T4GC FOSSFwd Playbook

Learn about the effectiveness of open source solutions designed especially for nonprofits. Our in-depth guide digs into a handpicked list of open-source tools with a variety of uses, assisting organisations in improving their productivity, teamwork, and impact.

Open Source

Open Source

Introduction to Open Source

What is open source?

Open source is an approach to software development that makes the code publicly available to be modified and redistributed by anyone. It encourages collaboration, transparency, and creativity to create a more efficient and inclusive development process users can use this as a source to collaborate and generate new ideas with other NPOs with similar Global Goals.

Why are open source tools useful to NPOs?

The success of any nonprofit organisation hinges on the cooperation between its team members, donors, and partners. With the help of technology, collaboration between these groups is now more efficient than ever, enabling all parties to strive for growth and mutual support.

Open source tools are an ideal technology solution for the nonprofit sector as most developers understand that collective efforts to make the world a better place saves organisations a lot of time and money and critical thinking that goes into researching best suited tools to run their organisation in the most efficient way. This contribution can be beneficial to anyone around the globe.

What are the advantages of working with open source tools?

Myth busters about open source software

Why are the fees relatively cheaper?

Nonprofit organisations can benefit from open source tools due to the lack of licence fees. This greatly reduces costs, allowing organisations to allocate budget to other mission-critical items. Open source tools provide a cost-effective solution for nonprofit entities, freeing up valuable resources. The only thing that is paid for in open source software is essentially storage space.

Your data, your code

As a nonprofit, you have full ownership of your data, your code, and the way in which you modify or extend your system. This means you can freely adapt it to your needs without having to ask for permission from a central source or group of people. This gives you the power to tailor the system to your organisation's needs  and objectives, making it more effective and efficient than using .

No vendor lock-in

Nonprofits benefit from the flexibility provided by open source technology with no vendor lock-in. This means that the nonprofit is not tied to any particular vendor and can modify the source code or add additional modules or extensions to meet their specific needs. As a result, NPOs can collaborate with the vendor of their choice based on the solutions and proposals that best fit their organisation's goals.

Community support

Open source software offers NPOs community support and collaboration from developers without costly licence fees. This provides access to innovative ideas and continuous improvement, as well as advice and assistance with implementation, maintenance and troubleshooting. NPOs can also be part of the development process, suggesting and implementing new features and benefiting from the collective knowledge of the community.

Stability and fast bug fixes

Stability and fast bug fixes are essential for NPOs. Built and maintained by a community of supporters, NPOs can rely on collective review to quickly identify and solve any issues that arise. This ensures that the most used features are put back into the core code base to ensure a safe, secure, and reliable experience for all users.

Security and data protection

Security and data protection is of utmost importance for any nonprofit due to the confidential data they may collect. The open source community as a whole collaborates to identify and address security gaps that are identified and addressed quickly compared to proprietary software, where the solution is dependent on the vendor. Our developers are highly trained in the detection of potential vulnerabilities that could put user data at risk. Furthermore, with full data ownership, your nonprofit can have peace of mind that all data is being used solely for the objectives and mission of the organisation.

Data Collection

Data Collection

Kobo Toolbox

An Open-Source Tool for Data Collection for Challenging Environments. Open source doesn’t mean the data collected is accessible by everyone, it only means the source code of KoboToolBox is.

It is  a comprehensive platform for data collection, management, and visualisation, enabling worldwide research and social good initiatives. It offers open source data systems and technology to support humanitarian action, development, environmental protection, peacebuilding, and human rights initiatives.

Kobo ToolBox is a free tool that can be used by nonprofits for various purposes. It enables organisations to create surveys and forms, it is also accessible through mobile phones and tablets, manage data, and analyse results. It also allows organisations to create surveys in multiple languages, share surveys with others, and export this data in various formats. The tool can be used to collect data for research and evaluation, raise public awareness, assess public opinion on an issue, track projects, and more.

NPOs can use Kobo Toolbox to efficiently and accurately collect data that can be used to inform decisions, measure impact, and track progress.

Note: Nonprofits can use its source code for free.

Features of the tool

Benefits for NPO’s

Reasons to use Kobo ToolBox

Graphical Representations:

Fig. 1. Kobo Toolbox form development Interface.

