How to ease the pain of unclean nonprofit donor database data

Do you feel the pain of bad data?

Of not being able to trust what comes out of your database entirely.

Are lapsed donors really and truly lapsed, or is it just a coding error?

Why isn’t Mr. Smith categorized as a monthly donor?

Why can’t we seem to pull the same report twice with the same results?

Development Director and Executive Director, time and time again, face this nail-biting situation every time they run a query or produce a report.

I recommend that you think about your database in two distinct ways. One is data inputs, and the other is data outputs.

Steps to clean – up your database:

1. Develop a series of reports to check the data for cleanliness. Print out a list of names and spot check looking for missing constituent codes, inconsistent salutations, prefixes, address entry, etc.
2. Then make the time to begin a wholesale database clean-up to ensure that the file is entirely accurate. Consider hiring a temp or a remote assistant to help with this process.
3. Once data has been cleaned-up, pull up a list of constituent codes. Review the list and determine which ones still meet your needs. Retire the rest. Constituent codes can get unwieldy, especially if you have had multiple hands in the database.
4. Then move onto looking at your query and reports. Are they all still relevant and applicable? Clean them up if they are not. Over time these seem to grow as we create and run queries and reports organically.
5. Review access management to determine who has access and at what level. Controlling who has access and at what level ultimately reduces the number of hands “in the pot!”
6. Develop a Data Standards manual so that moving forward, those who are entering data into the system are doing so consistently and maintaining the database integrity.

Steps to maintain your database integrity:

1. Create and save standardized queries and reports that could be run regularly for specific campaigns, appeals, or for when you create your Board reporting, etc.
2. Run a data quality review report of all accounts created in the past month. Ensure that accounts are flagged with appropriate values such as account types. All-important persona information is complete and accurate, including addresses, zip codes, email addresses, telephone numbers, titles, etc. 
3. Run an Almost Expired Auto Process Credit/Debit Card report to track expiration dates of recurring gift credit cards. It is ideal for catching credit cards before they expire.
4. Run a Duplicate Report to remove any duplicate accounts added to the database.
5. Review transactions created in the past month to ensure that funds, campaigns, and approaches are filled out for each. Review in-kind gifts for accuracy.
6. Review all online donations to ensure that they meet Data Standards as developed above.
7. Review users and security groups annually to ensure that the user list is up-to-date. 
8. Run a report of all relationships in the database and ensure that accounts and their known relationships are coded correctly.
9. Review Queries and Reports and delete those that are no longer needed, useful, or relevant. Review the Created and Last Used dates on each query and report. If the query has not been used in two years or more, delete it. 
10. Reconcile your database monthly with finance to ensure accuracy of gift accounting

Lastly, I recommend that you conduct an overall yearly assessment of the database to ensure consistent data entry and database utilization.

I am very fond of saying, “Garbage In = Garbage Out,” and it is true.  

The top item that I see fundraisers and executive directors new (and old) to their job struggling with is data that they cannot trust.

These are some steps that I recommend that you take to get your data in shape and keep it that way always. 

For more information on the step-by-step instructions, I recommend getting your data in shape; get a copy of my “Garbage In = Garbage Out”:  How to Keep Your Donor Database Healthy, Wealthy, and Wise webinar today.

Or email me for my free Data Standards manual that I created for a client just like you.

Development Consulting Solutions has a team of experts who can meet your needs by serving as your grant reviewer, grants researcher, proposal template developer, and ongoing grant writer.  Check out our list of grant writing services here.

Contact us today to discuss your grant writing needs.

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