2. I would prefer to spend
all my time working
with clients, but I have
to spend quite a bit of
time on documenting
case notes, scheduling
appointments, and
making sure I’ve filled
out the right forms with
clients at the right times.
My work takes a lot
emotionally, and while
I see the purpose of
some documentation,
other documentation
feels like I’m just putting
data into a black hole.
The documentation doesn’t give me a good
overview of how any one client is progressing,
or how well I’m doing with my caseload overall.
I wish I had an overview of all the services
my clients and their family members are
receiving from other programs, too, so that I
could provide better informed services to each
person and family.
Claire Case Worker
Persona:
AGE
TITLE
EXPERIENCE
PURCHASE ROLE
MARKET
20 – 35
Case Worker
0+ Years Experience
System End User
Nonprofit
JOB RESPONSIBILITIES
• Managing client recruitment and intake
• Assessing client needs and progress
• Providing and coordinating services
• Documenting assessments, detailed
case notes, and progress
• Ensuring quality services and making
sure clients benefit
JOB MOTIVATIONS
• Client progress and success
• Client satisfaction
• Reduction of the administrative burden
• Doing a good job/supervisor approval
JOB CHALLENGES
• Cumbersome to manage/scheduling services, and fill out the right forms at the right time,
for individuals and caseload
• Difficult to get overview of all services received by client/family across the agency
(particularly problematic if goal is to provide holistic services)
• Inability to have a complete picture of client/family circumstances and progress
HOW SOFTWARE WILL HELP ME
• Reduce time spent on client-level data entry so more time can be spent with clients
• Make organization of service delivery and completing forms on time easier
• Provide holistic view of client services within individual program and across agency
• Provide access to real-time data on progress toward outcomes to inform service delivery
CONCERNS DURING BUYING PROCESS
• Will all of my work be reduced to numbers?
• How is it even possible to measure the results of my work?
• How long will it take for me to enter data?
• How difficult will it be to enter data?
• How much training will I need to be comfortable with the system?
,
3. My organization relies on me
to ensure that we provide
quality services and remain in
compliance with government/
funder compliance
requirements. I need visibility
into all the programs, but I
have to rely on the program
managers to send me the data
in Excel spreadsheets – or get
it from multiple systems –
every month.
That is a cumbersome
arrangement, and I can’t
always trust the quality of the
data. It also makes it difficult to
get an agency-level overview,
because clients may be receiving services from
multiple programs but they can be tracked in
different ways in each.
All of this means that when the executive director
or other stakeholders need data, it can take quite
some time to pull together up-to-date figures. That,
in turn, makes it hard to use the data to inform day-
to-day management.
Damien Director of Research/Eval
Persona:
AGE
TITLE
EXPERIENCE
PURCHASE ROLE
MARKET
30 – 40
Director of Research/
Evaluation
10+ Years Experience
Decision Maker
Nonprofit
JOB RESPONSIBILITIES
• Agency theory of change/program
logic models , including what data must
be collected
• Performance management and
evaluation of programs
• Ensure compliance with government/
funder requirements across the agency
• Reporting for internal and external
stakeholders
JOB MOTIVATIONS
• Ability to use data to improve
programming
• Ability to use data to report to
stakeholders
JOB CHALLENGES
• Difficulties ensuring data integrity
• Time-consuming and cumbersome reporting
• Limited integration of data, and inability to report across programs
HOW SOFTWARE WILL HELP ME
• Improve data integrity (timeliness, accuracy, and completeness)
• Improve timely access to data for reporting within and across programs
• Reduce effort and increase sophistication of reporting
CONCERNS DURING BUYING PROCESS
• Will the software be easy for staff to use, to support timely and accurate data entry?
• Will the software offer sophisticated enough reporting to meet my needs?
• How easily can I modify the configuration, or add to it, when our agency’s needs change?
• To what extent does the software meet my detailed functionality and feature needs?
,
4. I spend a great deal of
my time on fundraising.
It’s hard to raise
enough money to
sustain and grow the
organization, especially
now that so many
funders want data on
outcomes. Sometimes,
we simply don’t have
that data – or the
capacity to collect and
report on it – which
means we can’t even
apply for certain grants.