It enables organisations to quickly and easily create digital forms to collect data from their target populations, whether it be surveys, registration forms or evaluation questionnaires. Users can customise their forms to meet their own specific needs and create their own data validation rules and logic, ensuring only valid and complete data is collected. This form development interface will be an invaluable tool to make the most of data collection operations.

Fig. 2. Kobo Toolbox data collection & analysis Interface.

An innovative data collection and analysis interface can be incredibly beneficial for NPOs. It enables to quickly and easily collect, store, analyse, and visualise data from a variety of sources. This includes online surveys, face-to-face interviews, and other methods of data collection. The tool users can gain valuable insights into their target audiences, enabling them to better understand their needs and design better services and programs.

 

Fig. 3. Kobo Toolbox Project & team management Interface.

It can be used for project and team management tools to easily share projects and data with fine-grained permission options, dynamically connect data collected from multiple projects, integrate with other tools via powerful API (application programming interface), add an unlimited number of data collectors and project collaborators, and create an unlimited number of projects for free.

 

 

Fig. 4. Kobo Toolbox secure and flexible interface.

Kobo ToolBox is a secure data collection platform that uses end-to-end encryption and allows for user authentication and authorization. Additionally, it is a flexible tool that supports various types of data collection methods and allows for customization of forms and surveys. The interface is easy to use and provides features such as customizable forms and surveys, automatic data backups, offline data collection, and real-time reporting. It can be used to quickly and securely collect data from remote locations, and to monitor and evaluate activities.

 

Conclusion

In conclusion, Kobo Toolbox is an open-source tool that is simple to use, secure, and flexible, making it an ideal choice for data collection in no coverage areas.

 

 

Data Collection

Open Data Kit (ODK)

An Open-Source Tool lets your organisation build powerful offline forms that collect data in serverless zones. 

ODK is an open-source mobile-user-friendly data collection platform that can be used by nonprofits to collect data offline which will then upload when you’re online. This data can then be used to measure the success of nonprofit initiatives, enable data-driven decision making, and track progress and outcomes. It also provides powerful data cleaning, analysis, and visualisation tools. It is a secure, reliable, and scalable platform that is suitable for organisations of all sizes

It supports the collection of a wide range of file extensions that can include text, images, audio and video clips. 

Features of the tool

Benefits for NPO’s

Reasons to use ODK

Graphical Representation:

Fig. 1. ODK form builder interface.

8.png

ODK form builder is a powerful tool to quickly and easily create forms for collecting data. With this, one can create forms that are tailored to their needs and can be used to collect data on the field with the ODK Collect App. This data can then be used to track activities, measure outcomes, and inform decisions. It can also be used to create surveys, allowing one to plot feedback according to demographics from those they serve to make data-driven decisions.

Fig. 2. ODK Main Menu mobile Interface.

9.png

These shortcuts allow you to quickly and accurately collect, manage, and analyse data to help NPOs make informed decisions.

Fig. 3. ODK Form mobile view

10.png

ODK Forms is a free and open-source mobile data collection tool, making it an ideal solution for NPOs with limited budgets. Additionally, the mobile view feature allows users to easily access and update information from anywhere, allowing for more efficient data collection in the field.

Conclusion:

Overall, ODK is an excellent open-source tool to easily collect and analyse data. It is secure, reliable, and scalable, making it ideal for organisations of any size. It allows for the collection of a wide range of data types and provides powerful data cleaning, analysis, and visualisation tools. It is trusted by millions and used to send over 200 million submissions every year. With ODK, NPOs can easily collect data from their donors, volunteers, and beneficiaries and use it to measure the success of their initiatives, make data-driven decisions, and track progress and outcomes.

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)

Introduction to ERPNext

ERPNext for nonprofits (NPOs) is tailored to meet their needs. It includes features that could help an NPO manage their finances, manage grants and monitor program outcomes.It provides the necessary tools to ensure long-term growth and success, by providing transparency, control and scalability.

Note: Today, NPOs also face some of the problems that large enterprises do. One of them is planning and managing their resources. They face similar complexities but have limited resources to deal with them.

Features of the tool

Benefits of Nonprofits

Why Nonprofits can use ERPNext

Supported Database

ERPNext allows you to easily connect and explore data stored in multiple databases and data warehouses.

The following databases are officially supported by ERPNext Open Source:

Integration

ERPNext has a host of built-in integrations that helps  NPOs to take-off faster.

Graphical Representation

Fig. 1. ERPNext Dashboard.

