“Overwhelmingly, the top challenge to impact measurement relates to the need for standardised and comparable tools and frameworks. Other notable challenges include a lack of resources and integrating impact into standard business processes and financial decision-making.”1
CSG is the official Asia delivery partner for CSnet®. Drawing upon CSG’s years of experience working with Asian non-profits and social enterprises, CSG’s partnership with CSnet® aims to help organisations embed social impact measurement practices to provide transformational change for service delivery.
CSnet® is a cloud solution and practice solution for client information services serving human services organisations, communities and funders to support the work being done. CSnet® measures outcomes, report on contract requirements, and move data between partners and funding programs. It is part of an emerging human services information and technology ecosystem of evidence-based practice, governance and cooperation.
The exponential growth in impact investing presents an important opportunity for human services committed to demonstrating what they achieve. We are committed to assisting organisations to explore this opportunity, so they become credible, investment-ready providers. There are numerous practice and technical issues to be considered in this process, and bridging the gap between intent and evidence-based achievement is challenging.
UN SDG Goals 17.16
Enhance the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development, complemented by multi-stakeholder partnerships that mobilize and share knowledge, expertise, technology and financial resources, to support the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals in all countries, in particular developing countries
Figure 1
An example of CSnet® case management dashboard
Figure 2
An example of CSnet® presentation of fictional client outcomes, using the Personal Wellbeing Index survey and domains as the outcome framework and dashboard. CSnet® supports presentation of multiple measurement frameworks within a single organisation.
Our role in this ecosystem is a new kind of ‘intermediary’- supporting capacity of human services to measure and manage their own impact using CSnet® - and to embed learning in the design and improvement of social programs.
CSnet®:
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Connects people, data and outcomes – Provides line of sight between data collection and measurement of client and social outcomes
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Data-driven decision making – Tell your organisation’s stories and numbers that matter
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Supports casework, group work, and community activities - Keeping all your service information in one place for real time learning and data analysis
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Future-proof your client information system needs - Innovative and flexible software that grows as you grow taking the risk out of change
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Collaborate and communicate with partners to achieve social change - Share data and build value between partners, funders and investors for social returns
Figure 3
An example of presentation by CSnet® of achievement of fictional community outcomes, using the Sustainable Development Goals as the outcome framework and dashboard. CSnet® supports presentation of multiple measurement frameworks within a single organisation.
UN SDG Goals 17.19
By 2030, build on existing initiatives to develop measurements of progress on sustainable development that complement gross domestic product, and support statistical capacity-building in developing countries
It is an easy-to-use and innovative web-based platform that provides key features for human services to:
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A Client Centric History screen showing participation of the client across all of their cases and groups over time in one place
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Use of case plan and daily record templates to support a broad range of program workflows and ‘forms’
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Use of wizards as shortcuts and sequenced steps to support the user to complete key tasks such as creating a case, client or session
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Structure casework and other activities around a cycle of assessment, planning, delivery and review, based on your framework and with clear timeframes
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Monitor the achievement of timeframes in case plans and other activities in real time
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Consistency in the navigation options and screen sequencing between programs or 'activity types'
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A 'Quick View' slide out on key objects to support quick access to a ‘dashboard’ display of collected data without having to fully 'open' the object
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Multiple screen placements for risk related information such as alerts, client warnings and external identifiers that connect clients across funding programs and support services
Figure 4
An example presentation by CSnet® of measurement survey instrument embedded into case management workflow for individual as well as group cohorts. CSnet® emails the survey instrument to beneficiaries and results are directly imported back into CSnet®.
Figure 5
An example of a client session scheduling by CSnet® with SMS reminder capability embedded as part of the case management workflow.
The advantage of using CSnet® is not only to reduce administrative time, but also reduce the risks of the transfer of highly sensitive client data. Each time sensitive client data is transferred from one system to another, manually, by email, or through third party software or synced plug-ins, it increases the risks of loss or disclosure of client data. The CSnet® approach avoids the need for multiple contracts with multiple vendors for a single solution – where each takes responsibility only for their separate parts of the way data is managed and transferred.
CSnet® has built a ‘library of data sets’ that comply with multiple government reporting requirements, and supports the data required for philanthropic and impact funders. The library of data sets is used as the foundation for building the CSnet® databases and data integrations to government reporting agencies or other external reporting platforms.
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(1) Michael Traill AM Chair, Expert Panel, Commonwealth Government’s Social Impact Investing Taskforce, RIAA Benchmarking Impact 2020
Figure 6
Build service delivery sequenced steps workflows for individuals and groups cohorts, with automated reminders and follow up notifications.