Free’s free, right? Or is it? Mr Plug the Gap works in IT. He’s the epitome of a grumpy IT man and could happily share the basement with Roy, Moss, and Jen, telling people to “turn it off and turn it on again”, and occasionally throwing in an “is it plugged in?” for...
In the dark and distant past I was prompted to write a suitably festive Christmas article. I’m not a big fan of Christmas to be honest, I think in fundraising it’s easy to get jaded when you start talking about the festive season in July. However, there are other more...
(Don't mention the data cleanse!) People often run for the hills when I start talking about data. It’s an understandable reaction. They are either going to be bored to tears or have to admit they haven’t got a clue about data. But I have learned that there is a topic...
I’ve been working with fundraising data for over 20 years. And something I do most weeks is to explain to non-data people that data is pivotal to everything we do. You’d think it would be obvious that data is central to all fundraising activities. But here I am, more...
We have a tough job... ...fundraising is hard - life seems to be on a perpetual merry-go-round of human and naturally induced tragedies. I first wrote about this a fair few years ago. And if I had to make one observation to bring this up to date, it’s less about...
Matchkeys - not as tasty as Matchmakers, but pretty darn useful. Why Matchkeys? Sometimes you just end up with a pile of data that you need to match against existing records; or two parts of the same data that just so happen to be in different files. Maybe someone...
Put the kettle on. “Should we get a new database?” People ask me this a lot. My response is always “Why do you think you need a new database?” I know it’s bad form to answer a question with a question, and you know I don’t usually avoid giving answers, but the...
Is it too late for a gift aid mop up mailing? Before we see the green shoots of Spring, we have to get through the 72-week month that is January. We have the unexpected freeze brought about by a Beast from Somewhere. And don’t forget the discombobulating lurch forward...