11.png

The dashboard interface is a great tool to quickly and easily track operations. It provides an overview of the organisation's financial performance, allowing managers to quickly identify areas that need improvement and allocate resources accordingly. It can be customised to display financial and performance metrics, making it easier to identify areas for improvement.

Fig. 2. ERPNext Kanban interface.

12.png

Kanban interface can help better manage finances, as it will provide an organised view of financial data. It provides an easy-to-use interface for visually tracking projects and tasks, making it easier to stay organised and up to date on progress. This can help to support better decision-making and increase efficiency.

Fig. 3. ERPNext Point of sales interface.

13.png

It can help streamline a wide range of processes. For example, it will allow organisations to quickly and easily track sales, donations, and inventory levels without the need for manual data entry. Additionally, ERPNext POS interface can be used to generate real-time reports, allowing them to quickly access information on their performance and track their progress.

Fig. 4. ERPNext User Management interface.

14.png

ERPNext's User Management interface is a powerful tool to manage user accounts, assign user roles, and customise access to data and permissions. It provides insights into user activity, such as who has logged in, when, and from where. It also provides an understanding of how users interact with their data, helping to make more informed decisions about data security and access. All in all, ERPNext's User Management interface is a powerful tool to better protect data.

Fig. 5. ERPNext Project interface.

15.png

Project Interface allows NPOs to manage multiple projects and tasks in an organised manner, assign resources, and track progress. This provides a powerful platform to help effectively manage their resources, track their performance, and reduce operational costs.

Fig. 6.  ERPNext Sales order interface.

16.png

ERPNext Sales Order Interface is an invaluable tool, as it makes it easier to manage and track sales orders. This user-friendly interface can help to streamline the organisation’s sales process, while providing real-time visibility into the status of orders.

Limitations

Conclusion

Organisations can benefit greatly from ERPNext, as it provides all the necessary tools to manage complex operations while reducing costs and improving efficiency. The features, such as accounting, budgeting, and reporting, can help NPOs streamline their workflow and get the most out of their resources. Additionally, the tool is designed to be user-friendly, meaning that employees can quickly learn how to use the system and get up and running quickly. This can help organisations save time and money in the long run by eliminating the need for costly IT support.

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)

Donor Management System in ERPNext

Introduction

A donor management system, often referred to as a donor database or donor relationship management system, is a software tool or system used by non-profit organisations and charities to effectively manage and maintain relationships with their donors and supporters. The primary purpose of a donor management system is to help non-profits streamline their fundraising efforts, improve communication with donors, and ensure that fundraising and donor-related activities are organised and efficient.

Top 9 Features Nonprofits Can Use in ERPNext DMS:

Donor Profiles: The DMS system allows organisations to create and maintain comprehensive profiles for each donor. This includes contact information, donation history, giving preferences, and other relevant data. These profiles help organisations personalise their interactions with donors.


Donation Tracking: Donor management systems enable organisations to record and track all donations received. This includes details such as donation amounts, dates, payment methods, and campaign or fund designations.

Communication Tools: DM Systems include email marketing and communication tools that allow organisations to send personalised messages, newsletters, and updates to donors. These tools help in engaging donors and keeping them informed about the organisation's activities and impact.

Reporting and Analytics: Donor management systems offer reporting and analytics features to help organisations analyse donor data, measure fundraising performance, and make data-driven decisions. Reports can include financial summaries, donor retention rates, and campaign results

image.png

Acknowledgment and Receipts: The system can automate the generation of thank-you letters, donation receipts, and acknowledgments, which are crucial for donor stewardship and compliance.

Grant and Proposal Tracking: For organisations that seek grants or submit proposals, these systems can help manage the application process, deadlines, and grant-related documentation.

Security and Compliance: Donor management systems often have security features to protect donor data and ensure compliance with data protection regulations.

Integration: Integration capabilities with other software tools, such as accounting software or website donation forms, can help streamline data entry and maintain data accuracy.

Continuous Improvement: Regularly review and update your ERPNext setup to meet changing donor management needs and compliance requirements.

Limitations:

Limited Donor-Centric Features: ERPNext is primarily designed as a general-purpose ERP system and may not have all the specialised features required for comprehensive donor management. You might need to customise the system to meet your specific donor tracking and engagement needs.

Learning Curve: Implementing and customising ERPNext can be complex, and it may require a significant learning curve for your team. This can be a challenge for nonprofits with limited IT resources or technical expertise.

