AidHub Executive Summary v3.0 - LF

© Copyright 2017 AidHub International Ltd | aidhub.org

A Commercially Sustainable N.G.O

1 © Copyright 2017 AidHub International Ltd | aidhub.org

Why AidHub?

What is AidHub?

The world has united to positively transform our planet with world leaders and organisations committed to achieving the 17 Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. But how?

We are all aware that the world is facing a myriad of mounting human and environmental challenges. There is increasing evidence that these challenges will escalate beyond our capacity to address.

AidHub is an online project management platform, available to all users for free. It empowers every aid, development and nonprofit organisation of any size or complexity to easily and effectively plan, manage, implement, monitor, analyse and report on every level of their operations.

Scoring and ranking systems help measure excellence and drive improvement, while its collaboration and knowledge sharing functions ensure worlds’ best practice is present throughout, leading to better outcomes and greater impact and giving all organisations the highest prospects of success.

In an ideal world these challengeswould be easily resolved.

In an ideal world every organisation would have free access to information about which solutions work best. They would collaborate to gain cost benefits and efficiencies and instantly adopt the most effective technologies to achieve the best possible outcomes for mankind and our planet. Unfortunately we live in a world that is far from ideal.

Numerous studies have shown inefficiencies in delivery of both government and NGO programs and mechanisms. If just one cent in every aid dollar could be eliminated from administration costs, it could be immediately redeployed as aid. In a USD 3tn industry, that equates to USD 30bn extra direct aid and development funding.

Imagine if there were one technology which could help every organisation reach their goals and achieve greater impact faster, more efficiently, and with significantly improved outcomes. AidHub delivers that.

AidHub delivers five key benefits for the world’s four million overburdened NGOs:

1. Increased effectiveness 2. Improved efficiency 3. Enhanced transparency 4. Guaranteed security and privacy 5. Greater outcomes and improved impact measurement

2© Copyright 2017 AidHub International Ltd | aidhub.org

Increased EffectivenessEffectiveness is defined as the capability of producing a desired result. When something is deemed effective it has an intended or expected outcome. Sadly, there are endless examples of ineffective delivery of aid programs. That doesn’t mean that all aid efforts do not produce good outcomes, it just points to the intrinsic value to the world community of trying to increase effectiveness.

The question we must keep asking is:

“Is the money getting where it is needed, and are the results as intended?”

AidHub is uniquely designed as a globally ubiquitous platform for all organisations.

Within AidHub all programs have a plan that outlines the type of program initiative, the time frames, budgets, the number of intended recipients, the desired outcomes, and the agreed measures of success (KPIs) and organisational structure.

This plan is tracked throughout the life of the program, greatly increasing the prospect of the money reaching its intended destination, and identifying when it doesn’t, enhancing outcomes.

AidHub provides a common and collaborative framework that scales from the simplest (and smallest) aid programs through to the largest, most complex multinational, cross-sector, multi-level nonprofit programs.

The effectiveness question applies equally to a directly funded, small program run bylocal aid or field agents (something like an orphanage), as it does to a government sponsored, multi-level infrastructure program (such as establishing secure and clean water supply in multiple communities and nations).

The only difference between these two dimensions for the AidHub platform, is the scale – AidHub can handle both, and everything in between.

AidHub can help governments and NGOs

increase effectiveness through repeatable

frameworks of world’s best practice.


Improved EfficiencyEfficiency is defined as the measurable ability to avoid wasting materials, energy, efforts, money, and time in doing something or in producing a desired result. In a more general sense, it is the ability to do things well, successfully, and without waste. As we indicated, if just one cent in every aid dollar could be saved in each of the four million NGOs, the value of the extra aid dollars in our industry would be USD 30bn, year on year. So, the question to ask in considering the delivery of aid is:

“Are the prospective results being achieved with concise effort and least expense?”

Clearly, all other things being equal, funders will not support programs that are markedly less efficient, that have excessive overheads or that do not deliver the desired outcomes.

Given the scarcity and highly competitive nature of funding, it is in the best interests of all parties to be aware of benchmarked world’s best practice and to do whatever is necessary to meet or exceed those standards, driving down expenses and ensuring concise effort. This will be greatly enhanced by the collaborative nature of AidHub.

Accurately comparing programs with similar objectives operating in different regimes and with different structures and methods is certain to highlight best and worst practice. In addition, comparing programs with different objectives may still lead to useful insights and best practice.

AidHub is designed to provide these benchmarks at all levels of programs. It is its stated purpose and is the key outcome from working within a common framework.