When we do have
the data, it’s really
cumbersome and time-
consuming to pull it
together. Sometimes, I can’t get it in time.
We need to build our capacity to show funders
that our work is effective, and we need to be
able to generate that data in a timely manner.
For me, that means better visibility into
operations at the program level and across
programs.
Erica Executive Director
Persona:
AGE
TITLE
EXPERIENCE
PURCHASE ROLE
MARKET
45 – 60
Executive Direcor
20+ Years Experience
Decision Maker
Nonprofit
JOB RESPONSIBILITIES
• Overseeing all organizational operations
• Raising funds to sustain and grow the
organization and its programs
• Ensuring the organization fulfills its mission
• Ensuring the organization meets
government/funder compliance requirements
• Interacting with – and being accountable to –
the board of directors and other stakeholders
JOB MOTIVATIONS
• Organizational sustainability and
growth
• Successful fundraising
• Delivering on the mission
• Staff and program efficiency
JOB CHALLENGES
• Raising and sustaining funds is challenging and competitive
• Aggregating data for grant applications and funder/compliance reporting is time-
consuming, can be inaccurate, and is sometimes impossible
• Demonstrating program impact is difficult or impossible
• Available resources are limited
HOW SOFTWARE WILL HELP ME
• Improve staff efficiency by reducing time spent on data management
• Have timely access to data in support of fundraising, funder reporting, and compliance
reporting
• Ensure data are complete, secure, and accurate
• Increase fundraising success through ability to demonstrate organizational effectiveness
CONCERNS DURING BUYING PROCESS
• Can our organization afford the upfront and recurring costs?
• Is prioritizing software the best use of our limited resources?
• Why should we choose this more expensive system over cheaper competitors?
• Will there be sufficient return on investment?
• Will the system be easy enough for our staff to use?
• How much time will staff have to invest in implementation and training?
• Will this system accommodate and support organizational growth?
,
5. I am always busy making
sure everything is running
smoothly, from managing
the case workers to
keeping our executive
director in the loop.
Our goal is to provide
holistic services, but we
don’t have a good way
for staff to see what
other services any one
client is receiving across
the agency at any one
time. Staff management
can also be challenging
without good data,
because I have limited visibility into workloads
and whether everything that needs to get
done is getting done. What I can say about
performance is always anecdotal.
The executive director often needs me to
provide data to support grant applications or
report on progress. That takes much more time
than it should, I’m often not confident about
the data, and sometimes we simply have to
guesstimate.
Pam Program Director
Persona:
AGE
TITLE
EXPERIENCE
PURCHASE ROLE
MARKET
25 – 40
Program Direcor
5+ Years Experience
Influencer, Evaluator
Nonprofit
JOB RESPONSIBILITIES
• Managing staff/teams/programs
• Managing program operations
• Reporting on volume of services and
achievement of objectives to stakeholders
• Contribute to grant writing/funder and
compliance reporting
JOB MOTIVATIONS
• Program sustainability and growth
(serving more clients)
• Quality of services, client satisfaction,
and progress toward outcomes
• Staff efficiency, satisfaction, and
retention
• Reduction in the administrative burden
JOB CHALLENGES
• Inability to see a complete picture of client circumstances, services received, and progress
• Difficulty running aggregate reports – within and across programs – for stakeholders, for
management purposes, and to understand effectiveness
• Inability to know if data is accurate and complete
• Difficulty managing staff workloads and performance
HOW SOFTWARE WILL HELP ME
• Reduce staff administrative burden
• Reduce time spent reporting to support fundraising and compliance
• Provide holistic view of client services within individual program and across agency
• Improve data integrity (timeliness, accuracy, and completeness)
• Enable analysis of volume and quality of service delivery, and progress toward outcomes,
within and across programs
• Increase visibility into staff workloads and performance
CONCERNS DURING BUYING PROCESS
• How easy will the system be for my staff to use?
• How easily can I run reports on my program’s activities and outcomes?
• Can I make custom reports for our program?
• How much time will be spent implementing the system?
• How much time will be spent training staff?
• How much training and support will we need internally?
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