When it comes to data, there is a culture of “we’ll sort it out later”.
And later…
And later…
And later…
Until nothing quite works, people are building workarounds, key information lives in spreadsheets, and frustration starts to creep in. This doesn’t mean data should take precedence over everything else. And not all workarounds are bad – sometimes they’re entirely practical.
But data should be given the same level of consideration as other areas of fundraising. Because leaving it to “later” rarely ends well.
If Dante had been familiar with fundraising data when he wrote Inferno, one of the circles of hell might have been: Sorting out that which has been left to fester. The data mire of doom and torment
Not addressing issues rarely works. In most areas of fundraising, you wouldn’t accept it. If your comms weren’t landing, you’d review and adjust. If your team was demotivated, you’d look at the causes and act. But data often gets left.
And how many charities have a clear data strategy in place? Not a huge document – just something practical and ongoing:
- what good data quality looks like
- how segmentation will develop
- what testing you want to run
- how processes will evolve
- how you move towards a clearer supporter view
It doesn’t need to be complex. A couple of pages is often enough. The key is being proactive and not waiting until something breaks.
If this feels familiar, I’ve got space over the coming months to help teams get a bit more on the front foot with their data.
And if you know a team that’s a bit stuck with their data – whether that’s processes, their CRM, or just getting things to work as they should – I’d really appreciate an introduction.
#DataQuality
#CRM
#CharitySector
#DataGovernance
#Nonprofits
