How to Eat an Elephant? January 11, 2010

You know the answer, don't you?  One bite at a time!

If you know you need to get your data organized, consistent, and well-managed, and it's currently none of the above, just the thought of tackling it can be overwhelming.

We have a conversation going on in our GiftWorks User Group on LinkedIn that is relevant for the many who find themselves in this situation (another great reason to join our community - you can join an active and supportive group of GiftWorks users and consultant partners!). 

If your data is incomplete, inaccurate and inconsistent and you don't know where to start, what should you do?  In this case, the conversation initiator has 5000 records that are in some form of this "3-i" state.  She asked for advice on how to tackle the project.  Should she wait until after her upcoming fundraiser to start?

The advice was detailed and varied , but all agreed that she should use the fundraiser as the starting point.  Take the attendees and contributors to the event and ensure that their records are correct, consistent and complete.  Start managing these in GiftWorks going forward.  As GiftWorks guru Duke Speer pointed out, "If you don't you will be repeating this scenario a year from now as without a deadline, the harder work just gets postponed."

A fellow nonprofit, who had a similar situation, decided to hire a consultant to clean and get them on a fresh start, and also made the decision to invest staff time to getting done more quickly.  If she can't do this now, his advice is to get started with GiftWorks either through her fundraising event and current records.  "While it's painful to deal with the shortcomings of either approach, the worst spot to be in is to continue to be tied up by the crummy data and not see the light at the end of the tunnel."

I share this with you so that if you find yourself in this situation, you are not the first, last or only.  But deciding to take the leap and deal with your data problems, rather than ignoring it (or waiting until you have "more time"), is absolutely necessary and critical if you want to take your organization the next level.

Enjoy that elephant and good luck!