IBM employees have donated many hours helping staff at participating agencies create Olmsted Connect cards for clients. Use of the cards has reduced wait time at a participating food shelf from as long as 90 minutes down to five.
MCF members IBM Corporation and United Way of Olmsted County , plus other nonprofit partners, have created a Community Information Sharing System (CISS) that has truly changed how social services are delivered in southeastern Minnesota.
Before implementation of the system, it was nearly impossible for funders and nonprofits to know if one client was being served many times or if many clients had each been served once. Assessing the true level of support was extremely difficult.
Since implementation of the system, clients provide their basic information one time. After that, they swipe their new Olmsted Connect card, which identifies them to 20 participating social service agencies and tracks any services they receive.
The cloud-based CISS stores the collected data, and a variety of data-rich reports can be generated by any participating organization and by the community as a whole.
Read more about the remarkable productivity gains experienced by participating nonprofits in the summer issue of Giving Forum. The issue, which is online and in your mailbox now, features many articles about collaboration between organizations, across sectors and around the state.
- Susan Stehling, MCF communications associate
