Skilled volunteer helps streamline processes for The Relatives, so they can do more to help vulnerable young people achieve independence
The Relatives, a wholly owned subsidiary of nonprofit Alexander Youth Network, aims to be a Relative to the vulnerable youth and young adults in our community, by enabling them to achieve independence through comprehensive services tailored to their individualized needs, in a space where they feel loved, supported and accepted as their authentic selves.
We met with Lynn Cuddy, Director of Grants and Strategic Initiatives at The Relatives, to discuss her data reporting Tech Therapy work with Apparo that began when they were participants in the LendingTree Foundation LendaHand Alliance Cohort.
“We were excited to tackle our outcome measurement challenge with Apparo. Our system is challenging, with multiple data sources,” explains Lynn.
Lynn was connected by Apparo to Tech Therapy volunteer Eric Hoffman of Moran Technology Solutions who assessed their current data gathering and reporting processes and provided recommendations for improvement. During their work together, Eric suggested PowerBI as the best way to streamline their complex processes.
At that time, Alexander Youth Network had begun implementing PowerBI for some users. Leveraging Eric’s expertise, The Relatives was able to effectively communicate their dashboard needs to the AYN IT team and has recently been able to put them to work for outcome reporting. Lynn shares that, “we are able to be more proactive and agile.”
This has led to significant benefits:
- Access to real time data that is used to help improve programs, identify areas that need more outreach, and discover new service needs
- Time savings of 1-2 hours per reporting requirement
- Improved ability to fulfill funders data needs, which is anticipated to help improve fundraising going forward
Most importantly, these positive changes will help The Relatives move forward in meeting their goal of serving 25% more young adults (increasing from 800 to 1,000) over the next two years, helping them overcome crisis and move towards independent lives.
