renovate your donor data webinar
TRANSCRIPT
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Introduction
Ben BarnhartChief Development Officer, American Red Cross Serving Greater Iowa@GreaterIA_ARC
Erin WestergaardClient Director, CDS Global@CDSGlobalNP
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117kDonor Records toClean and Merge
Background
PROJECT: Merge all American Red Cross accounting and donor databases across the nation
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Before the Renovation: Problems with Disparate Databases
No 360⁰ View of the Donor
Conflicting/Redundant Donor Communications
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Honor donor intent & provide better stewardship
Goals of the Data Consolidation Project
Maximize business efficiency –Reduce administrative costs & local administrative support
Centralize mass marketing & donor data
Focus on major gift fundraising – raise more money!
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Increased Organizational Efficiency
No need for multiple data administrators
Easier to pull accurate reporting
Less redundancy in donor
communications
Cuts costs
Facilitates better understanding of who major
gift priority donors are
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Make Communication a Priority
Managing culture Mitigate loss of control Build relationships with people
close to the data Share information and
establish benefits Remember: Communication is a two-way street Evaluation and feedback phase after
implementation
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Create & Align Shared Goals
Keep the Bigger Picture in Focus How do you want the data consolidation
to help your fundraising? How will you use the data
once consolidated? What will be gained from consolidating it? Who will benefit from consolidation? What processes will be in place to
optimize the data usage? What is the ROI and risk of the data
renovation project?
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Set a Timeline
Establish regular communications Set realistic expectations Execute in stages
TIMELINE FOR PHASED APPROACH
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Create a Leadership Structure
Project leader – vision and direction
Identify local team leads and supporting personnel
Matrix communication structure
Establish a leadership structure at the local level
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Anticipate Problems
Database hygiene Data quality rules Establish reports Establish templates
Take time to avoid miscues Capture local knowledge
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Database Hygiene Challenges
DATABASES WON’T ALWAYS ROLL INTO ONE ANOTHER CLEANLY
Donor Name Phone Email Constituency Code Notes
Bill Johnson 555-5555 Major Donor
Donor Name Cell Phone Home Phone Donation Level Attribute
Bill M. Johnson 444-4444 $1k-$5k Major Donor
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DATABASE 1
DATABASE 2
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Database Hygiene Challenges
Fund Designation
DATABASE 1Disaster Relief
Suppression Code Mail 6x/year
Mail 4x /year
Mail 2x/year
Mail 1x/year
Do not mail
Fund Designation
DATABASE 2Disaster Relief Fund
Suppression Code Mail 8x/year
Mail 3x/year
Mail only for year-end and for disasters
Do not solicit
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Database Hygiene: Accurate Data
Get data as clean as possible before consolidating
Make use of all sources of information to ensure data accuracy Automated reports Local knowledge
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Database Hygiene: Establish Data Quality Rules
Lay out your business rules on how to handle data Field knowledge is critical for this piece Based on overall vision of how marketing and
fundraising will use the data Plan for every scenario
Establish rules around centralization Standardize and prioritize
naming conventions Gift codes, attributes,
salutations, gift designations
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Create a Data Consolidation Template
Purpose: Comprehensive tool to capture all data in single location
Format: Simple Excel file Single template Set of templates
Biographical, attributes, gift data
Transfer consolidated data into template, for use in central database
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Ongoing Data Management
Manage access to data – have a plan! Effective job execution Core data vs. interaction data Locking data
Ongoing Evaluation Process Regular communications Issue resolution
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Augmenting the Database
Include new types of donors and supporters Planned giving, blood donors
Share information across different units Fundraising, marketing,
finance, etc.
Capture new types of data!
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After the Renovation - Benefits
Fewer touches that are more meaningful
Visibility into donor records
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Data RenovationKey Takeaways
Set clear expectations for team – communication is key!
Be visionary – think about this as a long-term, transformational project
Plan for every circumstance, or data will get out of hand
Take advantage of institutional knowledge and expertise of people close to the data
Give yourself enough time to build comprehensive tools
Always keep the end goal in sight – how will people use the data once it is consolidated?