Helping the Community Prosper with Non-Profit Data Collaboration

Research Area: Social Innovation | Status:  Ongoing | Led By: Researcher-led with student support

The Challenge

Corporations and all levels of government have access to track and manage client data that helps inform important decisions and policies. Non-profit organizations, however, often lack the resources to invest in data management training and tools. As such, non-profits often find themselves at a disadvantage when it comes to not only targeting services, but also quantifying impact. If demographic and service data standards were more accessible to these organizations, it would help improve service delivery and program design; influence policy development; support applications for funding; and provide accountability to donors, volunteers, and the public.

The Solution

NBCC, along with Greater Fredericton Social Innovation (GFSI), launched the Non-Profit Data Collaboration project intending to standardize, align, and coordinate data among social service organizations.

The intended outcome is to equip non-profits with the data needed to demonstrate the socio-economic value of their services to foundations, governments, and other funding agencies. The three-year project helps local non-profits catalog, access, and use data more efficiently. GFSI, along with NBCC researchers and students, partnered with the City of Fredericton to make this possible through the City’s Community Prosperity Hub—an online data management repository. In addition to creating digital infrastructure and assisting organizations with improving their data practices, the project advocates for the inclusion of data collected by non-profit organizations in government policy.

Twenty non-profit organizations in the Fredericton region have thus far been engaged, which the intent to scale the project model to other jurisdictions in New Brunswick and beyond.

About the Collaboration

The College is GFSI’s first stop when looking for applied research support. For example,  an NBCC Business Administration student researched and analyzed tools that organizations can use for non-profit data collection and management. In addition, a recent NBCC Information Technology graduate has helped write software code in support of this project. Together with GFSI and collaborators, NBCC is playing a crucial role in tackling real-world challenges and helping communities prosper. 

Project Partners/Funders

Partners

Funders