Hi guys, I work for a small charity managing 4 employability support projects. At the moment most things are managed by excel/windows/word, but as times goes on this is becoming increasingly cumbersome and requires a lot of man hours. We're looking for a database/tool/interfacer that will have 4 main purposes: 1: Our workers can use it to open client "case files" and record basic data like name/address/national insurance number/ethnicity/length of unemployment/etc. At the moment this is currently done using a heavily formatted word document/formdata is then manually input into an excel spreadsheet once a month...so we have individual word client forms and all client data in a gigantic spreadsheet. 2: Allows our worker to store "case notes" linked to the case files, essentially text notes. At the moment these are usually kept in a word file in the same folder as the client forms. 3: Allows for reminders to be set against case notes, ideally sending the worker an email or triggering a flag when a date or time is reached. At the moment workers put reminders in their outlook diary and/or physical diaries manually, but it would make sense for case notes to trigger these. 4: Allows reports to be pulled off the system, ie if 100 people are of the same ethnicity and 60 are of another, essentially basic statics generated from the information input into the case files. At the moment I'm literally pulling numbers off of an excel spreadsheet and turning them into tables of percentages, etc for written reports. I have no idea on this sort of stuff, but essentially we're a small charity with nearly no budget...is this the kind of thing we might find off the shelf, do we need to contract some IT company to build something bespoke, or is this type of system manageable for some IT students looking to build a portfolio and willing to help a charity out?
This would take an Access dev no more than a couple of days to put together, possibly less - as long at they had access to a detailed functional spec.
As much as I dislike Access compared to creating a proper database, that list of requirements is something that a simple Access database would handle and could be pieced together rather quickly. It should take someone skilled in using MS Access less than 4 hours to put together something to meet those requirements. For someone not skilled in the software, they could probably learn to piece it together within a few days by following online instructions as most of Access is visual and simple to put together. From the looks of it; it could consist of two (possibly even just one) tables, a couple of query & report templates and a few short visual basic scripts to handle triggers like reminders/notifications & logins. As for cost, don't pay for anything if you don't have a budget. Check with any local volunteer brokers in your area that could advertise for some volunteers with IT skills to get in touch to help out. This'd probably your first port of call (guessing Norfolk is correct from your advertised location): http://www.voluntarynorfolk.org.uk/community-volunteer-coordinators Well worth trying to find out who manages the http://www.do-it.org adverts for your area, they may already have knowledge of a number of people looking for IT based volunteering opportunities. No harm in contacting your local colleges to see if their IT department has any students looking to do a quick volunteer job to add to their portfolio, any smart student looking to improve their employability should want to jump at the opportunity to say they've made a bespoke system being used by a recognised charity. For the college approach it might be good to target the first/second year BTEC students doing IT Practitioners/Software Development as they'll often be an eager bunch. I'm out of the country next week, but if you've not found a solution to your requirement by the 25th then feel free to give me a shout and I'll see if I can help put something together over a weekend.
thanks chaps, I'm not really familiar with all the functions of access but i may have a look into a few tutorials and see what I can do myself, good learning curve to be able to amend things later.
Just to echo suenstar and Shirty, learn a bit of Access and it shouldn't take you long to bob one out at all. Most things are a quick Google away
Lots of people on here are Intermediate to Advanced with database software so definitely bounce any questions you have to the community. www.stackoverflow.com is another good website for technical & programming support on databases.
Yeah, sounds like a really easy job in Access. As much as I dislike the very existence of MS Access (databases should not be on a desktop), this is one of those use cases where it does actually have utility - assuming licenses aren't a problem for your budget, that is. Two tables is all you should need: client information and case notes, both linked by an ID column. I don't think you can trigger email reminders via Outlook, but you could easily have another form which shows you items due within a certain time period (Due today + overdue, due within next 5 days, all overdue, etc). Of course people have to check it, but you could also write a report to pull this information. StackOverflow is my god.
Hi, Never spotted this before. When you include the timer/reminder feature, emailing and so on I'd suggest it's more a customisable CRM/workflow tool that is required. Keeping it cheap & relatively simple, something like Altassian Jira would do the job at a whopping $10 for a 10 user license. While principally aimed at product (software) development and issue tracking, the entity hierarchy isn't that different. Attributes are customisable (so fields can be added such as you describe), and it runs as a service with a web ui so you don't really need to design pages as such, and it can automatically send out emails via smtp (I think) I don't believe it's terribly difficult to set up, but I've not done it myself.
