How is data being used in the not-for-profit sector?
The effective use of data has become critical to the operation of almost every organisation across every sector, and not-for-profit organisations are no exception. The ability for executives, employees and volunteers to access and use information how, when, and where they need it is more important than ever.
However, according to Infoxchange’s 2024 Digital Technology in the Not-for-Profit Sector report, only 26% of Australian and New Zealand NFPs agree their data is analysed and shared to support managerial decisions that drive and shape service improvements, while only 23% of respondents have systems that enable them to understand the impact of their services and outcomes. Additionally, PwC Australia’s 3rd Annual Not-for-profit CEO Survey reported that NFP CEOs believe that data analysis/analytics continues to be one of the top skills employees need most to prepare for the impact of technology.
This highlights a significant opportunity for not-for-profits to leverage readily available business intelligence tools to better understand their data and uncover actionable business insights.
What is Microsoft Power BI?
Over the last 9 years, Microsoft Power BI has grown to become the leading business intelligence platform, with Power BI named as a leader in the 2024 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Analytics and BI Platforms. Part of Microsoft’s end-to-end data analytics platform, Fabric, Power BI enables a range of business users – from IT professionals and data analysts to non-tech workers – to create, share and use insights gained from multiple data sources.
Power BI offers the following capabilities:
Connection to multiple data sources – whether your data is stored in Salesforce, Dynamics 365, a data warehouse or an Excel spreadsheet, Power BI can bring together and visualise your data in one place.
Cleaning and transformation of data – Power Query, Power BI’s data transformation tool, allows you to quickly get your data into shape for analysis and visualisation.
Creation of interactive visualisations and reports – Power BI includes a wide range of in-built and custom visuals that allow users to explore and analyse your data.
Secure sharing of reports and dashboards – Power BI Service allows you to publish and share reports and dashboards across your organisation via your existing Office 365 accounts. Microsoft’s authentication and access controls enable you to define who can access what data.
Ready access to data, reports and dashboards – integration with other Microsoft products, such as Excel and Microsoft Teams, allows users to access data, reports and dashboards when and where it suits them.
How can Power BI be used in the not-for-profit sector?
Reporting program outcomes
Capturing and evaluating program data is critical to ensuring your organisation is maximising the impact of its programs. Providing feedback to funders on program outcomes is also becoming an increasingly important part of developing and nurturing relationships with donors.
Power BI provides a compelling way of communicating the impact your programs have made in the communities you serve. A program outcomes report might examine how many people your programs reached, how satisfied they were with the programs and how much better off they were after accessing the programs. Power BI also makes it easy to compare your program outcomes with national benchmarks from organisations such as the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare and the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
Tracking donations and funding
Understanding the source of your donations is key to ensuring you have enough funds to deliver your programs sustainably. Power BI allows you to gain deeper insights into your donors, including who is donating to your organisation, when they are donating, what causes they are donating to and what channels they are donating through. Check out our donations dashboard for an example of how Power BI can be used to visualise donations data.
Managing volunteers
Volunteers are the driving force behind many not-for-profit and charity organisations. Power BI can help volunteer team leaders ensure that volunteers are managed as effectively as possible. For example, volunteer skills, availability and interests can be matched with program needs. Power BI can also be used to analyse volunteer workloads and satisfaction levels, and identify future skill gaps in your volunteer workforce.
Creating interactive annual reports and snapshots
Transparency in how not-for-profit organisations use donations and grants is more important than ever. Effectively communicating how your funds have been used and the benefits realised from them can help build stronger relationships with your donors and the community. Power BI can turn a traditional annual report (usually a static PDF document) into an interactive data story, highlighting your organisation’s key accomplishments and allowing users to explore the impact you have made.
Measuring organisational performance
Defining, measuring and reporting on Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) is essential for any organisation pursuing ambitious goals – including not-for-profits. Power BI allows you to monitor metrics across your organisation and quickly see how you are tracking against your goals. Power Automate, Microsoft’s workflow automation tool, can also be integrated with Power BI to alert users when a KPI is reached or falls below a certain threshold.
How can you get started with Microsoft Power BI?
You can download and start using Power BI Desktop for free. Sharing reports securely across an organisation requires a Pro or Premium licence and eligible not-for-profit organisations can apply for discounted pricing starting at $4.50 per user per month. Further details can be found in our Microsoft licensing guide for Australian not-for-profits & charities.
Get in touch to find out more about Motive Consulting’s Power BI training and consulting services for not-for-profits.
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