There once was a data person called Julie, who realised that moving a client’s DM selection to web view in Raiser’s Edge meant the loss of quick letters, which had previously been doing much of the heavy lifting. Julie scurried off into a corner, fighting back tears....
“You are fettered," said Scrooge, trembling. "Tell me why?" "I wear the chain I forged in life," replied the Ghost. "I made it link by link, and yard by yard; I girded it on of my own free will, and of my own free will I wore it.” ― Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol...
My work only deals with evidence. It takes things you think you know and either contradicts them, supports them or does something else entirely. My currency is fact. But sometimes fact isn’t enough. There are two situations that spring to mind when I think about gut...
I’ll often ask the same question: “What is an active cash giver?” It’s a simple question, but one guaranteed to stir up emotions — and usually the response: “What do you mean? Of course I know.” But often, as an organisation, we don’t actually have a shared answer....
Being able to quickly and easily find duplicates in your data can be a game changer. If you’re using a CRM, you’ll usually have a dupe function, but it doesn’t always help if you’ve got a separate file of data, or don’t have the time to wade through everything it...
Like a lot of things I’ve written about, I’ve written about this one before. It’s important enough that I feel it needs mentioning again. And possibly a few more times after that. If you’re using a system – for instance a fundraising CRM – and it’s not working, do you...
Being self-taught is something we have to embrace once we’re adults. There’s always something new to navigate, and even when we get some instruction, we still have to dive in and learn by doing. Sometimes that works. Sometimes it doesn’t. And when it doesn’t, it’s...
Every so often I get an email from Alex Evans and Barely Civil Society. Like all good commentators, he makes me think, even if I don’t always agree. The most recent one (at the time of writing this) was about whether the sector should have a union. I’m not getting...
Have you ever seen one of those maps showing where all an organisation’s supporters are? Looks impressive. And genuinely useful. The good news is - you don’t need expensive tools to do it. But before you get to the map, there’s one simple step most people miss:...
I usually come straight into a post and go “No, you’ve got it wrong!” but I can’t on this one. Honestly, often times data is the most arse-numbingly boring job on the planet. But then so are many things. Waiting in the queue at the supermarket. Listening to someone in...