Long over due an update! The situation has changed a fair bit. We're part of a group of 5 organisation that will be undertaking a multi-agency project funded by the lottery from September 2015. The project will essentially focus n helping people in one of the UK's most deprived towns to return to work, I wont attempt to explain here but in short there are partners offering independent financial advice, employment support, social enterprise support, etc etc. So we're now starting to look at database options. The basis are the same as outlines above, except that we get into the messy water of being able to share across agencies and give access to each others files with permission. Essentially what we want is: A front-end which is: User friendly (see idiot proof). Where staff can enter client details (think name/dob/ethnicity, essentially drop down selections). Where staff can enter notes about the client in question. Where staff can send details of the clients to other orgs with the appropriate permissions Where staff can set reminders on tasks and receive email reminders. More complex will be the back-end which will have to: Allow staff to share aforementioned client details with only certain other users. Notify staff if a person they are about to add details to already exists. Be online to allow multiple organisations (4-5) to use it. Allow staff to set reminders that generate email notifications. Be able to generate statical data/reports on any of the client details input. This is very likely something we'll have to hire a company for and invest in, it's also public money so the odds are it'll go out to tender unless we first find a preferred provider who already has something suitable. Essentially - any suggestions?
---------^ Another managed one is Salesforce (Expensive), as well as SuiteCRM (Cheap). If you need a telecoms solution... not soliciting or anything
This thing seems to have grown arms and legs. Whilst getting a windfall is a boon for the charity has thought been given to the long term support of the new scope of this system? It's up keep will be a regular drain on funds. It's something non tech people over look regularly because their experience with Windows or Macs is that you turn it on run an update now and then and everything works like a charm.
+1 Sounds potentially like a big ole money sink to me. As mentioned, the suggestion for that feature set would be to get someone designs systems like that. Which in all likelihood mean a lot of expense, both initial and ongoing. It seems like a questionable way to spend charity money on unless absolutely necessary in my opinion. I much prefer the brief in the OP. It sounds more achievable and sustainable, while still vastly improving the system.
I'm still very much in the frame of mind that a CRM solution will suit you. It would save you from the minefield that is database consultancy, and depending on the provider would keep you both legal and secure. Bear in mind that just because you are charitable/NPO you don't have a get-out clause from the data protection act. So a simple 2-3 table database will not cover you for audit, for example, and would not get even close to where you are likely to want to go. SuiteCRM actually looks pretty good, so I'll second that recommendation. Their online proposition is also hosted in the UK, so you don't have to worry about cross-jurisdiction data privacy law. What you DO NOT NEED is a bespoke database system from a consultancy. Based on the loose requirement you have stated, you would be milked dry and at the end of it maybe still not have something suitable. Or you would have a very fragile application that does not help you with your obligations to the people you are providing a service to, and also likely still not be 100% suitable for even a single user app. Careers Scotland did pretty much exactly what you have described, and they used Cognisoft CRM. While the UI and general capability of the product fit what you need, I don't rate their underlying db structure at all, but that's my professional opinion of the db, not the overall product offering. And that was quite a long time ago. At the level you are at, you should not need to care about it. I don't know your budget, but I don't think Cognisoft were particularly cheap. But they *are* established in providing exactly the product you are looking for.
I would second the comments above about the original brief being a cheaper option in the longrun, but if you absolutely do need to adhere to the new brief. - Then CRM is your best bet. Do you already have an MS Office Subscription? like 365 or something similar? - In which case, it would be worth talking to them about Dynamics, as they often heavily discount / give away their CRM product if you have an existing package, especially being a charity. - Otherwise you could easily build this using the Community edition of SugarCRM (which is free)
Been a while again, been working on a variety of other areas! I agree that CRM is the way forward...these 2 seem to be closest to the end product we'd be after...similar alternatives or thoughts very welcome! https://www.cognisoft.co.uk/ http://www.bridgecrm.com.au/
You will need to bear data protection, encryption and privacy in mind. You would be best to consider a hosted solution, hosted in the UK or at the very least the EU, with at least ISO27001 certification. You'll need to ensure that your contract with them has the appropriate liability clauses etc.... don't underestimate the impact of your legal responsibility for collecting and storing this data, even in your current systems. I'm not even sure if you might have to work with the GCloud list as even though you're a charity it's pretty clear you're working with local government to make this happen.
SalesForce.com? Amazing platform and the foundation is really good with charity (free) licensing (up to a point). Heavily used at my previous role, and while we do use it in the "new" not as grand in scope. As i mentioned the platform is heavily customisable, I believe the renault website is a themed SF.com front end, went to dreamforce a few years back and one of the classes was a how to create an expense approval system with authorisation. Done in less than 1.5 hours. Platform also has a market for third party apps many of which are very good with Charities. Ie you could add an accounts package like financial force really esily.