Regulatory Compliance: Nonprofits often need to adhere to specific regulations and reporting requirements. Ensuring that ERPNext can meet these compliance needs may require additional customization and expertise.

Conclusion:

By adopting the ERPNext Donor Management System, nonprofit organisations can optimise their fundraising efforts, strengthen donor relationships, and allocate more resources toward their core mission. In an era where transparency and efficiency are paramount, the ERPNext Donor Management System is a valuable tool for nonprofits committed to making a positive impact on their communities and the world.

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)

HR Management System in ERPNext

Introduction

The ERPNext HR workspace for non-profits is a versatile and user-friendly solution designed to streamline and enhance human resource management within charitable organisations. It offers a range of tools and features to help non-profits efficiently manage their staff, volunteers, and the unique HR challenges they face, ultimately enabling them to focus more on their mission-driven work.

Top 9 Features Nonprofits Can Use in ERPNext HR Workspace:

Employee and Volunteer Management: Keep detailed records of both paid staff and volunteers, including their contact information, roles, qualifications, and availability.

Recruitment and Onboarding: Streamline the hiring process with tools for posting job openings, tracking applicants, conducting interviews, and managing the onboarding process for new hires and volunteers.


Attendance Management: Record and monitor attendance for both regular employees and volunteers, ensuring accurate tracking of work hours and volunteer commitments.

Leave Management: Allow staff and volunteers to request and manage leaves while maintaining visibility into leave balances and approvals.

Payroll Processing: Automate payroll calculations, including deductions and taxes, to ensure accurate and timely compensation for employees. This is particularly important for nonprofits that have both salaried and hourly workers.

Training and Development: Track employee and volunteer training requirements, certifications, and ongoing professional development to ensure that your team is well-prepared for their roles.

Performance Management: Implement performance appraisal processes to evaluate and provide feedback to employees and volunteers, helping them grow and contribute more effectively to the organisation's mission.

Compliance and Reporting: Generate reports and analytics related to HR metrics, compliance with labour laws, diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts, and other key performance indicators.


Document Management: Store and manage HR-related documents, such as contracts, policies, and certificates, in a secure and organised manner.

Benefit Management: Administer employee benefits, such as health insurance, retirement plans, and other perks, ensuring that staff and volunteers have access to necessary resources.

Self-Service Portals: Provide employees and volunteers with self-service portals to access their personal information, submit leave requests, and view pay stubs, reducing administrative overhead.

Mobile Accessibility: Access HR information and perform essential HR tasks on mobile devices, enabling flexibility for remote or field-based staff and volunteers.

Limitations:

The limitation of the ERPNext HR module is its complexity and learning curve. Implementing and customising the HR module can be challenging for some organisations, particularly those with limited IT resources or technical expertise. This complexity may require additional training and support to fully utilise the module's features effectively.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, non-profit organisations can benefit from adopting the ERPNext HR System. This versatile and feature-rich solution offers the tools and capabilities needed to streamline human resource management, enhance workforce efficiency, and support the unique needs of nonprofits.

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)

Dolibarr

Dolibarr is an open-source, web-based business management software suite that provides a range of integrated modules for managing various aspects of a business, including accounting, customer relationship management (CRM), human resources, inventory management, and more. 

It is designed for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and offers features to help businesses streamline their operations, automate processes, and improve overall efficiency.

Features of the tool:

Benefits for NPOs:

Why Nonprofits can use Dolibarr:

Supported Database:

Dolibarr is a flexible and adaptable business management software suite that supports multiple databases. As an open-source software, Dolibarr can be used with various popular database management systems (DBMS) depending on the setup and configuration chosen by the user. MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQLite and Oracle are supported by Dolibarr

Graphical Representation:

Fig .1. Home Page: it is a dashboard where all the folders in the root folders are listed, where tools are used to create reports, visualise data and charts that can be embedded in web-based and applications. 

17.png

Fig. 2. & Fig.3.  It provides different services with different parameters.

18.png

19.png

Conclusion:

Dolibarr is an open-source, web-based business management software that is a flexible and adaptable business management software suite that supports multiple databases. This helps to meet regulatory requirements and ensures data security, regular updates, bug fixes and documentation, as well as a community forum for users to seek help and share knowledge.

