TableauTableau Software announced that it is offering free licenses of its powerful visual analytics software available to small non-profits, NGOs, and charitable community-based organizations through the Tableau Foundation. The company has also created the Tableau Service Corps, a volunteer network of Tableau employees who are eager to help non-profits to see and understand their data.

“We started the Tableau Foundation with a mission to encourage the use of facts and analytical reasoning to solve the world’s problems,” said Neal Myrick, Director, Social Impact at Tableau. “By removing the barriers to entry, small non-profits can better manage programs, tell impactful stories, or increase the effectiveness of fundraising efforts through data.”

Considering that there are globally around 10 million non-profits and NGOs at work, and the fact that just a few of them are harnessing the vast volumes of data that exist in and around their work, Tableau’s venture is ingenious. Change-makers around the globe get a chance to learn that data is a powerful ally in their effort to create a better world. They will realize that data can have enormous value to their organizations, enabling them to increase transparency and accountability, expand their relationships with funders, discover new trends in their programs, and tell more powerful stories about their communities.

Tableau Desktop, for instance, is a drag-and-drop software that helps people to analyze and answer questions with data in real-time. Results can be shared with other Tableau Desktop users through the free Tableau Reader, or posted online with Tableau Public. Whoever wants more support can turn to the Tableau Service Corps. Regardless of organization size, a non-profit can request help on a data-focused project from one of the many volunteers listed on the Tableau Service Corps website.

While separate initiatives, the two programs are launched simultaneously so that any non-profit can use Tableau software and have access to experts who can help make the most of it. With the special offer, Tableau aims to fulfill the commitment it made to the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data in October 2015. At the launch event, Tableau pledged to make its business intelligence software available to small organizations in all non-embargoed countries to promote inclusiveness and data driven development in pursuit of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

To qualify for the software donation, organizations must be recognized as a charitable institution in their home country and have an annual operating budget under USD $5 million. Organizations of any size can request volunteers through the Tableau Service Corps.

To learn more about the Tableau for non-profits program and to obtain free Tableau software, please visit http://www.tableaufoundation.org/free. To book a Tableau Service Corps volunteer visit, https://servicecorps.tableaufoundation.org/browse.

The program is administered through TechSoup, a non-profit that offers free resources to non-profits and libraries and charges an administration fee to facilitate the product donation.

By MediaBUZZ