Enabling Data-Driven Decision Making for Student Exchange Programs
- Status
- Team Selection: Apply now!
- Project Period
- June 2026 – January 2027 (planned)
- Partner
Project description
The Challenge
As an established civil society organization, YFU has been organizing student exchanges to and from Germany for nearly 70 years. Due to the increasingly tense global political situation and aggressively competing commercial players in the market, it has become harder to attract young people and their families to education-oriented, non-profit student exchanges.
To guide the association safely through these challenging times, YFU's leadership needs relevant and up-to-date data, facts, and insights to understand where YFU stands — and to make operational and strategic decisions for the future based on these insights.
As a digitally operating organization, YFU theoretically has the data it needs. However, it is not sufficiently systematically prepared or analyzed to serve as a decision-making basis. There is also no central location where data is available, and no agreed-upon single source of truth. This leads to significant effort for everyone involved — reconciling data, compiling reports, manual analysis, and so on.
The Project
The project will develop a dashboard in Power BI that helps YFU gain better data-driven decision-making foundations with regard to the following strategic questions:
- How well is YFU reaching its target audience for the exchange program? How effective is YFU's communication through to the point of initial registration?
- What is the state of the exchange market and YFU's market position?
- How well does the funnel work from initial registration through to contract signing? Where are people dropping off? Which countries are seeing less or more demand?
The project includes:
- Developing and defining KPIs together with the YFU team
- Evaluating and integrating relevant data sources (social media channels, website analytics, intranet), setting up (semi-)automated processes to build a single source of truth
- Designing and implementing the dashboard
- Documentation and empowerment of YFU to transfer the developed approaches to other areas, data sources, and questions
The project is divided into project areas described in more detail below.
Impact
The dashboard gives YFU's leadership the data foundation needed to make data-driven decisions for steering the organization's work.
Specifically, the insights will help:
- Improve communications and thereby attract more people to exchanges
- Better understand and improve YFU's market position
- Better understand the current needs of the target audience and align YFU's offerings and positioning accordingly
This enables YFU to gain stability and flexibility even in challenging times, ensuring that many young people can continue to benefit from a pedagogically supported exchange experience — one that not only strengthens individual personal development, but also contributes to an open, future-oriented society.
By empowering YFU to transfer the established structures and processes to other areas over time, the project's impact extends beyond the immediate use case and enables holistic, data-driven organizational management.
Timeline
- Until 25 May 2026: Applications open
- Until 5 June 2026: Team selection
- 5–16 June 2026: Onboarding
- 16 June 2026, 6–8 PM: Kickoff (online)
- Project duration: through January 2027
Project areas
PA1: Key Metrics / KPIs & Data Basis
Goal: Define what is measured and why.
Tasks (together with YFU):
- Identify concrete, decision-relevant questions based on strategic objectives
- Define suitable KPIs, optionally with target values
- Prioritize: Which metrics are most important? How do they become decision-relevant?
Outputs:
- Prioritized list / dictionary of concrete questions and matching KPIs (definition, calculation logic, data source)
PA2: Data Basis & Governance
Goal: Evaluate available data, data workflows, and agree on data source(s) for KPIs.
Tasks:
- Review data sources for quality (completeness, reliability)
- Identify the source of truth for each KPI and define calculation logic
- Define responsibilities and dependencies (who maintains the data how often? What does data quality depend on?)
PA3: Data Integration & Preparation
Goal: Make data accessible for Power BI and establish a single source of truth.
Tasks:
- Define and implement a data model and processes to integrate data into Power BI:
- Social media channels (TikTok, YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram)
- Google Analytics (Google Analytics Power BI connector)
- CSV/Excel exports from the YFU intranet (e.g. Power BI SharePoint Folder connector)
- Historical data on the development of the exchange market
- To be evaluated during the project: additional data from surveys, comparison portals, trade fair contacts, info events
- Data cleaning and transformation with Power Query
- Define a schema for market data and migrate historical data into the new format (e.g. using Python/R)
PA4: Dashboard Design & Implementation
Goal: Make decision-relevant KPIs and information accessible to YFU leadership and other internal users.
