From "Data Starved" to "Data Satiated"

 At this year's NTC conference, I met Barbara Blumenthal. Barbara is the Director of Applied Research and Senior Consultant at Community Resource Exchange of New York (CRENY). CRENY provides information, guidance, skill-building, and leadership training to non-profit organizations in the New York area, with the goal of creating "a more just, equitable and livable city for ALL New Yorkers." 

She referenced me to a piece she wrote about "Data Starved" nonprofits. I was absolutely impressed with her insights. In a relatively small piece of writing, she eloquently summed up the struggles many agencies have related to how they manage their client information, as well as information about their organizational operations. She references many of the largest and most prominent agencies nationwide that "are not using 'best in class' applications, and instead rely on a combination of mandated databases, excel and paper." Her observations seem to align very closely with what I have observed since I have been here with Data Systems International.

What was particularly striking to me, however, was to see her portrayal of the need for good data in crystal clear terms, and to see how cleanly those needs map onto the solutions offered by ClientTrack. For example, it IS possible to track client outcomes across multiple agencies. This is what the AIDS Foundation of Chicago is actively pursuing and accomplishing across 60+ affiliated organizations (see my interview with Amy Sample Ward or an AFC Case Study for more info about it). Barbara also mentioned the "affordability" piece. Again, referring back to my interview with Amy, there's an example of three of our client organizations that came together to receive funding to implement a software solution of the caliber referenced by Barbara. Even though the three organizations (all Community Action Agencies) are NOT sharing client data, they are sharing the ClientTrack system, and are able to tailor the system to meet their specific needs. Through collaboration, they are able to accomplish what they could not accomplish alone.

Barbara's term of "Data Starved" is a very apt metaphor. But it doesn't have to be the metaphor nonprofits need to live by. Instead, there ARE solutions available that can transform a "Data Starved" agency into a "Data Satiated" agency. ClientTrack is definitely capable of facilitating such transformations. Thank you, Barbara, for your insights.