Aimia helps non-profits grasp the power of data to drive social good

Over 150 employees and stakeholders spent 2,000 hours analyzing more than 75 million rows of data in company's first Global Week of Data Philanthropy

MONTREAL, May 4, 2016 /CNW Telbec/ - Aimia Inc. (TSX: AIM), a data-driven marketing and loyalty analytics company, recently held its first-ever Global Week of Data Philanthropy, lending data analytics expertise to help local non-profits in London, Minneapolis, Toronto and Dubai. While the company has engaged in data philanthropy for several years, this is its first global effort, employing 2,000 hours of skills-based volunteering to analyze more than 75 million rows of data. During the week, Aimia helped nine non-profits find answers to operational challenges through an often untapped asset – their data.

"Non-profit organizations have a common challenge with our clients – they have mountains of data, but often need help to sift through it to find the insights that make them better at what they do," said David Johnston, Group Chief Operating Officer, Aimia. "We're fortunate to have brilliant data analytics professionals at Aimia, so it was natural for us to give back in a way that has a long-lasting and sustainable impact to some of the communities where we operate."

Through the event, Aimia's analytics teams were able to reveal fresh insights for participating non-profits, including:

• In the U.S., the team partnered with the Twin Cities Gay Men's Chorus (TCGMC), which uses music as a way to transform, educate and heal; ultimately working towards the elimination of homophobia and intolerance through community outreach. The Aimia team helped the chorus gain insights that will ultimately inform future strategic decisions that align with their mission of "Gay Men Building Community Through Music." More specifically, the chorus was interested in better understanding the value of some of their operational decisions, including marketing effectiveness and artistic decisions, as well as digging into some of their audience segmentation efforts.
  
  "It's been great having an objective eye come in and look at our data to see what can be discovered," said Jeff Heine, TCGMC Executive Director. "In addition to learning more about our data, in some cases, it was very reassuring for us to have a team of data experts confirm for us that we haven't been missing anything 'big.' "

• In Canada, Aimia strengthened the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health's (CAMH) approach to measuring the quality and outcomes of services related to its Northern Psychiatric Outreach Program (NPOP) and Telepsychiatry Program.
  
  "Aimia's analysis of this data will help us make quality improvements that will ultimately strengthen the mental healthcare that patients receive," said Dr. Allison Crawford psychiatrist and director of the Northern Psychiatric Outreach Program at CAMH.  "This will further position CAMH as a leader in mental health service delivery and help us better serve remote and underserved communities." 

• In the U.K., the team provided The Children's Society, a national charity running local services to help children and young people when they are at their most vulnerable, with a better understanding of their target demographic profile, and helped find a correlation between the number of assessments completed by a young person and a case's length and complexity.
  
  "The Aimia team built us a variety of tools that allowed us to delve deeper into the journeys of the young people we work with and analyse the impact of our work on the different aspects of their lives," noted Nicola Sugden, Head of Performance and Insight at The Children's Society.

During the week, Aimia also announced that it has become a founding member of the Montreal-based Institute for Data Valorization (IVADO), pledging for the creation of a hub for data philanthropy.

Aimia's data philanthropy efforts are part of the company's five-year social purpose roadmap, which includes the goal of developing structured and replicable volunteer engagement models that leverage its employees' unique skills.

"Our data analysts are passionate about solving complex problems and uncovering new insights. They have inspired our award-winning model of data philanthropy," said Anne-Josée Laquerre, Director, Social Purpose and Corporate Sustainability at Aimia. "This first Global Week of Data Philanthropy is a key milestone in our journey to continuously create more social value from what we do best."

Since 2012, Aimia's data philanthropy work has supported more than 50 non-profits, driving hundreds of delivery model insights, helping secure funding and improving outcomes for the beneficiaries of a growing portfolio of non-profit organizations.

Aimia has received several awards for its data philanthropy work, including the Guardian Sustainable Business Award for Social Impact 2015, the Lord Mayor's Award for 'Future Proofing Charities' and two Corporate Engagement Awards – winning Gold in the 'Most Innovative Collaboration' category and Silver in 'Best pro bono work for charitable, social or ethical cause'. Aimia also ranked amongst Corporate Knights' 2015 Future 40 Responsible Corporate Leaders in Canada. Read Aimia's Global Social Purpose report here.

About Aimia

Aimia Inc. (TSX: AIM) is a data-driven marketing and loyalty analytics company. We provide our clients with the customer insights they need to make smarter business decisions and build relevant, rewarding and long-term one-to-one relationships, evolving the value exchange to the mutual benefit of both our clients and consumers.

Aimia partners with groups of companies (coalitions) and individual companies to help generate, collect and analyze customer data and build actionable insights.

We do this through our own coalition loyalty programs such as Aeroplan in Canada, Nectar in the UK, and Air Miles Middle East, and through provision of loyalty strategy, program development, implementation and management services underpinned by leading products and technology platforms such as the Aimia Loyalty Platform and Smart Button, and through our analytics and insights business, including Intelligent Shopper Solutions. In other markets, we own stakes in loyalty programs, such as Club Premier in Mexico and Think Big, a partnership with Air Asia and Tune Group. Our clients are diverse, and we have industry-leading expertise in the fast-moving consumer goods, retail, financial services, and travel and airline industries globally to deliver against their unique needs.

For a full list of our partnerships and investments, and more information about Aimia, visit http://www.aimia.com.

SOURCE AIMIA

Video with caption: "Aimia helps non-profits grasp the power of data to drive social good". Video available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlr1BgZbZS4

Image with caption: "Aimia's team in Toronto comes together to analyze data and uncover insights for a non-profit (CNW Group/AIMIA)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20160504_C8490_PHOTO_EN_681234.jpg

Image with caption: "Aimia's data analysts in Dubai getting ready to start their second data philanthropy project (CNW Group/AIMIA)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20160504_C8490_PHOTO_EN_681241.jpg

Image with caption: "Aimia's analyst team in London helped six non-profits to uncover new insights from their data (CNW Group/AIMIA)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20160504_C8490_PHOTO_EN_681230.jpg

Image with caption: "Aimia's analyst team in London helped six non-profits to uncover new insights from their data (CNW Group/AIMIA)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20160504_C8490_PHOTO_EN_681239.jpg

Image with caption: "Aimia's analyst team in London helped six non-profits to uncover new insights from their data (CNW Group/AIMIA)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20160504_C8490_PHOTO_EN_681226.jpg

Image with caption: "The Minneapolis team joins Aimia's Global Week of Data Philanthropy (CNW Group/AIMIA)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20160504_C8490_PHOTO_EN_681236.jpg

Image with caption: "Aimia's team in Toronto comes together to analyze data and uncover insights for a non-profit (CNW Group/AIMIA)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20160504_C8490_PHOTO_EN_681245.jpg

Image with caption: "Aimia's team in Toronto comes together to analyze data and uncover insights for a non-profit (CNW Group/AIMIA)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20160504_C8490_PHOTO_EN_681243.jpg

Image with caption: "Aimia's team in Toronto comes together to analyze data and uncover insights for a non-profit (CNW Group/AIMIA)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20160504_C8490_PHOTO_EN_681228.jpg

Max Bernard, Head, External Communications, Americas, [phone], [email protected]; Megan Ratcliffe, Head, External Communications, International, [phone], [email protected]