Tasks:
- Initial design / prototyping of the dashboard structure (e.g. in Figma)
- Implementation in Power BI including interactivity
- Continuous feedback loops with YFU users to validate KPIs and assess usability
Output: Dashboard in Power BI
PA5: Usage, Validation & Further Development
Goal: Empower future dashboard users and enable knowledge transfer for reuse of the approach.
Tasks:
- Run a mini workshop for YFU leadership and the marketing team on using the dashboard
- Document the technical framework and provide guidelines for transferring the approach to other contexts and data sources
Output: Documentation on dashboard usage and technical framework in Power BI; workshop
Your Team and Your Role
In the Data4Good project with YFU, you will become part of a team consisting of Veronica from Aelius, as well as 3–5 other volunteers from CorrelAid. Together, you can use your skills and potential for a good cause, support a great nonprofit organization, and most importantly: have fun. Here’s what you can expect as a CorrelAid Data4Good volunteer:
- A place for learning: A CorrelAid project is a great place to share knowledge, learn new skills, or to deepen existing ones and apply them in practice.
- (Shared) responsibility: Together with your teammates, you take responsibility for the entire project. You are (co-)responsible for specific tasks and outputs, depending on your team role (see below).
- Support and collaboration: You support each other within the team, coordinate closely, and share knowledge. You can ask for advice in the CorrelAid Slack community. The full-time CorrelAid team is available in the background if problems arise.
- Flexibility: You can organize your time flexibly and work on the project whenever and wherever you want. You can work independently or meet with teammates for (online) co-working or collaboration.
- Online communication: You coordinate with other team members via Slack and regularly participate in meetings with your project partners (approximately every 1–3 weeks, depending on the project and phase). Occasionally, additional meetings or coordination with project partners or team members may be necessary.
- A supportive environment for everyone: CorrelAid’s goal is to ensure that everyone in the community—regardless of background, prior experience, gender, or other personal characteristics—can contribute and grow as a person. A respectful and safe environment is essential for this. Therefore, collaboration within the project team follows the values and principles outlined in the Code of Ethics and Code of Conduct. The Ethics Commission and Community Team provide concrete and enforceable processes to support you if you observe or experience violations of these rules and values during the project.
- Time commitment: You can expect a time commitment of approximately 4 hours per week.
To help you better assess where you can contribute most effectively with your skills and experience, we outline different team roles below. In the application form, you can select one or more roles that appeal to you.
There are two specific roles that do not require technical knowledge or prior experience:
Team Coordinator: As a team coordinator, you do not need technical skills, but you should be motivated to coordinate and organise teams.
Team Trainee: The team trainee role is for individuals who have little or no technical knowledge but would like to gain technical skills during the project. As a team trainee, you still share responsibility for the project’s success and are responsible for shaping your own learning experience - for example, by collaborating with one of the technical roles.
Team Roles
Business Analyst
Your responsibility & your impact: As Business Analyst, you are responsible for translating YFU's strategic questions into measurable KPIs, making internal dependencies and data quality issues visible, and defining responsibilities (PA1, PA2, PA5). Thanks to your work, there will be a shared understanding of which metrics matter for YFU and how the underlying data needs to be maintained. You make a crucial contribution to ensuring that the KPIs and dashboards developed in the project are truly relevant, reliable, and useful.
