JCA helps many non-profits streamline their report writing process by creating custom reports.  Once they are written, clients can easily and quickly extract their data and subsequently produce reports with all of the necessary criteria.

Although most database systems come with certain ‘stock’ report formats, these frequently do not adequately meet an organization’s unique reporting requirements. Organizations will frequently produce reports manually through another application, such as Excel, because oftentimes the users do not have sufficient in-depth training to create custom reports in a particular report writer. In such cases, however, there is a significant chance for error as the data is often being hand entered into the spreadsheet. This also requires a significant investment in staff time, as opposed to running a report automatically that pulls the required information directly from the database.

In general, creating custom reports can be difficult for most end-users. Most of the time, users cannot simply pick the fields that they want to print on the report. Instead, they first have to identify the tables in which the fields reside and “join” these tables. Such steps are daunting for novice users and challenging even for intermediate users, as they require the user to understand at least some relational database theory.

JCA can help non-profit organizations improve the report writing process, as well as decrease the frequency of data entry errors, with our report creation services.  One specific focus of our report creation services is to provide organizations with “day-one” reports, which will be necessary to conduct business the day the organization goes live on a new system. In addition, we will create post-implementation reports based on further discussions with the staff. These reports need to be created in order quickly and effectively provide the organization with the ability to present critical data and use that data in a flexible and meaningful manner. Initially, we review the organization’s current required report formats, such as the selection criteria and layout, as well as discuss any special considerations. Subsequently, at our offices, we can create custom report formats in one of several well-known report writing applications.

We then follow up the reports development with periodic reviews, either on-site or via telephone and/or fax. Frequently, we will have an organization staff member work together with a JCA consultant. In this way, we can also train staff, as they can learn to create and maintain reports by working on relevant examples. As many of our consultants have Development backgrounds, we can also easily work with staff to design report formats that are meaningful and intuitive.

Hear what Phoenix House Foundation had to say about JCA's Report Writing Services

Learn more about JCA's popular Report Writing Services for Raiser's Edge® and PledgeMaker fundraising database systems.

The marks Blackbaud® and The Raiser's Edge® are registered trademarks of Blackbaud, Inc.  Jacobson Consulting Applications Inc. is an independent consulting firm and as such is neither sponsored nor endorsed by Blackbaud, Inc.