For over 80 years, Catholic Relief Services has been dedicated to aiding impoverished and disadvantaged individuals worldwide. Guided by Catholic social teaching, their mission upholds the sacredness of human life and the dignity of every person. While rooted in Catholic faith, their services are offered based solely on need, irrespective of race, religion, or ethnicity. Today, CRS has grown to reach over 200 million people across more than 100 countries on five continents.
With Salesforce and Amp Impact, CRS can track results across 625 projects in 78+ countries, gaining a unified view of progress and impact annually; enhance its ability to assess global performance in key areas by improving the measurement of 25 selected indicators; and aggregate data from various projects to produce two global results reports, a Power BI dashboard, and a video highlighting the final results for each indicator.
The Start of Our Journey Together
Before this partnership, no central portfolio performance data existed across CRS’s 625 projects and 78+ countries. Assessing, analyzing, and reporting on global program impact was difficult due to fragmented data, and a lack of ownership led to scattered indicator selection and review processes.
A Centralized System for Global Reporting
CRS implemented Amp Impact for indicators and results, Power BI for data visualization, and Salesforce for program management — designed to ensure consistent reporting and efficiently aggregated data that provides clear insights into CRS’s global impact, and to foster collaboration across teams, countries, and themes.
Vera and CRS held a discovery and design workshop to gather requirements, then integrated Amp Impact with a Salesforce-based project management system to capture and manage project and country-level results across all 625 projects. The team customized a catalog of 25 standardized indicators in Amp Impact to ensure accurate data aggregation, and used Power BI to visualize and analyze the consolidated data.
“Storing information in a fragmented way is like having a car in the garage but never taking it for a drive—you have the asset, but it’s not serving its purpose. With Amp Impact, we’ve created a centralized platform that allows country programs to input data and effectively track and analyze their outcomes at local, regional, and global levels.”
– Alvaro Cobo, Senior Advisor, MEAL/ICT
Benefits and What's Next
Today, CRS’s reports cover an extensive portfolio across regions, with results aggregated to monitor progress toward strategic objectives and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Performance is tracked through key indicators for consistent reporting, efficient data consolidation, and clear insights into global impact. Global teams can seamlessly access and share information, including stakeholder data, while MEL teams conduct in-depth analysis and visualize data effectively to support strategic decision-making.
The next step will involve IATI reporting, enhancing transparency with clear, standardized data on resource allocation.