Strong data management is a necessity for nonprofits juggling multiple programs, fundraisers, and outreach campaigns. Data should inform all of your nonprofit’s decisions, whether you’re determining which programs to focus on, how to scale your nonprofit, or which major giving prospects are the most promising.
In this guide, we’ll explore five data management best practices your nonprofit can implement to run more efficient fundraisers, launch more impactful programs, and cultivate stronger donor relationships.
1. Practice data hygiene.
To generate accurate reports and improve your analytics processes, you need clean data. However, it’s natural for a nonprofit’s database to become a little disorganized over time, especially as hundreds of new data points are collected daily. To counteract this, nonprofits should implement data hygiene best practices, such as:
- Eliminating data silos. Nonprofits with several disparate tools may have issues transferring data between platforms. For instance, your data about volunteers might be housed in your volunteer management software and not get transferred to your CRM, preventing you from easily checking which donors also volunteer. Resolve this issue by leveraging software solutions that integrate or working with a developer to create middleware solutions that make data migration easy.
- Auditing their database. Assess your database to verify the accuracy and completeness of your data. As part of this process, remove outdated data, resolve duplicate information, note any missing data, and append your data.
- Establishing consistent data entry rules. Clean data starts during the data collection process. Provide guidelines for how data should be entered into your database to maintain consistency and ensure all information is collected in a standardized format.
For nonprofits with complex databases or particularly complex data hygiene problems, it may be best to work with a nonprofit technology consultant. When assessing consultants to help with your database, review what tools they frequently work with to ensure you collaborate with an agency familiar with your specific platforms.
2. Implement access and governance policies.
Your data is likely highly sensitive, as it may include payment information, donor addresses, and other personal details. Maintain stakeholder trust by implementing strict security and access protocols.
For instance, leverage software that allows you to create access levels. By creating different permissions tiers, you can limit access to sensitive data, minimizing the possibility of an accidental leak.
The majority of data breaches are caused by human error. Mitigate this risk by training your team to handle data and follow privacy compliance laws. For instance, you might have your staff take a data security training course and then test them by sending an example phishing email. Individuals who fall for the phishing email would then be signed up for additional training.
3. Build robust stakeholder profiles.
While stakeholder relationships are most often built on a foundation of trust and emotional connection, strong data management allows you to make informed, logical decisions about how to progress these relationships.
Ensure you are gathering valuable data on all relevant stakeholders, such as:
- Personal information. For each profile in your database, note the stakeholder’s name—whether they are a person or organization—what the nature of your nonprofit’s relationship with them is, and any other relevant details. For instance, you might list demographic information for individual donors and points of contact for organizations.
- Engagement history. Create an ongoing record of your relationship with each stakeholder by noting every interaction you have with them. For individuals, this should include donation frequency and amounts, event participation, volunteer history, and any other relevant data.
- Communication preferences. To improve marketing and outreach, note how each stakeholder prefers to engage with your organization. For individual mid-level donors, this might be whether they prefer text or email. For a major donor, you might document your entire history of phone calls and face-to-face meetings with notes about how they respond in each setting.
Robust stakeholder profiles don’t just provide your current team with information about your supporters, but ensure every relationship stays on track even when you bring on new team members or experience turnover.
4. Focus on relevant metrics.
Effective data is relevant to your nonprofit’s goals and can be used to generate useful reports. Invest in software with reporting features that allow you to create standard reports (such as compliance reports for your sector) as well as custom ones that let you pinpoint specific trends and patterns.
Your goals will likely shift over time, meaning your nonprofit needs software that comprehensively houses large amounts of data and nimbly presents you with the information you need at a moment’s notice. For instance, platforms with customizable dashboards might let you toggle between data for relevant metrics, like donor retention, acquisition trends, and campaign return on investment.
5. Invest in scalable practices.
Data management is an ongoing process, and your team needs the right tools and strategies to keep your data organized as your nonprofit grows. Future-proof your data management practices now by:
- Implementing integratable software. The right software can help your nonprofit maintain clean, useful data now and into the future. When researching software platforms, look for tools with a wide range of integrations, like Salesforce and Blackbaud.
- Documenting internal processes. Ensure new team members can continue your team’s data maintenance efforts by providing proper training. When establishing your data management practices, document what steps your organization takes and how to ensure this knowledge stays with your nonprofit even through team turnover.
- Revisiting your data strategy routinely. As you grow, your data management needs might change. For instance, your nonprofit should upgrade its software to a fully customizable platform that requires building out new data workflow processes. In instances like this, be willing to reassess your data strategy and adapt it to your new tools and situation.
When assessing new data management software, be mindful of your budget and timeline. Custom software development and large-scale data migration projects often take multiple weeks, if not months, to complete, and your team will need strategies to collect and manage data in the meantime.
With strong data management practices, your nonprofit can improve its ability to reach donors online, maintain a consistent stakeholder experience, and set your organization up for scalable growth. To start improving your management practices, take inventory of your current strategy and tools to identify gaps and start researching solutions to fill them.
