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GETTING THE MOST OUT OF YOUR DATABASE

PRESENTED BY MARK R SCOTT III

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WHAT ARE WE TALKING ABOUT?

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Data

Information

Relationship

Mission Accomplished

WHAT ARE WE TALKING ABOUT?

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Data gives rise to information

Information builds relationship

Relationships accomplish your

mission

Your organisation’s mission

makes the world a better place!

WHAT ARE WE TALKING ABOUT?

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WHY CAN I TALK WITH YOU ABOUT

THIS SUBJECT?

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• 6 years at Blackbaud

• Worked with thousands of

customers

• 3 Masters degrees, 2 are

technology related

• 28+ years of technology work

experience

WHY I CAN TALK WITH YOU…

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WARNING:

THIS PRESENTATION MAY CONTAIN

A LITTLE CHEESY/CHEEKY

ENCOURAGEMENT ALONG THE

WAY.

GRUMPY PEOPLE SHOULD LEAVE

NOW.

#NOFROWNS

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DATA - KEEP IN MIND THE

ORIGINAL DESIGN

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1. Rubbish in – rubbish out

How do you want to be

addressed in a letter?

- Dear ,

- Dear JOHN,

- Dear E John,

- Dear Dr Smith,

DATA

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You might need to develop data

standards

•These fields need to be

formatted this way

•You have to do this for every

account

•You have to train your staff

RUBBISH IN – RUBBISH OUT

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2. Put important stuff in the

right place/Field

• If you need it in a report, you

have to put it in the database

• We have to report on gender

• Who receives what mailing

DATA

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DATA

Don’t put meaningful data in a

NOTE.

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•Not On This Earth

•Fundraising vs fudnraising

•This is a very important donor!

•Don’t mention the divorce

•Partner just passed away

recently…

N.O.T.E.

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DATA GIVES RISE TO INFORMATION

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INFORMATION

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“The greatest enemy of knowledge

is not ignorance, it is the illusion of

knowledge.” – Stephen Hawking

• The cost to fix a data error at the time of entry is $1. The cost to fix it

an hour after it's been entered is $10. And the cost to fix it several

months later is $100+. - The Cost of Bad Data is the Illusion of

Knowledge by Tomasz Tunguz

INFORMATION

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INFORMATION

BUILDS/KEEPS/SOLIDIFIES/MAINTAINS

RELATIONSHIPS

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• People who build great relationships treat every one

of their relationships that way. (That's a lesson I

need to take to heart more often.) - Jeff Haden in

and article titled, “9 Habits of People Who Build

Extraordinary Relationships: The most extraordinary

professional relationships are built by ordinary

actions like these”

• Consider these relationships:

• Your spouse, partner, girl/boy-friend

• Volunteer

• Donor

• Major Gift prospect

HOW DOES INFORMATION AFFECT

RELATIONSHIPS?

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RELATIONSHIPS ACCOMPLISH

YOUR MISSION

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• Do you want to spend the rest of your life selling

sugared water or do you want a chance to

change the world? • A comment Steve Jobs made in persuading John Sculley to become Apple's

CEO, as quoted in Odyssey: Pepsi to Apple: A Journey of Adventure, Ideas,

and the Future (1987) by John Sculley and John A. Byrne

RELATIONSHIPS ACCOMPLISH MISSIONS

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INTENTIONALLY BLANK SLIDE – WAIT FOR IT…

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Data gives rise to information

Information builds relationship

Relationships accomplish your

mission

Your organisation’s mission

makes the world a better place!

TAKE AWAYS

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• Data entry is a foundational building block to learning more about the

people that support your organisation

• It costs you a lot more to correct inaccurate data because you are

often lead to incorrect assumptions (misinformation) or worse, you

base knowledge off of inaccuracies

- These cause you to damage relationships or make a poor first impression

- Worse, it can cost you more than you realize (remember the org that didn’t

send Thank You’s for less than $200 donations?)

• To find your data standards/requirements, simply start with what is

important for your organisation to report on or know about your

constituents.

• Train all your data entry staff to understand why Fields are important,

what different Values mean to the organisation, and ensure that

management understands the costs/losses that are the result of poor

data entry.

• All the technology in the world won’t help you if you can’t build

relationships.

• Never be afraid to ask for help. No one got to be an expert by learning

it all on their own – find a mentor and be a mentor.

TAKE AWAYS - EXPLAINED

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Mark Scott

Consultant

Mark.Scott@Blackbaud.com.au

Linked In: Click here

THANK YOU FOR STOPPING BY!