The actuarial services team at National Australia Bank (NAB) recently hosted a Hackathon volunteer day to give back to the community.
The actuarial services team at National Australia Bank (NAB) recently hosted a 'Hackathon' volunteer day to give back to the community. The aim was to utilise our analytical skills to solve problems for not-for-profit organisations. We were joined by individuals and representatives from four not-for-profit organisations, including:
Social Ventures Australia: which helps to create better education and employment outcomes for disadvantaged Australians;
Good Beginnings Australia: which provides support for a good beginning for every child;
Lifeline Australia: provides 24/7 crisis support and suicide prevention services;
Life Changing Experiences Foundation: providing youth support to Australia's most marginalised girls.
We also had on hand a science researcher studying the population of koalas in a rural area.
The problems were mostly solved utilising our spreadsheet and data skills. For example, we helped the organisations make better use of Excel and databases; provided different ways of adjusting koala population statistics; analysed funding arrangements from different not-for-profit programmes; collected data to analyse the success of a programme helping teenage girls; and analysed past fundraising campaigns using cost-benefit analysis.
The day was a great success and we are very pleased to see that our skills were of benefit for some really great causes.
The Hackathon day was made available through NAB's skilled volunteering programme offered to all employees and is a great example of how big organisations and professional people can participate and contribute to the community.