AidHub will improve efficiency through capturing

outcomes and costs, and identifying the best uses

of scarce resources in delivering programs.


Enhanced TransparencyTransparency implies openness, communication, and accountability. Transparency is operating in such a way that it is easy to see what actions are performed and has been defined simply as “the perceived quality of intentionally shared information.” When applying the concept to aid services, the question to be asked is:

“Are there common standards of reporting that correctly identify what is happening? Is accountability traceable and auditable?”

AidHub encourages all funded programs to conform to common global accounting standards (IFRS or GAAP), as well as AidHub’s performance measurement standards.

It is becoming increasingly common practice that most funders will insist upon compliance with these global standards.

What that means in practice is that all money and transactions should be recorded and traceable and that all relevant KPIs are measured and reported on time, as determined in the program’s previously approved plan. Decisions leading to changes in scope, outcome or KPIs will be recorded. All this data is visible internally to the organisation and, optionally, externally to authorised parties.

AidHub automatically provides the tools to record and measure transactions. For many of the smaller programs, these tools will be delivered via simple smartphone apps and records of source documents (converted into digital data where required), all linked to AidHub accounts.

For large programs, AidHub provides ERP and supply chain management functionality for transparent and efficient procurement.

AidHub provides a system for a funder and a given aid, CSR or nonprofit organisation to agree on the minimal reporting standards required, with the default standards AidHubprovides optionally being used as required to ensure optimum transparency and easy oversight. The results can easily be audited, in conformance with the funding agreement between the funder and the aid, CSR or nonprofit organisation.

AidHub fosters greater

accountability as every

single action in the system

is tracked and the identity of

the user carrying them out

is stored. Measurement and

transparency is created

automatically.


Guaranteed Security and PrivacyThe security and privacy of information is the practice of preventing unauthorised access, use, disclosure, disruption, modification, recording or destruction of information. It has become more and more critical as every year passes and as more is stored in the ubiquitous cloud.

For aid organisations, the question is:

“Are the interests of all related parties safeguarded and protected against hostile governments and other bodies, organised crime, and any other potentially conflicted parties?”

It is an unfortunate aspect of the nonprofit industry that many vested interests, whether within the industry and its communities, tangentially connected to it, or outside of it, can benefit from a lack of accountability and traceability of sponsored funds. They may even see value in keeping the disadvantaged at a disadvantage, whether through putting short-term financial profit over long-term gains in stability, growth, educational advancement, continual improvements or solutions or exploitation over nurture.

AidHub will be a system for tracking and managing significant funding and information. The security and privacy standards within the AidHub platform will be world class, managed aggressively, proactively and supported by the highest standard of security certification.

Members of AidHub will be able to choose the exact level of privacy and security they require, even holding their own data on their own servers, inviolate from other parties.

AidHub will provide industry leading, secure communications between users based on modern standards of encryption and security.

By providing this security and

protection AidHub will go a long way

to ensuring sponsored funds go where

they are intended without risk,

subversion or corruption, providing

the necessary trust to all users and

stakeholders involved.


The measurement of outcomes and impact is the process, judged by performance measures and targets, of achieving an outcome of change or transformation.

The question to ask here is:

“Is it possible to easily and accuratelymeasure the outcomes and impacts of all Program Initiatives to enable comparison of what’s working best?”

AidHub will provide extensive libraries of Program templates for users. When an aid organisation begins writing a Program Proposal, all necessary data to produce outcomes and impact measurement reports that align with expectations of organisations such as the World Bank, Asia Development Bank and the United Nations will be available to the user to allow best practice knowledge to be fully incorporated.

This will provide the basis for accurate comparative reporting on best practice outcomes across the global spectrum of Programs, thus driving the capacity for continual improvement.

The foundation of AidHub is the sharing and adoption of world’s best practice. The better identification of what has succeeded and how, through improved impact measurement, will ensure better outcomes.

Greater Outcomes and Improved Impact Measurement

AidHub’s advanced internal and

organisation-based reporting, ranking

and scoring systems will assist the

user to more easily and accurately

measure the outcomes and impacts

of Program Initiatives, and the

AidHub search and compare system

will allow for ready comparison of

similar or broadly different initiatives,

driving greater outcomes.

© Copyright 2017


Supporting a Sustainable Future

Alan Morgan | Founder & CEO

w: aidhub.org e: [email protected]: +62 82 147 244 339 - +61 3 9016 8991a: AidHub International Limited, Level 3, 552 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne Victoria 3000

AidHub

Documents

AidHub Executive Summary v3.0 - LF