One of the hardest things to learn when you work in data is this: Not everything needs fixing. I know. Heresy. I’m also a big believer that most things can be fixed. But over time I’ve learnt that the real skill is deciding what to tackle, what to leave alone, and...
I was furtling around looking for some info on a Facebook group I belong to, and I happened across a post I made from 2021. I’d been contacted about providing a quote. The request followed a familiar pattern: “Hello, I’ve been told you can help. I have some data work...
I’ve written about this before, but some topics deserve revisiting. Two recent conversations brought this one back. One was with an existing client who has finally decided to tackle some of the data management issues I’ve been harping on about for a while. The other...
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...