October 31, 2025 by Nivedita Desai, – Managing Trustee Animedh Charitable Trust (ACT)
At Animedh Charitable Trust (ACT) our mission is to empower underserved communities through education, health, and livelihood programmes. As our work expanded, we realised our data systems needed to evolve too. Managing information through paper forms and spreadsheets had become time-consuming and prone to errors — affecting our ability to make timely, data-driven decisions. That’s when we began our journey to seek an optimal data management solution. We reached out to experienced partner NGOs to understand how they had transitioned to more effective digital data management system in a cost-optimal way. After several consultations, we were referred to Samanvay Foundation and we began to explore Avni, Samanvay Foundation’s open-source platform designed for field data collection and management in the social sector.
When we came across Samanvay Foundation’s Avni platform, it immediately felt like the right fit. Avni was built for organisations like ours — designed for field realities, capable of working offline, powerful to support complex data structures and flexible enough to adapt to different programmes. Secondly, they understood our budget constraints as we were hesitant to seek funds for data management, or increase administrative overheads.
The Avni team guided us through onboarding and training with patience and care. Even our field staff who had little prior exposure to digital tools quickly learned to use the smart phone based app — thanks to its simple design and support for regional languages.
Like many NGOs, we operate with limited resources and technical capacity. To make the most of Avni within our means, we adopted a hybrid model — using self-service for simpler configurations and relying on the Avni team for more complex setups.
This approach allowed us to manage costs while still building in-house capability. With Samanvay’s guidance, our staff grew more confident in using and maintaining the platform independently. With increased confidence in data technology for measuring project outcomes, we secured funding to support its use.
Once Avni was fully rolled out, the impact was visible almost immediately. Our field officers began entering beneficiary details, service updates, and community feedback directly on their phones. No more stacks of paper or delays in compiling reports. For the first time, our management team could view live dashboards showing exactly what was happening on the ground. Decisions that once took weeks could now be made in real time.
We saw improvements across the board:
1. Faster processes: – data collation and reporting time dropped drastically.
2. Greater accuracy: – direct entry meant fewer errors.
3. Better transparency: – funders could see verified impact data.
4. More empowered staff: – – field teams felt confident using technology.
Like any big change, our transition wasn’t without challenges. There was initial hesitation from field staff and some technical learning curves. But with ongoing support from Samanvay and continuous learning, our team adapted quickly. We also onboarded a Programme Lead, an M&E expert, and a Data Officer — a move that enabled capacity building and improved data alignment, and ensured that every insight we gathered was both accurate and actionable.
Our experience with Avni has shown us how powerful the right technology can be when aligned with community needs. Today, we’re exploring even more ways to use digital tools for impact measurement and programme management.
For ACT, Avni has not just digitised data — it has strengthened our foundation for impact through greater efficiency and transparency.
We believe that the future of social work lies in leveraging such platforms to drive data-driven action and scale our reach. We look forward to deepening our collaboration with Samanvay and continuing on our journey of digital transformation in the social sector.
Animedh Charitable Trust (ACT) works to improve the lives of children, youth, and women in vulnerable communities by providing education, healthcare, and livelihood support. We offer early childhood development, mental health initiatives, scholarships for girls, leadership and sports programs for youth, and vocational training, digital literacy, financial awareness, entrepreneurship, and WASH support for women. ACT has been working since 2012 on children’s education and women empowerment in Maharashtra. In 2017, we started rural outreach in the vulnerable tribal communities in 4 panchayats across Dadra & Nagar Haveli (DNH) through direct intervention programs like Project Nanhe Kadam - Early childhood development and disabilities support; Projects Mehek and Mantrana - Community mental health and emotional well-being of the children, youth and women of DNH.