Several years ago, reporting was a pen and paper job at Children’s HopeChest. Through several funding sources, one of which being generous donors who want to be a part of HopeChest’s expansion and most innovative projects, HopeChest has been able to increase the efficiency and quality of reporting from CarePoints to headquarters.
HopeChest has partnered with TaroWorks, a worldwide data collection platform for nonprofits, so HopeChest’s reporting needs are familiar territory for them. During April 2021 we began training international staff on how to use this new software platform that connects them straight to our Constituent Relationship Management (CRM) platform.
Forty-six leaders in Ethiopia, 37 leaders in Uganda/Kenya, and 26 leaders in Guatemala have been trained and are already implementing and managing CarePoints and Country programs with this new platform!
Why is HopeChest so excited about this platform, and why do we want to get you excited about it too??
1 – Access = Empowerment
The new platform provides international staff access to the same dashboards that headquarter staff see, meaning that we all have access to the same data! Providing international staff with greater visibility into the organization’s data is uniting us together as one worldwide organization. When data is shared, everyone who has direct access benefits. Information that is critical to in-country staff’s roles, like lists of sponsored children and child profiles exist in one place now, and everyone has instantaneous access to the same thing.
The new platform also empowers HopeChest international staff to know that their work is being utilized. They can see what is happening to submitted forms and how the work they submit impacts the organization.
2 – Updates on Children and Projects can be Reported More Quickly
If a CarePoint Coordinator reports an update on a child, the whole organization can now see it within minutes. This also creates a higher level of accountability for how data is being used. If a CarePoint submits a list of children who have exited the program, they can now see when HopeChest’s Operations Specialist fully processed them. This greater visibility means that everyone can see where information is aged or delayed and opens the door to finding bottlenecks and creating more efficiency.
The TaroWorks platform has been customized to allow CarePoint and project updates which flow directly into our CRM platform, which means more timely and relevant reporting of happenings at the CarePoint and updates on projects in-country.
3 – Maintaining Data Integrity
Have you ever played the game of telephone? When headquarter staff were doing platform training in Ethiopia and Uganda, they demonstrated through the game of telephone how a phrase can morph and change the more people it passes through.
The new platform allows information to travel directly from the person inputting it to the person or team relying on it. This creates both efficiency and data integrity. No longer relying on a staff intermediary for communication increases visibility for everyone and cuts out the inefficiency of moving data from one area of the organization to another.
4 – Measuring Impact of Your Support
The long-term benefit of utilizing TaroWorks is the powerful survey tools which will allow us to benchmark and measure household and community progress toward the dreams, vision and goals of the CarePoint and the community. Over time, this will allow us to help our donor constituency better understand the impact they are having through their faithful giving and partnership.
What does this mean for you, a friend and partner of HopeChest?
We are using your generous contributions to work with greater efficiency. Your dollar goes further when we spend less time on collecting and moving data from platform to platform and more time on impact and implementation! If you are a HopeChest Friend, this technology means that we have greater insight into how old the photos of your friend are so we can perform better reporting for you.
This exciting platform change is scalable, and we have a vision for how it can continue to transform the organization!
If you’d like to be a part of the HopeChest community that is empowering this kind of innovative reporting, consider joining the Alliance of Hope community. Alliance of Hope members are the backbone of our organization, and its members fuel our expansion and most innovative projects!
