best practice strategies to clean up and maintain your database with hether ghelf

22/03/2013 1

Best Practice Strategies to

Clean up and Maintain Your

Database

Hether Ghelf

Senior Consultant, Project Manager & Data Hygiene Lead

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• Bad inputs make bad outputs

• In lead generation and overall marketing, a piece of information is

considered “garbage” if it doesn’t contribute positively to the

campaign.

• If you’ve got misleading, inaccurate, or incomplete data, then you’ve

got garbage on your hands.

GARBAGE IN, GARBAGE OUT

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Staffing Issues

• Do you have a high data entry staff turnover?

• Are you stretching existing resources a long way?

CHALLENGES & REASONS FOR MESSY DATA

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Limited Time / Budget

• Do you struggle finding the time or money for proper database training

for your employees?


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Merges and conversions within your databases

• Have you recently merged 2+ databases?

- Were duplicate records, codes, attributes taken care prior to the

merge?

• Did you convert from one database to another?

- Were pre-conversion clean up activities and post conversion clean

up activities scheduled?


Converting from one database to another is

a huge task and shouldn’t be taken lightly!

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Using external sources

• Do you bring in data from 3rd party vendors or external lists?

• Have you ensured the data is formatted to fit your data file prior to

importing?


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Documentation for Policy and Procedures

• Are your policy and procedures documents non existent or out-dated?

• Does your organisation have a Data Entry Standards (DES) document

to assist with “how to” properly enter data?


A policy and procedures document

and DES are two of the top documents

organisations should have!

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Resistance to change

• Have you stopped to ask why you enter in data the way you do?

• Do you have multiple people entering data different ways?


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1. Receive support from the top down

2. Audit/Assessment

3. Areas & Issues Identified

- create a clean up plan/strategy

- start with the most important areas

4. Begin Data Cleansing

5. Ask for Help

6. Be Proactive – fill in the gaps

7. Maintain Your Database

WHERE TO START - STEPS TO TAKE

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• CEO

• Executive Committee

• Fundraising Manager

• Fundraising Staff

• Program & Other Department Staff

• Data Entry Staff

• Volunteers

STEP 1 – RECEIVE SUPPORT FROM THE TOP DOWN

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Review your database structure

• Codes, Attributes, Notes, Gift info, Reports, User Access, Process

• EVERYTHING!

Create initial queries/groupings

STEP 2 - AUDIT/ASSESSMENT

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• Examples of groupings/queries:

- Formatting of title, first name, middle name, surname, suffix, address lines,

suburb, state, postcode, gender

- Blank fields in all of the above

- Where there’s a spouse but the primary addressee and salutations are

singular

- If marked deceased, is the spouse still receiving the mailings; if yes, how are

they being addressed? Is it still Mr & Mrs? Correct the record so you don’t

offend anyone

- Marked as do not solicit, do not call but have been sent a recent appeal or

called during a recent calling campaign

- Missing Constituent Codes, Solicit Codes, Attributes

- Review code tables or drop down menu selections regularly and eliminate

duplicates or misspellings, especially after data has just been imported into

the database

- Return to sender mail – mark as invalid address, don’t just throw it away


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• Examples of groupings/queries continued…

- Male title/female or unknown gender

- Female title/male or unknown gender

- Title Ms, Mrs, Miss and unknown gender

- Blank spouse or contact title

- Marital status with deceased spouse

- Single with spouse

- Gifts with a blank campaign, appeal, letter code, etc

- Gifts not receipted or acknowledged


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• Other areas to consider reviewing/updating:

- Required fields

- Security Groups and/or User Access

- Existing reports, queries/groupings and exports

- Duplicate records – find and merge


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Start talking!

• Have you asked for input from staff/departments who obtain

information from the database? Or from those who input data?

STEP 2 – AUDIT/ASSESSMENT

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• Review and fine-tune the queries/groupings you created in Step 2

• Review notes from talking with staff/departments

STEP 3 – AREAS & ISSUES IDENTIFIED

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• Create a Clean Up Plan/Strategy and goals

STEP 3 – AREAS & ISSUES IDENTIFIED

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Start Data Cleansing!

STEP 4 – DATA CLEANSING

Before making any changes to be

sure to back up your database!

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Ask for help Internally

• Knowledgeable staff within your organisation

And for help externally if needed

• Consultants or technical experts

to run database audits

• Blackbaud Data Hygiene Services

STEP 5 – ASK FOR HELP

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Be Proactive

Be Proactive

Be Proactive

STEP 6 – BE PROACTIVE

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STEP 7: MAINTAIN YOUR DATABASE

After you have spent time, energy

and money cleansing your

database, put steps in place to

maintain it!

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Assign roles within your organisation

• Database Administrator (DBA) and/or Super User is a must

• Set their primary responsibility to keeping your database clean and

maintained

Have a back up!

• Have a back up DBA that can step

up in case your primary DBA is

out sick or leaves the organisation

STEP 7 - MAINTAINING YOUR DATABASE

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Update (or create) those important documents!

• Policies and Procedures

• Data Entry Standards (DES) document


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Example of Policy & Procedures document:


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Example of Data Entry Standards document:


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Keep your staff in the know!

• Train new and existing staff in system functionality

• Provide refresher training to staff on a regular basis (quarterly)

• Hold regular data entry staff meetings (weekly/bi-weekly)


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Look AND Listen

• Check new staff’s data entry –

help them become comfortable

with how they should be entering

data

• Talk to your staff - ask what staff like

doing in the database and what

they don’t


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Be prepared for upcoming campaigns

Calling Campaigns:

• Request staff or volunteers to verify name, address, email, mobile

• Create a template for entering the new/updated information


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Mailing Campaigns:

• Check your queries/groupings to ensure they have the correct criteria

• Run your addresses through a data hygiene service or Australia Post

one or twice a year


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Always continue auditing and cleaning up your database

And never stop searching for areas of improvement


Once your database is at a

manageable state, it will be easier

to maintain!

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1. Your database is key to your fundraising

2. Remember… garbage in, garbage out

3. Get started – don’t keep delaying the inevitable

4. MAINTAIN YOUR DATABASE

5. Ask for HELP

TAKE AWAYS

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• Blackbaud’s Consulting Services Department can assist you with your

database clean up, creation of your Policy & Procedures document

and Data Entry Standards document.

• Blackbaud’s Data Hygiene Services include:

– Address append and verification

– Phone append and verification for telemarketing and other contact

purposes

– Deduplication

– Provides deep insight into your existing data

– Offers data elements to enhance your data to create a richer asset

for your organisation

HOW BLACKBAUD CAN HELP

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THANK YOU!

Questions?

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