Creating a dashboard

Prerequisites

To assist with your learning, it is recommended that you first read Benevity Reporting: Basics. To learn how to create custom measures, read Creating Custom Fields and Measures.

What is a dashboard?

Dashboard: A collection of ad hoc views, charts and reports displayed together to provide a comprehensive visual representation of data in a summarized and consumable format.

Create a donations and volunteering dashboard for your program

In the following example, we will show you how to display the multiple visualizations of donations and volunteering performance related to your program, all within a single dashboard view.

In Benevity Reporting, you can create an interactive dashboard to gain insights on various aspects of your program within a single view. In the steps below, you’ll start by creating a dashboard template, followed by adding new or existing content to the dashboard and then adding filters.

Creating a dashboard

  1. Under the Create dropdown in the menu bar, select Dashboard.

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You will now be in the dashboard editor, which will allow you to build your dashboard with various content elements including new or existing ad hocs, crosstabs, charts, tables, text boxes, web page links and images.

The dashboard editor

On the left-hand pane of the dashboard editor are listings of New Content and Existing Content you can add to the dashboard. You can drag and drop new or existing content items onto the canvas area to the right. You can scroll through the list of existing content or use the search bar in the existing content section in the left-hand pane to search for an ad hoc or a report that has already been created.

  • New Content: Includes new ad hoc charts, crosstabs, tables, text boxes, web page links and images to add to your dashboard.
  • Existing Content: Includes existing ad hocs and reports that you can add to your dashboard.

The icons to the left of the Existing Content items indicate whether the content is an ad hoc (blue icon) or a report (green icon).

In the middle of the screen, you’ll see the dashboard preview and design area, which is called the canvas. You can drag and drop content items onto the canvas, which then become dashlets as part of the dashboard. Above the canvas you’ll see the button bar.

To the far right you’ll see a dropdown button to switch between the Editing view for designing the dashboard and the Viewing view for previewing the dashboard.

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Adding a wireframe

To help you conceptualize the design of your dashboard, try creating a wireframe template of the dashboard first.

Creating a wireframe is not required to build a dashboard in Benevity Reporting, but it may help you determine the layout, spacing and location of the various dashlets (content items) on the dashboard.

1. From the New Content section on the left-hand pane, drag and drop a text item onto the canvas and enter Title as the Dashlet Text.

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2. A new text box dashlet will appear on the canvas with Title in the text. Click on the dashlet to select it. A blue border will appear when it is selected. You can then resize the dashlet by clicking on the blue border and adjusting it.

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3. Continue to add new text box dashlets to the canvas, naming and resizing the boxes like in the example below. The following shows an example of the completed wireframe template for the dashboard.

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Save your dashboard

1. Select the Save icon in the button bar.

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2. Select Save Dashboard and save the dashboard as Donations and Volunteering Dashboard.

3. Expand the folders to select your folder location and select Save.

 

Update the title on the dashboard

1. Right-click the Title text box dashlet on the canvas and click Properties.

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2. Update the Text to: Donations and Volunteering Dashboard.

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3. In the Formatting tab:

a. change the Font to Georgia

b. change the Size to 16

c. change the Style to bold (B)

d. change the Alignment to center and middle

e. change the Text Color to Blue Hex #3E31C5

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4. Click OK.

Create the ad hoc views and ad hoc charts

In this section, we’ll be creating six ad hoc charts including custom measures to be used as dashlets on the dashboard.

Donors by month

1. Create a new ad hoc view using the Transactions, Causes and Users data source.

2. Add the following Filters for:

a. Transaction Type = Donation

b. Year (UTC) = 2021

c. Office Location = Select All

3. Click Apply.

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4. Click the three vertical dots icon next to Measures in the left-hand pane and select Create a Calculated Measure.

5. Create a Calculated Measure named Donors using System User Count.

6. Click Validate and then click Create Measure.

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7. Change the Calculation on the Summary Calculation tab to Count Distinct.

8. Click Create Measure.

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9. Add the new calculated measure Donors to the Columns and then the Month (UTC) to the Rows.

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10. Click the bar graph icon on the button bar.

