It is not easy to do reporting for Housing programs. Whether it’s for Housing, Economic & Community Development, Housing Choice Vouchers, or Disaster Recovery & Mitigation, leaders who often find themselves overwhelmed by tasks, deadlines, and compliance are also expected to complete elaborate reporting charts and graphs to prove the quality and efficiency of their programs to stakeholders. Even in the non-profit sector with foundations, 501c3’s and NGO’s that are a lot less regulated than government, the need for reporting and accountability to donors still exists.
Executive directors and their deputies are tasked with accessing and navigating data and insights to make strategic, informed decisions. However, obtaining, managing, and analyzing data is often a time-consuming, laborious process that can be challenging to achieve efficiently.
This is when the need for a solution to easily showcase the hard work, milestones, and progress, using your data to tell a compelling story that does your program justice becomes crucial.
Neighborlytics is a Data as a Service (DaaS) solution that has been specifically designed to address these needs by offering a streamlined, end-to-end platform for HUD programs. It enables users to work with data seamlessly and efficiently, providing insights and reports that are visually appealing and easy to understand.
In this article, we will examine the key features and benefits of Neighborlytics, highlighting how it can unlock the power of data and transform decision-making and reporting for Housing & Urban Development programs.
Why we built it
Our motivation for creating this product stemmed from the lack of a comprehensive resource for our clients to effectively communicate the success of their disbursed federal funds and community impact. Existing solutions such as spreadsheets were cumbersome and difficult to understand, hampering the ability to showcase program value.
Additionally, the lack of real-time data updates posed a challenge, especially for larger communities requiring immediate access to updated information.
The power of Neighborlytics
Neighborlytics is a reporting feature that can be seamlessly integrated to your program management dashboard. It connects Snowflake (our data warehouse) with various reporting software, such as Power BI and Tableau allowing our Neighbors (Neighborly Software users) to create their own unique data pulls without delay. Any data that is collected in Neighborly Software can be pulled to build custom and embedded reports within the Neighborly Software portal (with Power BI) that will show up in Report Builder – expanding the capabilities of all reporting.
Create Beautiful Dashboards and Visualization Structures
Neighborlytics offers beautiful and robust visualizations for program data, enabling users to present their data easily and communicate their insights effectively. The product is equipped with a diverse array of presentation tools, including dashboards, graphs, charts, and other visualizations. These features allow Community Development departments to present data in a visually appealing format, providing stakeholders such as HUD, mayors’ offices, county commissioners, and community members an intuitive understanding of the data presented.
Real-time Data Integration and Web Population
Neighborlytics DaaS can integrate near-real-time data from City and County data sources directly onto the department’s website automatically. No manual updates needed! This provides more efficient data organization, eliminates the need for tedious manual updates, and allows for the easy showcasing of the organization’s achievements.
Automation of Reporting Tasks
Automation of reporting tasks is one of the core features of the Neighborlytics DaaS platform. The tool enables users to automate significant portions of the data gathering and reporting process. For instance, the tool can automatically export the reports generated in Neighborlytics through Snowflake Data Share or other reporting tools. This feature enables users to eliminate the potential for errors in data collection, which can be a significant issue when data is manually gathered from multiple sources.
Updated and Dynamic Reports
One of the most valuable benefits of Neighborlytics DaaS is that data can be generated through multiple sources. This means that reports are automatically updated in real-time without any additional effort required from the user, providing essential data for decision-making in almost real-time.
Integration with Additional Data Sources
Neighborlytics’ ability to integrate with additional data sources, including the use of APIs from HUD/DOL, enables the tool to augment program data with data from external systems, enriching the depth of program analysis. This integration opens doors to new data-driven possibilities for departments, presenting standard and previously unassociated data to users.
Case Study: Bernalillo County, NM
Bernalillo County, NM, is one illustration of how Neighborlytics is driving transformation in affordable housing departments. This jurisdiction needed a solution specifically for a) reporting on tables and b) dashboards and reports to showcase productivity – specifically for how long it took case managers to approve and disburse funds to applicants.
By working with Neighborlytics DaaS, the county was able to automate these tedious reporting tasks, enabling them to spend more time on their core purpose and less time gathering data.
This automation allowed them to present program data in an efficient and streamlined manner, evidencing the number of applicants receiving funds, ultimately leading to improved decision-making and results for the entire department.
Neighborlytics: Data as a Service for HUD
Neighborlytics is a powerful, user-friendly platform capable of transforming data reporting and analysis for affordable housing departments in city, county, and state government, as well as foundations and non-profits. Its visualizations and dashboards enable clear communication of program data to stakeholders, while the real-time updates and automation of reporting saves significant time and effort.
Furthermore, a wide range of data sources can be integrated with the platform, enabling holistic and data-driven decision-making. Community Development departments can rely on Neighborlytics DaaS to boost their data operations, streamline decision-making, and enhance overall performance.
We encourage you to explore Neighborlytics for your own organization and witness the data-led transformations firsthand.