Your tasks:
- You are primarily active in PA1, PA2, and PA5, but can also contribute to the technical implementation (PA3, PA4)
- Analyze strategic questions together with YFU
- Derive and prioritize KPIs
- Build a KPI dictionary
- Coordinate with YFU to ensure relevance and comprehensibility
- Support the assessment of data sources (from a subject-matter perspective)
- Validate KPIs in the dashboard together with users
What you'll learn:
- Developing concrete KPIs from strategic questions
- Assessing data quality and identifying risks and dependencies in processes
- Optionally: basics of data modeling and tools like Power BI
- How data-driven decisions are enabled in practice
What you bring:
- Interest in data, analysis, and structured working
- Interest in understanding YFU's work, data, and processes
- Basic understanding of KPIs or analytical thinking
Nice to have:
- First experience in business analysis, consulting, or similar fields
- Knowledge of Power BI
Data / BI Analyst
Your responsibility & your impact: As Data/BI Analyst, you are responsible for data integration and preparation as well as the implementation of the dashboard. Thanks to your work, YFU's leadership will have access to well-prepared, accurate, and up-to-date KPIs to support data-driven decision-making. In addition, (semi-)automated data processes will save staff valuable working time that can be put to better use for YFU's mission.
Your tasks:
- You are primarily active in PA3, PA4, and PA5, but will also participate in PA1 and PA2 and leverage insights from those project areas
- Build a data model and integrate data sources using Power BI (e.g. intranet, Google Analytics, social media)
- Clean and transform data with Power Query; calculate KPIs
- Develop a Power BI dashboard
- Knowledge transfer and documentation
What you'll learn:
- Building BI data pipelines and dashboards
- Working with real, heterogeneous, and sometimes imperfect data
- Power BI and Power Query
Your profile
- Interest in data analysis and technical questions
- First experience with data (e.g. Excel, SQL, or BI tools)
- Basic understanding of data modeling, or willingness to learn
- Experience developing (BI) dashboards, or interest in learning
Nice to have:
- Power BI knowledge
- Power Query knowledge
- Experience developing dashboards
Team Trainee
As an educational network, it is important to us to also offer a place to people who have little or no technical knowledge yet. That is why we have the Team Trainee role. As a Team Trainee, you are still jointly responsible for the project's success and you are responsible for shaping your own learning experience — for example by collaborating with one of the technical roles. What exactly you do and learn in the project is something you work out together with the team. The team coordinator will support you in this.
If you belong to a group that is marginalized in data science (e.g. FLINTA*), we encourage you to apply for a regular team role, even if you don't meet all the requirements. CorrelAid projects are a great place to take on responsibility, step outside your comfort zone, and grow — supported by others and as part of a community.
Team Coordinator
Note: If the Team Coordinator role cannot be filled, the tasks will be distributed across the team.
Your responsibility & your impact: You ensure that the project team works together in a focused, coordinated, and motivated way. You create a framework in which everyone can use their volunteering time meaningfully and effectively — having fun, learning, and bringing the project vision to life. You will be supported by Leo from the CorrelAid core team, who will onboard you to your role before the project starts and will be available as a contact person throughout.
Your tasks:
- Help the team divide tasks sensibly, prioritize, and move forward
- Keep track of project goals and the timeline
- Keep an eye on team members and project partners; serve as a point of contact for challenges; help the Team Trainee find their footing and learning opportunities in the project
- Act as the liaison to the CorrelAid core team (Leo)
- Co-facilitate the project kickoff with Leo and ensure a strong start; work with the team to shape how you want to collaborate and organize yourselves
- Plan and facilitate regular check-ins — synchronously as meetings or asynchronously via Slack
- Optionally: if you have additional time, motivation, and capacity beyond your coordination role, you are welcome to take on tasks in the project itself (e.g. writing code, creating visualizations). This is not expected in any way.
What you'll learn:
- Enabling work in an interdisciplinary, volunteer team
- Finding the balance between structure, self-organization, and volunteerism
- Collaboration with partners from social organizations
- Working with project management tools (e.g. GitHub Projects or Trello)
Your profile
- Motivation for organizing and facilitating teams or projects
- Enjoyment of structuring and facilitating collaboration, and a good sense for people and their strengths and needs
- Optional: prior experience organizing teams, e.g. from other (volunteer) contexts or as an agile coach, Scrum Master, project manager, etc.