11. Under Select Visualization Type choose the Column chart.

12. Click Apply and Close.

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13. In the right-hand pane under Data Level, move the slider all the way to the right to change the data level from Year to Months.

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14. Click the gear icon at the top left of the chart and select Chart Format….

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15. On the Labels tab, set the Legend position to None to remove the legend.

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16. On the Appearance tab, click Add Series Color and enter Hex #417505 for Green.

17. Click OK.

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18. Click the Save icon in the button bar.

19. Save the ad hoc to a folder in the repository as Chart Donors by Month.

20. Click Save.

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User donations by month

1. Open the ad hoc called Chart Donors by Month created in the previous section.

2. Save a copy of the ad hoc by clicking the Save icon on the button bar and selecting Save Ad Hoc View As…. Save the ad hoc as Chart User Donations by Month into the same folder.

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3. Click the three vertical dots icon next to Measures in the left-hand pane and select Create a Calculated Measure.

4. Create a Calculated Measure for Total User Donation Amount (USD).

5. Click Validate and then click Create Measure.

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6. Remove Donors from the Columns and add Total User Donation Amount (USD).

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7. Click the bar chart icon on the button bar.

8. Under Select Visualization Type, change it to a Spline chart.

9. Click Apply and Close.

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10. Select the Save icon in the button bar.

11. Click Save Ad Hoc View.

User donations by office location

1. Open the ad hoc called Chart User Donations by Month created in the previous section.

2. Save a copy of the ad hoc by selecting Save As. Save the ad hoc as Chart User Donations by Office Location into the same folder.

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3. Remove Months (UTC) from the Rows and add Office Location.

Note: Office Location is a common custom field clients send to us on their demographic file; however, this field can be substituted for one of your own useful custom fields to use in the ad hoc and the dashboard.

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4. Click the bar chart icon on the button bar.

5. Under Select Visualization Type, change to Crosstab.

6. Click Apply and Close.

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7. Right-click on the column header for Total User Donation Amount (USD) in the crosstab and select Filter Top N Values….

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8. Filter the Top N Values to show the Top 10 Values with a separate group for the Others.

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9. Click the bar chart icon on the button bar.

10. Under Select Visualization Type select the Bar chart.

11. Click Apply and Close.

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12. Select the Save icon in the button bar.

13. Click Save Ad Hoc View.

Volunteers by month

1. Open the ad hoc called Chart Donors by Month created in the earlier section.

2. Save a copy of the ad hoc by selecting Save As. Save the ad hoc as Chart Volunteers by Month into the same folder.

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3. Click the three vertical dots icon next to Measures in the left-hand pane and select Create a Calculated Measure.

4. Create a calculated measure for Volunteers using System User Count.

5. Click Validate and then click Create Measure.

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6. Change the calculation on the Summary Calculation tab to Count Distinct.

7. Click Create Measure.

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8. Remove Donors and add Volunteers to the Columns.

9. Under Filters change the Transaction Type to Volunteering.

10. Click Apply.

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11. Click the gear icon to the top left of the chart and select Chart Format….

12. On the Appearance tab, click Add Series Color and enter Hex #4A90E2 for Blue.

13. Click OK.

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14. Select the Save icon in the button bar.

15. Click Save Ad Hoc View.

Volunteer hours by month

1. Open the ad hoc called Chart Volunteers by Month created in the previous section.

2. Save a copy of the ad hoc by selecting Save As. Save the ad hoc as Chart Volunteer Hours by Month into the same folder.

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3. Remove Total User Donation Amount (USD) from the Columns and add User Time Volunteered (hours).

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4. Select the Save icon in the button bar.

5. Click Save Ad Hoc View.

Volunteer hours by office location

1. Open the ad hoc called Chart Volunteer Hours by Month created in the previous section.

2. Save a copy of the ad hoc by selecting Save As. Save the ad hoc as Chart Volunteer Hours by Office Location into the same folder.

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3. Remove Months (UTC) from the Rows and add Office Location.

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4. Click the bar chart icon on the button bar.

