CharityBI - No code API for charity data
In today's tech-driven world, charities face the enormous challenge of joining up a variety of systems, platforms and marketing channels - often with limited support or developer time. Supporter details collected from a fundraising platform like JustGiving might need to be accessed later to say thank you via Mailchimp, for example. Or we might wish to consolidate our supporter details from Enthuse, and populate a .csv, or spreadsheet to be merged with our favourite CRM at a later time.
Joining systems, platforms and channels requires secure coded programs, or scripts, which extract data from one system, and make it available for use in another system. If we had to create these scripts from scratch, it would be both time consuming and costly in terms of developer time. Additionally, creating secure data handling scripts requires cooperation and communication from every party. Again, not the easiest of challenges.
With such a variety of systems needing to ‘talk’ to each other - many platforms provide off the shelf code snippets which are then further customised by developers to move data between systems. These are the APIs, or Application Programming Interfaces.
As digital transformation sweeps across all sectors, nonprofits too are realising the power of APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) in advancing their mission. But what if a charity doesn’t have unlimited tech team time, or would prefer to supplement the skills in-house to build and maintain APIs more efficiently? Enter the world of "no-code" platforms.
What is an API?
API is an acronym for Application Programming Interface. APIs help systems to talk to each other, and move data between different software applications.
What is a No-Code API?
CharityBI is an example of a no-code API solution, designed to connect the platforms that charities use in a very simple way.
A "no-code" platform or solution is a software application that allows users to achieve a specific goal without writing any code and therefore without the need for expensive technical developers. In the context of APIs, a no-code API will enable organisations to connect, retrieve, or send data between different software applications seamlessly without needing to write a single line of code!
For example, in the dashboard of CharityBI, importing data from a giving platform, and creating a view of that data in CharityBI, is as simple as dragging and dropping an icon from the target system into CharityBI. Data collected from the target platform can then be viewed inside CharityBI, or exported to a manageable .csv file.
Charities can easily connect various fundraising, communication and event platforms to CharityBI which then allows data to flow from those platforms into CharityBI. As the data flows into CharityBI it will be standardised and unified so that the data is more usable. After that, charities can easily push the collated data into a communications platform, for example, to deliver a particular email campaign to those supporters.
Why Do Charities Need No-Code APIs?
Streamlining Operations: Charities often use multiple tools for various functions – fundraising, volunteer management, event coordination, etc. Connecting these tools can significantly reduce administrative overhead and increase efficiency.
Cost Savings: Building and maintaining custom integrations can be expensive. With no-code solutions, nonprofits can save on the cost of hiring developers or buying expensive integration solutions.
Flexibility: As charity needs and systems change, charities can adjust their integrations using these platforms without going back to the drawing board.
Data-Driven Decisions: By centralising data from various sources, charities can gain insights that help in making informed decisions, from understanding donor behaviour to optimising campaign strategies.
Example of a no-code API for charities:
Connecting Donor Platforms with Communication Tools: A charity using a platform like GoFundMe can connect it to their Mailchimp email list. Whenever a new donation is made, donors that consent to hearing from you are automatically added to an email list, allowing the charity to send them thank-you notes or updates.
Charity BI Integrations:
JustGiving
Enthuse
CAF
Stripe
Mailchimp
DotDigital
Watch this space... CharityBI has many, many more integrations in the works!