Integrated Data Enhances Georgia Nonprofit’s Mission Delivery to Black Women and Their Families

The Center for Black Women’s Wellness (CBWW)’s mission is to improve the health and well-being of underserved Black women and their families. Flagship programs serve pregnant women and their infants, prevent teen pregnancy, coordinate low-cost/no-cost healthcare services including breast cancer treatment, and support families through an education program to foster economic women’s self-sufficiency.

Breaking through Silos: How the Dream Big Technology Grant Helps the Center for Black Women’s Wellness

Effective data management is often underestimated: it may be one of the most important keys to success for an organization. CBWW currently uses a variety of data systems to track patient outcomes and case management objectives, including ETO, an electronic medical records system (MediTouch), and Excel spreadsheets. These systems are not integrated; thus one client served by multiple projects may be tracked by multiple systems. By increasing its ability to track unique individuals and the total impact that CBWW has on them, the new data strategy will allow them to observe trends, which will ultimately enhance fundraising efforts for the organization and advocacy for its clients and community.

The Center for Black Women’s Wellness is excited to be awarded TechBridge’s Dream Big Technology grant. Through enhanced organizational data management, this funding will allow us to have a deeper understanding of the communities we serve and how to better serve them, said April Reid, MPA and wellness program manager.

The Center began the shift to data-driven decision-making two years ago. Initially, a performance measurement assessment that we conducted indicated that it took six Family Support Workers 114.5 hours to complete their reports. This example from one project highlights the high human resource costs associated with having such inefficient data tracking. A reduction in the time it takes for the staff to capture and enter data would enhance their ability to fulfill their mission. For instance, reducing reporting time for Family Support Workers would give them more time to provide high-quality home visitation case management services for pregnant and postpartum women.

Additionally, resources in the Wellness Department have recently been limited due to the end of a 3-year federal grant that funded several program and clinic activities. A more efficient and effective system for data collection and management would allow staff to spend less time entering and analyzing data and more time spent directly with patients and clients they serve. In addition, CBWW would have a clearer understanding of the most critical metrics to measure organizational success. Better data, proven outcomes, and more compelling grant reporting will help CBWW make a stronger case to foundations and supporters for additional funding.

Along with the health and wellness programs for the underserved, CBWW‘s Women’s Economic Self Sufficiency Program (WESSP) is a micro-enterprise development initiative to increase the opportunity for women to become self-employed by starting and operating a micro-business. The program serves primarily low-to-moderate-income women by providing them with financial literacy, life skills, business development, and technical assistance. Learn more at cbww.org.