5. Under Select Visualization Type, change to Crosstab.

6. Click Apply and Close.

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7. Right-click on the column header for User Time Volunteered (hours) in the crosstab and select Filter Top N Values….

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8. Filter the Top N Values to show the Top 10 Values with a separate group for the Others.

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9. Click the bar chart icon on the button bar.

10. Under Select Visualization Type change to a Bar chart.

11. Click Apply and Close.

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12. Select the Save icon in the button bar.

13. Click Save Ad Hoc View.

Add the ad hoc charts to the dashboard

1. Open the dashboard. Make sure you are in the Editing view by choosing Editing in the dropdown selection to the right of the screen.

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2. Right-click on the Donors by Month text box dashlet on the dashboard and choose Delete.

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3. In the list of Existing Content in the left-hand pane, search for the Donors by Month ad hoc.

4. Drag and drop the ad hoc onto the empty Donors by Month section on the dashboard.

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5. Repeat steps 2–4 for the remaining five ad hocs.

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Save your dashboard

1. Select the Save icon in the button bar.

2. Click Save Dashboard.

Add filters to the dashboard

Similar to using filters within an ad hoc view, filters can be used within a dashboard.

When adding ad hocs to a dashboard as dashlets, the filters from these ad hocs can be applied as filters for the dashboard. This gives you the ability to filter the results of multiple dashlets on the dashboard by using one set of filters.

At the bottom of the left-hand pane you will see a section for Filters. This section lists all the filters that have been included with the various ad hocs associated with the dashlets on the dashboard.These filters can be identified by the funnel icon to the left of each filter name.

1. Select the Year (UTC) filter from the Chart Donors by Month ad hoc in the Filters section in the left-hand pane.

2. Drag and drop it into the filter wireframe section on the right of the dashboard. You will see the Year (UTC) filter appear.

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3. Select the Office Location filter from the Chart Donors by Month ad hoc in the Filters section in the left-hand pane. Drag and drop it into the filter wireframe section on the right of the dashboard. You will see the Office Location filter appear.

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4. Delete the remaining filter wireframe text box below the filters you just added.

5. Click on the dashlet containing the filters above and change the size of the dashlet by adjusting the blue borders.

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6. Right-click in the dashlet containing the filters and select Properties….

7. Click the Show Reset Button checkbox to display the Reset button on the dashlet containing the filters. This will allow you to reset your filters to their defaults.

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8. Click the Select Parameter Mapping Dialog icon on the button bar. Here you can associate a specific filter to multiple dashlets. You will see that the Year (UTC) filter and the Office Location filter are already mapped to the Chart Donors by Month dashlet.

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9. In the Office Location filter section:

a. click the + button

b. map the Dashlet Affected as the Chart User Donations by Office Location to the Filter/Parameter Affected = Office Location filter

c. map the Dashlet Affected as the Chart Volunteer Hours by Office Location to the Filter/Parameter Affected = Office Location filter

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10. In the Year (UTC) filter section:

a. Click the + button 5 times

b. map the Dashlet Affected as the Chart Donors by Month to the Filter/Parameter Affected = Year (UTC) filter

c. map the Dashlet Affected as the Chart User Donations by Month to the Filter/Parameter Affected = Year (UTC) filter

d. map the Dashlet Affected as the Chart User Donations by Office Location to the Filter/Parameter Affected = Year (UTC) filter

e. map the Dashlet Affected as the Chart Volunteers by Month to the Filter/Parameter Affected = Year (UTC) filter

f. map the Dashlet Affected as the Chart Volunteer Hours by Month to the Filter/Parameter Affected = Year (UTC) filter

g. map the Dashlet Affected as the Chart Volunteer Hours by Office Location to the Filter/Parameter Affected = Year (UTC) filter

The completed mapping is displayed below.

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11. Click OK. Your Year (UTC) and Office Location filters on your dashboard will now interact with their corresponding dashlets on the dashboard.

12. Change the view to Viewing and test the filters. You will see the output of the dashlets change as the filters are adjusted and applied, similar to the filters used in an ad hoc view.

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Save your dashboard

1. Select the Save icon in the button bar.

2. Congratulations! You have now completed the creation of your dashboard!

 

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