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Data is a nonprofits best friend and should be treated as one of it’s most powerful tools. Consider the information your organization may be recording on its donors, constituents, and programs. It is easy to understand that the data must be of the highest quality in order for it to be used effectively and lead to measurable success and growth. However, data entry is often a tedious job; left as a side thought to the other work that needs to get done.
A data map is a great way to document the process of uncovering the secrets of a data set. We use them for so many different reasons. To take a catalogue of what is in the old system. To take another catalogue of all the fields that are in the new system. To show a client where all their data is going and how.
Does the thought of migrating data make you want to run screaming? Is your organization using the NonProfit Starter Pack (NPSP)? Do you have data you need to migrate into Salesforce? Fear not System Administrator, the fabulous team over at the Salesforce Foundation has created a tool to help, the NPSP Data Importer tool. This tool is designed to allow you to migrate Contacts, Accounts and Opportunities to the NPSP. Let’s take a deep dive in to see how the tool works.
What would happen to a nonprofit that uses Salesforce and loses donor information or program evaluation data? At best, it would mean a loss of team productivity in the scramble to recreate data from the Weekly Export. And at worst, it might harm the nonprofit’s reputation and ability to fulfill its mission.
As a solo administrator, you’re a lone wolf, but it’s a big, dangerous world out there. The time to get smarter about managing your organization’s data has arrived. Here are a few tips to get you started.
Nothing sinks a new implementation faster than bad data. Users will quickly lose faith in the tool as well as those leading the implementation effort if incomplete, incorrect, or irrelevant data is present.
Read more about data best practices.
Switching between two systems is always a tough process. The data migration, getting used to something new, having to change the way you and your team does things. It’s enough to keep you on an old system for years after you probably should have moved off. But for Common Ground customers, the switch is inevitable and decisions have to be made, since that product is being retired.
Every day there should be a conversation that happens between you and the data inside of your Salesforce instance. Starting that conversation is not always easy but in the end you and your data will be thrilled that you did.
Respecting a donor’s request for anonymity is critical to your relationship with your donors but your organization should retain the donor’s name and contact information when available so that if the donor asks for tax documentation you can provide that and maintain accurate donation records in Salesforce.
This new Salesforce Analytics Cloud helps “everyday users” (not trained analysts) make informed decisions. However, implementing this technology would require a significant commitment from your organization. Here are a few tips to make your implementation of the Analytics Cloud easier.
