Better Data, Better Outcomes: How the Alannah & Madeline Foundation Built a Stronger Evidence Base for Children
Learn how the Foundation worked with Infoxchange to strengthen its approach to data.
As the demand for evidence-based decision-making grows across the not-for-profit sector, the Alannah & Madeline Foundation is strengthening its ability to understand, demonstrate and improve its impact through a more strategic approach to data.
Supporting Children Through Better Evidence
For more than three decades, the Alannah & Madeline Foundation (AMF) has worked to keep children and young people safe from violence and trauma, helping them build strong futures through prevention, care and advocacy programs. To continue delivering meaningful outcomes at scale, the Foundation recognised that it needed stronger visibility of its impact and a more consistent way of using data across the organisation.
"Like many not-for-profits, we had valuable information across multiple programs, teams and systems, but it wasn't always easy to connect the dots. We knew there was an opportunity to use data more strategically to understand and demonstrate our impact." – Alyshia Borggreve, Head of Digital Transformation at Alannah & Madeline Foundation
Staff collect data every day to support reporting, evaluate programs, engage stakeholders and demonstrate impact, but bringing that information together often required significant manual effort. Different teams used different systems and processes, making it difficult to create a complete organisational picture. Working with sensitive child, community and school data involved keeping data confidential, separate and safe, but this also created ‘visibility’ problems – where the data from different programs could not easily be accessed internally to help coordinate analytics and insights.
At the same time, expectations from funders, partners and leadership were increasing. Decisions about program effectiveness, investment priorities and organisational performance needed to be supported by reliable evidence. The Foundation wanted to move towards using data more strategically to better understand what was working, where resources should be focused and how outcomes for children could be strengthened. Their internal dashboards now allow staff in each program to stay up to date on how they are tracking, moving their strong internal data culture to the next stage and preparing for automation and AI. This is a critical ethical and operational foundation to deliver on future innovation that is built on trustworthy data.
Creating a Single Source of Truth
Working with Infoxchange and together with Microsoft through the Data Catalyst Network (DCN), the Foundation began a journey to improve how data was managed, governed and used across the organisation.
Rather than attempting to merge every operational system into a single platform, Chris (Microsoft) helped guide the project towards creating a trusted analytical environment that could bring together the information needed for reporting, decision-making and impact measurement. This approach allows specialist systems to continue supporting day-to-day operations while providing leaders with a consistent view of organisational performance.
The benefits of bringing data together in one place are significant. Staff spend less time searching for information, reconciling reports and validating figures. Reporting becomes more consistent, insights become more accessible and teams can focus more energy on delivering services and less on assembling data.
Building Trust Through Governance
A key outcome of the project was the development of a data governance framework that clearly defines how data is owned, managed and protected across the organisation. This is where the DCN guidance was pivotal in tailoring a process based on deep NFP experience.
The framework established clear responsibilities for:
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Executive Data Owners, who are accountable for organisational data policies and risk management.
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Domain Data Owners, responsible for data within areas such as Programs, Fundraising and People & Finance.
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An Enterprise Data Steward, responsible for maintaining common standards, definitions and data quality practices.
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Team Data Stewards, who ensure data is captured consistently and accurately within their areas.
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A Data Governance Group, which coordinates decisions and resolves cross-organisational issues.
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The IT and Digital Team, which provides the technical infrastructure and security controls that support governance.
This structure helps embed accountability throughout the organisation, ensuring that data quality becomes part of everyday work rather than the responsibility of a single team.
"We've moved from spending time finding and validating information to focusing on what the data is telling us. That shift gives us greater confidence in our decisions and ultimately helps us deliver stronger outcomes for the children, young people and communities we serve," shared Alyshia.
Putting People at the Centre
One of the most important lessons from the project was that successful governance starts with people.
A staff survey found that while most employees regularly work with data, many felt they wanted better access to the information they needed to demonstrate organisational impact. Staff also identified opportunities to strengthen data literacy, reporting skills and governance knowledge.
The project also established a comprehensive data inventory, providing visibility of what data exists across the organisation, where it is stored, and how it supports the Foundation's strategic priorities.
By involving staff in the design of governance processes, the Foundation is creating a culture where data quality is a shared responsibility. When teams understand how their data contributes to organisational outcomes, they are more likely to adopt consistent practices, identify quality issues early and trust the information used in decision-making.
Creating a Foundation for Future Insight
Supported by Microsoft Fabric and Purview, the Foundation's data architecture is laying the groundwork for improved data quality monitoring, lineage tracking and organisational reporting. These capabilities will help leaders better understand program performance, identify trends and make more informed decisions with confidence.
For the Alannah & Madeline Foundation, this new work expands on their evidence base, helping to more clearly to show the impact of their work on the children, families and schools they serve, continuously improve services and ensure that every decision contributes to better outcomes for children and young people.