How To Manage Data in Your Non-Profit

In this post, we will explore the best tips for how to manage data in your Non-profit.

How Important is Data?

You may have heard the phrase “Data is the new gold” going around, and if you haven’t then maybe you should take a moment and write it down in your Notes app.

The idea of that phrase is not just to have another catchy phrase to fill up your notes – though admittedly, it’s a good one to drop in your board meeting as you try to sell them on any of the ideas in this article.

Take a moment and think about when you’re shopping online, data from reviews informs you on what item to consider. When you’re planning for a route to take from your maps app, the traffic data will let you know which route to not risk. How about even searching for a Youtube video, chances are, you’ll watch the video with thousands of views versus the one with 23 views based on that view count data.

See how ingrained data is in our culture globally? Now onto your Non-Profit. If data is that useful in your personal life tasks, entertainment and errands, how much more for the organization you are part of, that is aiming to touch the lives of tens, hundreds or thousands of people.
You’re probably aware of how much more useful information is waiting to be tapped and used to drive more reach, anywhere from Fundraising to attracting more volunteers.

How would you feel if you took a maps route that said there is very light traffic and then you went on to find yourself seated in traffic for hours?

That’s the same way you and everyone at your organization should be feeling when you come across bad data.

Here are 3 tips to manage your data

1. A Single Source Of Truth (SSOT).

If everyday after work you religiously put your car key on your dressing table, you would probably never have a case of franticly hunting them down for 5-20 minutes over your planned departure time. If that’s you, well, then you understand the importance of having a Single Source Of Truth (SSOT). It can be represented by a statement “If it’s not here, then I don’t have it.” This means so much for your organization’s efficiency.

When looking for the attendance document for your Fundraiser that happened two weeks ago, you wouldn’t need to search through your many Excel documents labelled “Fundraiser 001, Fundraiser 2024, This Year’s Fundraiser, Fundraising Event, Fundraiser Final Copy 3,” or through the many unsorted Google Drive files, or for papers that you manually record attendees, or a flash drive you left with the IT guy who said they gave it to the Programs Officer or someone else, or your “near-perfect memory” and perhaps 5 other possible places where the document could be, and probably end up not even finding the updated version.

Having unconsolidated data can be such a pain when you need to quickly present to donors a view of your program’s impact, or collaborate with different teams working with different data sets as there will almost inevitably be data discrepancies.

Those are few among many others!
If you face one or many of these, what can you do about it?

The answer is making use of a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system. What is a CRM?

A CRM is a technology platform that helps organizations manage interactions with customers, clients, and prospects. While originally designed for businesses to improve customer relationships, CRMs have evolved and are now widely used by nonprofits, educational institutions, and other organizations to manage their relationships and interactions with various stakeholders.

They are essential tools for nonprofits, helping them manage donor relationships, track fundraising activities, streamline operations, use data visualization tools and enhance overall efficiency.

For your nonprofit looking for value in implementing a SSOT, here are some CRM systems that are particularly well-suited for nonprofits, along with their key features:

CRM	Logo	Key Features
Salesforce		•Donor and volunteer management  •Fundraising and donation tracking  •Grant management  •Event management  •Customizable reports and dashboards
Bloomerang		•Donor management  •Email marketing  •Fundraising tools  •Reporting and analytics •Volunteer management
NeonCRM		•Donor and member management  •Event registration and ticketing  •Fundraising and donation tracking  •Email and social media marketing  •Reporting and analytics

A quick google search will show you that there are a myriad of options when it comes to CRMs. This sample of 3 of them was to show you that you do have many to choose from. However, if you are this far down in this article we want to reward you with the avoidance of the analysis paralysis of researching all the potential solutions out there. We will save you that intensive chore and quickly point you to Salesforce.

Salesforce is our pick for the single best nonprofit tech tool out there for organizations of all sizes, and yes, that means even a 1 employee sized organization.

