I have been writing a lot about Marketing Automation Software in recent weeks. And, as I researched and thought about the wonderful aspects of various marketing automation technologies on the market, it reminded me of a basic necessity in the best marketing technologies or any database for that matter today; and that’s clean data. In this article, I discuss some fundamental challenges with data quality and offer 5 ways to help minimize those issues with donor software for nonprofits.
Doing business these days can feel a lot like watching a fast paced professional basketball game, everything is moving fast, and it’s hard to know where to look to keep up with the action. Along with massive improvements in technology, and even more efficient methods there are as many moving elements with keeping track of your data.
Having good clean data is paramount for any organization to utilize their database successfully for any purpose. Yet, it’s not uncommon for many nonprofit executives who call us for help in finding the best database software, to forget that fact. And, it’s hard to accept sometimes that it’s not a new Nonprofit CRM Software which is required but rather the problem with their database is poor data practices.
So, this is a bit of reminder that data accuracy is still an area for major improvement in many organizations today. And, the main cause of data quality issues are the result of human error. And, since we can’t get rid of humans, it’s important to know that there are several effective ways to improve your company’s data quality without drop kicking the CRM Software you have in place now.
5 Key Steps to Improve Data Quality
Identify Data Entry Points: Knowing who’s inputting the data, and where they are getting it from, can help eliminate redundancies, and discover where the errors are happening and why. Also, pinpointing where the high volume channels are, and where the most errors are happening will dictate where more attention, or staff need to be focused.
Thoroughly Train Staff: Properly educated staff will go along way with data accuracy. Avoid keeping your staff trained and up to date with your existing Nonprofit Database Management Software.
Utilize Automated Tools: Use automation to verify data, and ensure accuracy. Identify what data elements are of the utmost importance and prioritize and evaluate the best possible solutions.
Keep Databases Clean and Software Updated: Constant maintenance is imperative to ensure systems are performing at expected levels, and all tools are fully functioning. Also, make sure to run appropriate updates to maximize improvements in technology.
Reduce Duplicate Data: Multiple points of entry and human error are to blame for duplicates in your data. In order to reduce and remove duplicate data create a standardized contact platform, and deploy software designed to identify duplicates.
It’s inevitable that as long as there are humans working, there will be human errors happening, however, with the proper procedures in place, well-educated staff, and current technology, there’s no reason your company can’t improve the data quality in your database.
If you are contemplating a system change, please contact us to be sure that it is the right course of action rather than data quality. Until then, keep SmartThoughts in mind.