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)

CiviCRM

A free open source Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software designed primarily for use by non-profit organisations to assist in maintaining relationships between their supporters and constituents. 

CiviCRM's open source design and comprehensive documentation make it highly customizable for any marketing operations, including NPOs. It can be tailored to meet the specific requirements of any NPOs, allowing them to easily manage their marketing campaigns and track their success. It offers a suite of tools to manage contacts, donations, memberships, events, email marketing, and other activities. Specific needs of NPOs can include tracking donor activity, engaging with volunteers, and managing fundraising campaigns.

CiviCRM is a great tool for NPOs to use in their operations. It’s a useful tool for case/event management, contacts, members, and fundraising campaigns. They can also use the bulk-mailing functionality to reach potential donors with direct mail campaigns. Additionally, CiviCRM's integrations with payment gateways make it easy to process donations and other payments for events and memberships.

Over 11,000  NPOs around the world use CiviCRM to build and manage their donor, member, and constituent bases. CiviCRM can be used to store contact data, send personalised messages, plan events, manage membership programs, organise advocacy campaigns, and more.

Features of the tool

Benefits for Nonprofits

Integrations

Why Nonprofits can use ERPNext

Graphical Representation:

Fig. 1. CiviCRM Dashboard Configuration Interface

20.png

CiviCRM provides a customizable dashboard for NPOs and provides the ability to create quick links and include content about donors or customers on the main page.

Fig. 2. CiviCRM Donor Management interface

21.png

Maintaining a large list of donors in a central database with CiviCRM can help to build strong relationships, save costs on duplicate mailings, and facilitate direct interactions. This can help to foster trust and loyalty between the NPOs and its supporters.

Fig. 3. Email Marketing interface

22.png

CiviCRM's bulk mail capabilities make it a powerful tool to reach  target audiences. With the ability to construct emails in HTML and text, create personalised templates, and segment lists into specific interest groups, NPOs can craft effective fundraising campaigns, event invitations, and other messages to reach their supporters.

Fig. 4. Email tracking interface

23.png

NPOs can use email tracking to identify which emails are opened as well as the click through rates for links contained within their messages. This can help them measure their success in reaching their target audience and building relationships with supporters. Additionally, they can monitor their bounce rates and unsubscribe events to ensure their emails are reaching the right people.

Fig. 5. Activity tracking interface

24.png

Tracked activity in a grid to see how individuals have responded to their mailings, events and other activities. This can help them better understand engagement with their target audience and better tailor their outreach efforts to ensure they are reaching the right people.

Fig. 6. CiviCRM Reporting interface

25.png

CiviCRM also includes over 40 built-in reports that are easily modifiable, which can be used to track donations, memberships, and more. Files can be printed in PDF or HTML formats and exported as CSV. Reports can also be integrated back into the application to create new groups or segments, which can then be used for targeted mailings or other activities by NPOs. Data can be displayed in table or graph formats, such as pie or bar charts.

Limitations

Conclusion

CiviCRM is a free and open-source customer relationship management software designed for non-profit organisations and civic sector entities. It offers tools for managing contacts, fundraising, events, memberships, and more. With a user-friendly interface and robust feature set, CiviCRM is a popular choice for organisations looking to streamline their operations and improve their engagement with supporters.

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)

Odoo

Odoo is an open source tool for Customer Relationship Management CRM. It is a Belgian suite of business management software tools including  e-commerce, billing, accounting, manufacturing, warehouse, project management, and inventory management.

It  is known for making applications available for free in enterprise edition, it is a centralised database that helps you to store data in the cloud and also it helps to access & analyse the data. It is a ideal tool for non-profits because it is available for both on-premises and ready to use the SaaS environment. It provides source code for the Open Object framework and the core ERP modules.

Features of the tool:

Benefits of Nonprofits:

Why Nonprofits use Odoo

Supported Database:

ODOO, being an open-source ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) software, supports multiple databases as its backend. The supported databases for ODOO include:

  1. PostgreSQL
  2. MySQL
  3. SQLite
  4. Oracle Database
  5. Data Source Connectors

Graphical Representation:

Fig. 1. Home page: Odoo provides seamlessly integrated functional business apps called Odoo apps that form an ERP solution when combined.

26.png

Fig. 2. Mobile Apps: Odoo is a suite of open source business apps that covers CRM, e-commerce, Accounting, inventory, point of sale, Project management, and more. The mobile app offers a smooth and friendly user experience that has been carefully built to ensure quick and seamless user adoption.

