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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

  • Extensibility.
  • Data Access.
  • Create additional items to report.
  • Numerous chart types through plug-ins.
  • BIRT supplies several APIs that can use many network applications for generating and viewing reports. (Example: Java EE)

  • It can provide a wide variety of properties for formatting report items. The properties are based on the W3C CSS (Cascading Style Sheet) format. 

Benefits for NPOs

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  • BIRT consists of two primary components: a visual report designer for creating BIRT designs and a runtime component.
  • NPOs can use BIRT to create custom reports that are easy to understand and visually appealing, allowing them to communicate their impact to stakeholders and funders more effectively.
  • BIRT is a free and open-source tool, which helps NPOs reduce their costs on data analysis tools.
  • It automates the reporting processes, saving time and increasing efficiency. This enables the team to focus on other critical tasks, such as fundraising and program delivery.
  • By providing accurate and timely data, BIRT helps NPOs make better decisions that are based on solid evidence.
  • It can also help them track their activities and measure their impact, making them more accountable to their stakeholders and funders.
  • It provides NPOs with the ability to analyse data in real-time, allowing them to make informed decisions based on accurate information.
  • The tool also includes a charting engine that is both fully integrated into the BIRT designer and can be used autonomously to incorporate charts into an application.
  • BIRT designs are persisted as XML and can access many different data sources like JDO datastores (Java Data Objects), JFire Scripting Objects, POJOs (Plain Old Java Objects), SQL databases, web services, and XML.
  • NPOs can create guides, build and edit data sources and data sets.
  • NPOs can create data sources and data sets, and implement serverless mapping, web.xml settings, parameters, directory structure, tag libraries, and attributes to enhance their reporting capabilities.

Tools Installation Setup

  • Designer Install.
  • Framework Designer Install.
  • JDBC Drivers.
  • Updating a BIRT Installation.
  • Deploying to a Java EE Server.
  • Installing BIRT language packs on windows & common problems.

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.

 

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