Honeywell volunteers provide clarity and confidence to Carolina Youth Coalition through a technology assessment of software and business processes
Carolina Youth Coalition (CYC) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that nurtures and prepares high-achieving, under-resourced students to enter, excel in, and graduate from college so they can spark lasting generational change and return to their communities as leaders, innovators, and advocates for others. Their programs promote intellectual and emotional exploration and risk-taking by offering programs that allow students to think and express themselves freely.
When CYC reached out to Apparo for assistance, the organization was in a place where in order to analyze and report on data, they had to export data into spreadsheets, and then format into charts and visuals manually. CYC hoped for assistance addressing software challenges to improve their ability to analyze data. Specifically, they wanted to track data across years and were unsure if the system they were utilizing supported this and other capabilities such as integrating email and event marketing platforms.
Apparo matched CYC to a skilled volunteer team including those from Honeywell, Grant Thornton, LLP, and Change Agent from Bank of America. This volunteer team worked with CYC to conduct a technology assessment, including their current software system, as well as donor, volunteer, and client data management business processes. Through the assessment, volunteers worked to document the organization’s data management needs. Based on the findings, volunteers helped CYC determine if their current platform is capable of interoperability and meets other needs.
This technology assessment reaffirmed that a new data solution is essential for CYC’s growth. After receiving support from the skilled volunteer team, the organization has gained familiarity with the available solutions and has boosted their confidence in identifying the features needed from a new platform. Importantly, this work provided the team with the opportunity to take a deeper look into their processes to have an improved understanding of what data is collected and why they are collecting it. This understanding is also beneficial for communicating the importance of data collection with volunteers and funders. Through this process, CYC also realized the need to train more staff on accessing and managing data when a new solution is in place, eliminating the risk of information loss.
Insights and Reflections from the Project Team:
- “I’m so grateful for this opportunity to meet the CYC team and partner with them to get closer to finding a sustainable path forward to solve the data challenge to simplify their operations! The leadership and working alongside Apparo and the Bank of America team was great.” – Rachel Behling, Honeywell
- “Through my first Apparo volunteer experience, I was fortunate to meet and engage with a tremendous group of committed leaders at CYC. I was continually impressed with Maria and JaDora’s ingenuity in leveraging their current technology as well as their forward thinking to acquire new solutions to leverage their data and enable greater outreach and impact in the community. The CYC and Honeywell teams were always so positive, our meetings were really a bright spot in my week.” – Christina Traub, Bank of America
- “CYC appreciates the time and talents of Honeywell, Bank of America, and Apparo volunteers and staff. We made great progress toward our goal of advancing our internal management needs. Our team is grateful for this opportunity and appreciates the time and effort from Honeywell and Apparo. We are incredibly appreciative of everyone who is a part of our growth.” – Maria Diaz, Carolina Youth Coalition