27.png

Fig. 3. App for every Need

28.png

Conclusion:

Odoo is an open source tool for CRM. It provides a modular approach, where NPOs can choose and configure only the applications they need, and can add more modules as their requirements evolve. They can also form collaborative and real-time project management and easily send mass mailings to your donors, funders and their constitutions. This business intelligence tool also helps NPOs report on data.

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)

Tendenci

Tendenci is a powerful membership and association management solution designed for nonprofit  associations, educational institutions, community foundations, and healthcare organisations of all sizes. It helps administrators manage events, fundraising campaigns, and job boards, set membership levels with custom pricing, take payments on their websites, communicate with constituents, track interactions, manage data, and customise member benefits.

NPOs are one of the typical customers of Tendenci, along with Freelancers, Large Enterprises, Mid Size Business, and Small Business. This is a free and open-source software code available on GitHub, supports large organisations with up to 15,000+ members and unlimited contacts.

Features of the tool

Benefits of Nonprofits

Graphical Representations:

Fig. 1. Comprehensive Membership Profile interface.

29.png

Access all information about your Members using  Comprehensive Membership Profiles. Including Contact Info, Professional Affiliations, Invoicing, Groups, and Contributions to your organisation. Keep track of all donations and volunteering hours and see how each member is contributing to the success of your cause.

Fig. 2. Rich Media Management

30.png

Tell your story through photos and videos with the Rich Media Management module. Visually show off your events, products, and organisation activities and increase your traffic. The tool includes a complete digital asset management package to organise, collect, and share photos, videos, and documents on your Tendenci site.

Fig. 3. Event Management.

31.png

Calendar event management software helps organisations to organise, promote, and register their events with ease.

Fig. 4. Custom Forms

32.png

The custom forms module offers the ability to build a custom Member Application, create Surveys, make Donations, and sell Merchandise.

Conclusion

To conclude, Tendenci is a powerful and cost-effective open source AMS designed to meet the needs of NPOs. With its intuitive user interface, comprehensive feature set, and flexible customization options, the tool makes it easy for organisations to manage their members and donors, streamline their operations, and increase their reach and impact. It is a good choice for small grassroots organisations. Overall, Tendenci provides NPOs with the tools they need to succeed in their mission and make a difference in the world.

Data Visualization

Data Visualization

Metabase

Metabase is an open-source software for nonprofits (NPOs)  that provides a powerful interface that can be used by non-techies.

With Metabse, NPO’s can:

Note: NPOs can either choose to self-host it on their own server, or install it on a managed instance.

Metabase is an ideal tool for NPO’s, due to its easy-to-use interface, cost-effectiveness, and quick deployability. It allows NPOs to quickly create dashboards and reports that can help them better understand their data and make meaningful reports to their funders.

Features of the tool

Benefits for NPO’s

Reasons to use Metabase

Supported Database

Metabase allows NPOs to easily connect and explore data stored in multiple databases and data warehouses. NPOs can quickly and securely access, analyse, and learn from their data, no matter where it is stored.

Officially supported database (Connectors built by the Metabase team and available on all editions. Fully supported by Metabase for users on paid plans.)

Community Data Source Connectors(Connectors built by the Metabase community and only available on self-hosted and open-source editions for licensing reasons. Not supported by Metabase.)

Graphical Representations

Fig. 1. The Metabase home page.

The Metabase open-source home page provides an overview of the software's features and capabilities, as well as links to documentation, community resources, and downloads.


Screenshot 2023-09-07 104905.png

Fig. 2. Metabase Dataset interface

The Dataset interface can be incredibly helpful for NPOs. It allows them to easily and quickly access data in a way that is organised and intuitive. The Metabase data set interface allows users to easily create, save, and share custom queries and data visualisations, empowering non-technical users to explore and analyse their data without requiring specialised knowledge or training.

image.png

Fig. 3. Select from 15 different chart types to visualise results:

15 different chart types offer a powerful way to view impactful results. By using these charts, users can quickly identify trends, patterns, and outliers in their data. NPOs can easily compare different data sets side by side, allowing them to make more informed decisions. Additionally, these charts are interactive and customizable, so users can tailor the charts to their specific needs. This allows them to quickly and easily gain insight into their data and make the most of their resources.

image.png

Fig. 4. Metabase Bar chart view:

