Email Marketing Automation for Bonterra Impact Management (fka Social Solutio...
Data managementfornonprofits 2014-06-19
1. Y O U R M I S S I O N I S T O B U I L D A B E T T E R W O R L D .
O U R S I S T O H E L P Y O U S U C C E E D .
Effective Data Management
for Nonprofits
No silver bullet!
Responses ranged from
How to manage data effectively to database options and solutions
Data collection -> information
Fears around SF sales presentation!
Moving from existing older platforms to more current, more integrated solutions
How to choose
Folks use lots of ways to manage data – sticky notes to Excel sheets to sophisticated CRMs and everything in between.
Assess where people are:
How many
currently use a database already?
Looking for options that would be a good fit for their org?
Are looking to switch from what they have currently? What are some reasons?
To manage data effectively is to bridge the gap between inputs – hard data sets – and outputs – information or analysis – that an organization can use to make decisions and demonstrate a measurable community impact.
Don’t expect change overnight, panaceas, or silver bullets
Change is hard, and any DB project = big change throughout the org.
As a client told us – “it is certainly not for the faint of heart!”
New technology adoption rarely saves an organization a game-changing amount of money.
Tech can save the organization time so people can do more things or other things.
Tech can help make the organization more effective.
Tech can improve quality of work.
To manage data effectively is to bridge the gap between inputs – hard data sets – and outputs – information or analysis – that an organization can use to make decisions and demonstrate a measurable community impact.
Goals: Why is this important? What does it prepare the organization to achieve?
Go over tips & tricks in hand-out
Barry Schwartz, a psychologist who published a book called the Paradox of Choice a few years ago. Some of the conclusions have been challenged by subsequent research, but it is a bit murky where the point is where choice becomes too much choice.
I think if you stop and think about it, you probably have some anecdotal experience yourself with this. Schwartz claims that the research has shown that people feel sorrow about the opportunities they have forgone, they may also suffer regret about the option they settle on.
Here is why they are looking to make a purchase.
Coin toss on whether most people want integrated solutions or best of breed. The pendulum swings on that. The On-premises vs. cloud folks could be interpreted a couple of ways.
1. Figure out your goals.
2. Evaluate the importance of each goal.
3. Array the options.
4. Evaluate how likely each of the
options is to meet your goals.
5. Pick the winning option.
6. Goals may have changed
This is going to sound like a message of complacency or anti-intellectual. It is not meant to be. The idea is to moderate the behaviors that cause distress.
On choosing when to choose – restrict your options when the decision isn’t crucial. Only demo two or three products when the outcome isn’t mission-critical.
On Accepting good enough – settle on a choice fits your core requirements instead of conforming to what someone else says is “best.” There is always going to be someone out there thinks theirs is “better” or “best” don’t worry about it. Those are subjective terms and are inoculating themselves against a fear that they have chosen poorly. More socks to choose among doesn’t mean that one of them is going to be sufficiently better than any other sock to rock your world.
Don’t worry about what you are missing. Focus on the positive aspects of the choice you have made. Don’t ponder too much what it would be like to have gone with the other solutions.
Don’t expect magic and moonbeams. Life isn’t usual like a young adult novel or a movie. Sure, sometimes you will get magic and moonbeams, but if you expect it every time, you will be disappointed.
Most orgs are at the bottom or middle. Example – transformation is exciting and gets lots of press, but the work your orgs do is vitally important. Salmon story
Able to do things you weren’t able to do feasibly. Khan Academy, Walkscore, Kiva, WWF exploring how Google Glass can help protect rhinos
Transforming mission work through tech innovation
Technology is adding strategic value
Technology is directly involved in and transforming the way the org serves mission
Often means building novel tech solutions
Optimizing mission delivery through use of integrated applications
Technology is a mission enabler
Technology is improving service delivery
Often means customizing tech products/services
Getting stable and secure and operationally efficient
Technology is cost effective and planned-for
Basic tools are in place and break/fix is minimized
Often means using simpler, pre-packaged technology products/services
Change is hard.
The more people are involved in this discussion, the better the longer term adoption tends to be!
****Avoid going directly to the computer to map processes!