The Masonic Charitable Foundation (MCF) provides grants to help families with living costs, medical or mental health care and educational support for young people. Their vision is a society where everyone can lead positive, active and fulfilling lives, especially those who are disadvantaged or marginalised. 

Problem

MCF needed a sustainable, long-term solution for reporting on the impact of their funding programme across the organisation. Specifically, they wanted a data dashboard to make reporting easier and more accessible. They asked for our support in two areas: 

  • a detailed analysis of the grant programme’s impact and the collection of data for the dashboard 
  • how to build staff capacity to handle future impact assessments.  

MCF wanted to be able to make data-driven decisions, improve the effectiveness of their charitable work and address essential knowledge gaps. 

Solution

The PBE team took the time to understand MCF’s requirements and matched them with an expert from one of our long-term corporate partners, FTI Consulting, as part of our Data First Aid service. 

Senior Consultant, Bori Toth led the project and was impressed with the extensive dataset on the impact of their grants as it provided an opportunity to work with rich, meaningful data.  

Bori produced a report summarising the findings from the grants data analysis and created an Excel dashboard for ongoing data tracking. This tool allows MCF to track and report on the impact of their grants more effectively.  

Bori stuck to clear timelines and maintained a structured, project-based approach that ensured smooth progress. As the project evolved, Bori and MCF demonstrated flexibility whilst maintaining this structured approach, which was essential to addressing emerging questions.  

Benefits

The Excel tool created by Bori has improved MCF’s ability to analyse results, measure success and make informed decisions about future grants and support. The tool helps MCF visualise outcomes such as recipient demographics and grant impact, and is a long-term solution for reporting on the impact of their funding. 

If you’re a grant-giving charity and want support from our volunteers, register now for our Data First Aid –it’s free!