An ideal for NPO’s to visualise performance at an organisation level. It displays the total count or sum of values grouped by a certain attribute, such as month, age, group, location, etc. This makes it easy to get an overview of how the organisation is performing in each category. The bars can also be coloured to help quickly identify highs and lows. With a Metabase bar chart, it's simple to get a quick snapshot of the performance.

image.png

Fig. 5. Live dashboard view:

Live dashboard feature helps to track performance helping NPOs stay on top of their projects or campaigns. With this chart, they can identify key metrics such as donations, volunteers, and program results which can be monitored in real time creating less buffer time, allowing them to strategies immediately.

image.png

Fig. 6. Pricing

Metabase open source project has a large and active community of users, developers, and contributors. It has been downloaded more than 30,000 times and has more than 324 contributors on Github. It also has a thriving community of more than 7,000 users on its Discourse forum.

image.png

Limitations

Conclusion

 

In conclusion, Metabase is an ideal tool due to its easy-to-use interface, cost-effectiveness and quick deployability. It allows organisations to create dashboards and reports that can help them better understand their data and make meaningful reports to their funders or new donors. It is available in both Community and Enterprise Editions, so that NPOs can choose the version that best suits their needs.

Data Visualization

BIRT

Business Intelligence Reporting Tool (BIRT) provides a platform to create data visualisations, nonprofits  can pull and combine data from many different data sources (databases, files, Java, Javascript, web services, etc) and use this data for reporting (textual) and charting (visual). This allows nonprofit organisations to quickly and efficiently generate insights from their data that can be used to inform their decision making processes. Additionally, BIRT can help nonprofit organisations to create reports that are tailored to their specific needs, saving them time and money. The BIRT tool can address a wide range of reporting needs which are implemented in a streamlined process. 

Features

Benefits for NPOs

Changed on website to:

Tools Installation Setup

Conclusion:

In conclusion, BIRT (Business Intelligence and Reporting Tools) can provide significant benefits to NPOs by helping them collect, analyse, and report on data. BIRT can be used for a wide range of activities, including financial reporting, donor management, program evaluation, impact reporting, grant reporting, and marketing and communications. By using BIRT, NPOs can improve data analysis, create better reports, increase efficiency, and make informed decisions based on solid evidence. BIRT can also help NPOs increase accountability to their stakeholders and funders by tracking activities, measuring impact, and demonstrating the effectiveness of their programs and services. Overall, BIRT is a powerful tool that can help NPOs achieve their goals and create positive change in their communities.

 

Social Media and Content Management

Social Media and Content Management

Socioboard

Introduction

Features:

Benefits for non-profit organisations:

Supported Database:

Pricing:

image.png

Graphical Representation:


Figure 1.1: Customised dashboards



Figure 1.2: With built-in stock picture libraries, sophisticated search features, and powerful editing tools, you can find, organise, and modify all of your social media content in one-place now.


Figure 1.3:Create, plan and schedule your content when your users are most actively engaged and participating. Make your own publishing schedule, seamless with SocioBoard.



Figure 1.4: Manage multiple social accounts easily. Now add new social media accounts and remove the old ones that are not in use in seconds.

Limitations:

Social Media and Content Management

Buffer

Introduction:

Features:

Benefits for non-profit organisations:

Supported Database:

Pricing:



Graphical Representation:

image.png

Figure 1.1: Share click-worthy content

Figure 1.2: Build an engaged audience

image.png

Figure 1.3: Buffer will publish everything for you to save time, and it’ll showcase your work with automated reports.


Figure 1.4: With Buffer’s permission levels and approval flows, your team can work freely without any micromanagement.

Limitations:

Social Media and Content Management

Databox

Databox is an open source, cloud-based business analytics platform for marketers, CEOs, analysts and decision makers that provides a single interface to view various key performance indicators (KPIs) and generate reports.

It is suitable for small to large businesses and offers mobile apps for iOS and Android devices. 

Features of the tool:

Benefits for Nonprofits (NPO’s):

Why NPOs can use Databox:

Needs to be changed:

Databox is a cloud-based data analytics platform that allows businesses to collect, analyze, and visualize data from multiple sources in one place. It has a user-friendly interface and offers features such as client performance views, account management, and data sharing. It supports a range of databases, including MySQL, Oracle, and PostgreSQL.

