Niall Doherty’s life changed forever when he quit his job to travel the world and earn a living online. The voyage changed the lives of others too, as it inspired him to start a business that helps others follow his career path. His company also supports girls’ education in rural Africa. Through it all, Jotform automation makes it easier to get more done.
eBiz Facts, the company Doherty founded, provides reviews of online income-generation courses, along with other helpful resources. In addition, the website posts guest reviews from students who have taken online courses. Each review is submitted through a form made with Jotform, and for every student contribution, eBiz Facts donates $5 to CAMFED, or the Campaign for Female Education.
CAMFED can provide a student in sub-Saharan Africa with about 10 days of secondary school education with each donation from eBiz Facts. The reviews continue to pile up, and the efficiency Jotform provides is part of the equation.
Strengthening communities
So far, eBiz Facts has donated $3,465 to CAMFED through its student review program, providing an entire year of schooling for 23 girls. Doherty and his team aspire to publish 1,000 student reviews each year and give even more.
Doherty got an education himself as he traveled around the world, visiting 45 countries in seven years while working from his laptop. Along the way, he met members of charities and nonprofits, which sparked his interest in philanthropy.
A quote from Hans Rosling, an acclaimed Swedish physician and public speaker, inspired him to promote girls’ education. Rosling said, “Educating girls has proven to be one of the world’s best-ever ideas. When women are educated, all kinds of wonderful things happen in societies. The workforce becomes diversified and able to make better decisions and solve more problems.”
CAMFED rose to the forefront as Doherty searched for an organization to work with. CAMFED has a 30-year track record of success and a holistic approach to education, providing support beyond tuition costs.
“When girls are well educated, they tend to have children later in life and earn more money. They’re also more likely than their male counterparts to stay in or return to the communities they grew up in, thereby strengthening them,” Doherty says.
Streamlining with Jotform
After researching online forms, eBiz Facts decided Jotform was the best option for its use case. The company created two forms for collecting student reviews. One form is standard and includes email verification. The other is a simplified version without email verification for repeat reviewers.
To submit a review, students start by offering a simple star rating for the course they took. Next, they provide basic personal information, upload links to the course they’ll review, upload proof of course enrollment, rate various aspects of the course, and write their review.
Doherty says it’s easy to alter forms with Jotform’s drag-and-drop Form Builder. Sorting submissions is easy with Jotform Inbox, and he receives email notifications for each submission. Submissions also appear on Airtable and Clickup via Jotform integrations, ensuring that each new review is published quickly.
I’m always looking for ways to automate as many parts of my business as possible. Integrating Jotform with Airtable and Zapier has saved my team hours of manually entering and cross-checking students’ submissions.
Niall Doherty, eBiz Facts
Automated workflows from Jotform make it easier for Doherty to organize and publish the reviews. Autoresponder emails and an automatic thank you page help Doherty’s team keep in touch with guest reviewers. Sharing forms is also easy. Besides embedding forms on its website, eBiz Facts distributes its forms via social media.
Knowledge is power
With an assist from Jotform, Doherty’s mission, which came into focus during his life-altering voyage, is going strong. “Early on it was tough figuring out which courses to trust online,” he says. “It would have been very helpful to have an independent website where I could read insightful reviews from students who had taken the courses I was interested in.”
The lessons he learned helped shape who he is today and what his business has become. From online education to supporting schoolgirls with CAMFED, Doherty and eBiz Facts know that knowledge is power. Jotform is proud to help them spread the word and make a difference.
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