Why Salesforce you ask? It is actually the world’s leading CRM, with a ton of features and customization to suit your nonprofit, whatever your mission is. And for all its pedigree and functionality, it’s actually free* for Nonprofits. Salesforce packs a value for SSOT that’s hard to beat.
The asterisk on free means free for life, for several key users on your platform (up to 10 – that’s plenty) and then heavily discounted for every additional member that you may want add.
To learn more about how you can use Salesforce for free to deploy a SSOT implementation of your nonprofit data, Click here.

2. A Single View of Truth

Now, we know that more and more data is being created in your organization, and to stay on top of this data explosion, your data probably lives all over the place. Honestly, that’s okay, the most important thing is that you have a single view of a person/donor and their complete engagement history.

A single view of truth means consolidating all relevant data points into an easy-to-understand format that provides a holistic view of your organization’s operations.
This gives you a strong data foundation, and with a strong data foundation, your data becomes actionable. You can use it to drive decisions, insights, and even AI.

A good place to start with this data harmonization, is Integrations.
Integrate all your platforms to show a single view of contact made with a stakeholder, marketing campaigns that they are part of, documents shared with them, and other key data points.
There are some good tools out there that help with just this kind of thing, like Segment (Twilio), mParticle, Tealium AudienceStream, Adobe Experience Platform, and Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Insights.
Most of them are paid services and some do offer discounts and free version for nonprofits. What is ideal, is to pick one that can work well natively in your CRM of choice.

For us, this is where Salesforce with Data Cloud really pulls away from the alternative CRMs. The image above of “Alex Garcia” shows what Salesforce’s Single View of Truth looks like with Salesforce’s Data Cloud.

Data Cloud is a product of Salesforce, free for nonprofits, designed to help organizations unify and manage their stakeholder data across various sources, be that Azure Services, MuleSoft, AWS, Google Suite, Social Media, and puts all stakeholder engagement in a single unified stakeholder profile. Basically, your Data Knows No Bounds.
 

3. Get More Agitated!!!

Yes!! Forget the calm mindset, the monk vow of silence, and all the serenity guru talk for second. We are at war here! The enemy is in our camp and we have to sound the alarms, get the stones, the bows and arrows ready. We need to annihilate this presumptuous enemy called “Bad Data.”

Don’t fear to call out any Bad Data habit in your organization. It creeps in slowly and multiplies like a cancer.

Workmates may not like it when you’re assertive about bad data, but by you reading this, we think we can safely assume that you have the Bigger Picture of how much more impact your organization can have when you and all the stakeholders have an accurate 360⁰ view of the entire organization. Overtime, your passion for good and accurate data will bleed into the rest of your colleagues.

Bad data leads to poor decision-making, wasted resources, and missed opportunities. To prevent this, establish Strict Data Governance Policies.  

Ensure that data is regularly cleaned and validated. Set up processes for data entry that minimize errors, such as using standardized formats and automated validation checks.
To achieve this you will have to train your staff on the importance of data accuracy and the impact of their contributions to maintaining high-quality data. You may also have to engage in capacity building with professionals who have experience in quality data strategy implementation.

In conclusion,

All organizations should explore the transformative potential of data-driven decision-making. Managing data in your nonprofit is not just about organizing information; it’s about unlocking the potential to make a real difference in your mission. By implementing strategies like adopting a Single Source of Truth (SSOT), consolidating data into a Single View of Truth, and combating bad data, nonprofits can harness the power of data to drive better decisions, enhance efficiency, and ultimately, maximize their impact.

As you navigate the world of data management for your nonprofit, remember that there are powerful tools and resources available to support your efforts. Whether it’s leveraging customer relationship management (CRM) systems like Salesforce or utilizing data integration platforms that integrate well with your CRM, finding the right solutions can make all the difference.

But beyond technology, it’s essential to cultivate a culture of data stewardship within your organization. Empower your team to take ownership of data quality, prioritize accuracy, and champion the use of data-driven insights to drive your mission forward.

By embracing the power of data and adopting best practices for data management, nonprofits can unlock new opportunities, deepen their impact, and ultimately, change lives for the better. Together, let’s harness the transformative potential of data to create a brighter future for all.