Graphical Representation:

Fig. 1.  Home Page

1.png

Fig. 2. Audience review dashboard

2.png

Fig. 3. Leads, sessions and pipelines of work

3.png

Npos often have to manage large amounts of data in order to effectively operate and meet their goals. Databox provides a comprehensive platform to help NPOs track and manage their data. The Leads, Sessions and Pipelines interface helps NPSs to easily organise incoming leads and track their progress through the entire sales pipeline.

Conclusion:

The Databox platform is an open-source personal networked device, augmented by cloud-hosted services. It is suitable for small to large businesses and offers mobile apps for iOS and Android devices. NPOs can use Databox to track their fundraising progress, monitor website traffic and engagement, measure social media impact, and manage donor relationships. Databox allows NPOs to easily create customizable dashboards to monitor these metrics and make data-driven decisions. With Databox, NPOs can save time and resources by automating their data collection and visualisation processes. This helps them to stay on top of their KPIs and identify areas for improvement in their operations and strategies.

Ticketing System

Ticketing System

DeskPro

Introduction:

Features:

Benefits for non-profit organisations:

Pricing:

image.png

image.png

Supported Database:

Graphical Representation:

Figure 1.1: Ticketing system with different spaces for personnel and team management


Figure 1.2: Visualised data of the ticketing system w.r.t. team, department, and source



Figure 1.3: Help Center dashboard for generating reports

Figure 1.4: Kanban presentation of the schedule planned and worked on

Limitations:

Video Conference

Video Conference

Jitsi Meet

Introduction

Jitsi Meet is an easy-to-use, open-source video conferencing platform that supports audio, video, and screen-sharing capabilities. It can be used for one-on-one meetings or large-scale conferences. Jitsi Meet is browser-based and also has mobile apps for Android and iOS.

Top 7 Features nonprofits can use in Jitsi:

Web-Based Video Conferencing: Jitsi Meet is entirely web-based, meaning participants can join meetings without needing to download or install any software or apps. This accessibility makes it easy for users to join meetings from various devices and platforms.

End-to-End Encryption: Jitsi Meet offers end-to-end encryption for secure communication. This means that the content of video calls remains private and can only be accessed by the meeting participants.

Integration and Customization: Jitsi Meet is highly customizable and can be integrated into other applications and services. Developers can use the Jitsi Meet API to embed video conferencing into their own platforms or websites. Additionally, it offers options for branding and customization to tailor the user experience.

Chat features allow participants to send text-based messages in real time during meetings or discussions. This text chat can be used for various purposes, including:


Polling features enable meeting hosts or organisers to create and distribute polls or surveys to participants during a meeting or webinar. Polls can be used for:



Live Streaming Jitsi Meet can be integrated with third-party live streaming platforms like YouTube Live or Facebook Live to broadcast your meetings to a broader nonprofit audience.

White Board Feature Non-profit organisations can use a whiteboard option in various ways to enhance their communication, collaboration, and engagement with stakeholders, whether it's during virtual meetings, workshops, or educational sessions. Here are some specific scenarios and examples of how nonprofits can effectively utilise the whiteboard option:



Limitations:

Scalability: While Jitsi Meet can handle a reasonable number of participants in a meeting, it may face performance issues with very large meetings. Scalability depends on the server infrastructure and resources available.

Resource Intensive: Running a Jitsi Meet server with high-quality video and audio can be resource-intensive. Organisations may need to invest in robust server hardware to ensure smooth performance, especially for larger meetings.

Dependency on Network Quality: Like all video conferencing tools, Jitsi Meet's performance depends on the quality of the internet connection for both hosts and participants. Low bandwidth or unstable connections can lead to video and audio issues.

Mobile Apps: While Jitsi Meet has mobile apps for Android and iOS, some users have reported occasional issues with the mobile apps in terms of stability and feature parity with the web version.

Conclusion

Jitsi Meet can be an excellent choice for many non-profit organisations, especially those looking for a cost-effective and open-source video conferencing solution. However, it's essential for non-profits to assess their specific requirements, technical capabilities, and user needs to determine whether Jitsi Meet is the right fit or if additional customizations and integrations are necessary to fully meet their collaboration goals.

Video Editing

Video Editing

Olive

Introduction:

Olive Video Editor is an open-source, non-linear video editing software. It aims to provide users with a free and powerful video editing solution.

Features:

Benefits for non-profit organisations:

Limitations: