Information is aid: using data to help reduce poverty
Plan International selects business intelligence specialist Morgan Benjamin for Cognos upgrade
International children’s organisation, Plan International (www.plan-international.org), has selected business intelligence specialist Morgan Benjamin (www.morganbenjamin.co.uk) to ensure enhanced transparency of donor funds. Morgan Benjamin will improve reporting procedures for the not-for-profit organisation, upgrading it to a Cognos 8 environment.
Plan International operates child-focused poverty-relief reduction projects in 49 developing countries, and has fundraising programmes in a further 17, where it generates a high proportion of its income through child sponsorship schemes. Each of these undertakings results in large amounts of diverse data - from expenditure costs and sponsorship details to the number of schools, health clinics and wells that have been built - which is input into the organisation's system at a local level. A Cognos business intelligence environment at the organisation's UK headquarters consolidates this data into a single, consistent source that is then made available to all of its global offices.
Morgan Benjamin's upgrade work will allow Plan International to make use of the improved functionality provided by Cognos 8, including better visual reporting tools and more powerful data integration techniques. This will enhance the way in which the organisation monitors its operations and provides donors with regular progress reports on the children and projects they fund.
Teresa Hogan, global applications manager at Plan International, explains: “Our donors entrust us with their money. We therefore have a responsibility to be one hundred percent clear how that is spent and how it goes to improve the lives of children in developing countries on a long term and sustainable basis.”
Russell Facey, business development director at Morgan Benjamin, comments: “The not-for-profit sector is under as much pressure to demonstrate return on investment as the commercial one. Plan International's professional commitment to being financially transparent is critical to ensure it maintains and develops support from donors. In addition, its use of best-of-breed business intelligence technology provides its field staff with access to up-to-date information that supports their decision-making.”
Hogan concludes: “Morgan Benjamin is clearly a business intelligence specialist. But more than that, it demonstrates a desire and ability to work in a flexible way that meets both our requirements and budget. As a not-for-profit organisation we have to balance keeping costs to a minimum with ensuring that we have up-to-date technology that enables our operations to be effective Morgan Benjamin understood these constraints and suggested a variety of viable options.”
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Notes to editors:
For more information, please contact:
Kate Alexander, kate@alexanderpr.co.uk, +44 (0)20 8946 3739
Nicola Males, nicola@malespr.co.uk, +44 (0)1932 830294