, a user-friendly interface of sorts?
posted by randomkeystrike at 7:25 PM on March 18, 2018

Response by poster: Circling back around to say that I ended up going with Zoho Creator. Even with their new "Blocks" release, Air Table just doesn't have the interface needed. Got hooked up with Zoho and, even though the learning curve has been steep (their online learning is really not the most organized), the capabilities and interface are working out rather well to start. We'll see how it goes once I start having to run reports.

Thanks all.
posted by jeanmari at 12:25 PM on April 17, 2018