Much
of a charity’s work these days is about building strong
and effective relationships – with donors, volunteers
and beneficiaries. Yet you may be dealing with hundreds
of different people every week. That means it’s only
possible to talk to someone knowledgably about their particular
interests and issues if somewhere behind the scenes is a robust
and well-managed database.
Sometimes the information that you need for such a database
is scattered in different spreadsheets, sometimes you need
to upgrade to better software. The result is that you need
to ‘migrate’ your data from an old system to a
new one.
We were faced with these challenges earlier this year when
we got a call from ITV Fixers – a new TV and web initiative
to encourage youth volunteering. They are inviting thousands
of young people to change things for the better and then to
make a film showcasing their project online. These films will
be streamed on a dedicated web channel on ITV Local, and some
projects will also be featured on television. Every single
volunteer will be looked after throughout their involvement
in the 18-month campaign.
We supplied the ITV Fixers team with the CTK Online Data Manager
(ODM) to help them manage their relationships with the young
volunteers and provide appropriate support along the way.
The database is online and contains information about different
projects designed by
the young volunteers, the individuals involved and associated
organisations. The database provides the team with a way of
tracking and monitoring projects, as well as managing their
relationships with the young volunteers.
ITV Fixers first got in touch in January of this year. Their
main campaign kicks off in June – with a series of news
features in the ITV Meridian, Thames Valley and West regions.
But they had already started to find young people who wanted
to participate, and around 50 were eager to get more involved.
So ITV Fixers had started to build up data about the young
people, their ideas, potential films, and associated organisations
in various spreadsheets.
That meant our first task – as it is with most software
customers – was to recommend the best way to efficiently
and effectively migrate this data into the new system. I know
that many charities tend to regard moving data from an old
system into a new one as a necessary but uninspiring chore.
However, I believe that planning and navigating the data migration
process is vital.
The ITV Fixers team was clear that it knew which pieces of
information needed to be moved to the new system. Members
of the team felt they were best placed to decide which data
to keep and move to the new online database, which to archive,
and which to delete.
This is unusual – we are often asked to do basic data
migration work for a charity when they buy a new software
system: migration that the charity is actually better placed
to do.
The ITV Fixers project is run by the Public Service Broadcasting
Trust. Their CEO, Margo Horsley, said that developing the
new database involved creating a flow diagram that shows the
whole process of involvement a young person might have with
ITV Fixers.
“As we developed the database we really clarified our
thinking over what would happen from the moment a young person
gets in touch to the point at which they’ve made a film
and are ready to move onto another project or some other activity.
It’s easy to think that databases and data are just
about storing bits of information, but they can actually be
at the heart of developing a positive relationship with someone
and ensuring they have the best possible experience as they
take part in a project.”
Mark Kemp is director of The Gallery Partnership
www.gallerypartnership.co.uk/ODM
Additional considerations
- For smaller organisations, consider the feasibility
of choosing to archive old data and manually key critical,
existing data—rather than paying to have it loaded
electronically
- Carefully review the data you have and ask yourself:
“Why did I collect this data? Is it still useful?”
- Would it be just as efficient to archive it in an easily
accessible format and start afresh with the data that
you really need to best achieve your mission?
- Ask your technology consultants how best to archive
data that is not currently useful, but you feel needs
to be saved. We strongly recommend that charities avoid
archiving old data in a new system. It is usually expensive,
the archives are almost never used and the current information
can get lost among the old. The same archive can often
be achieved (at minimal cost) by just storing a copy of
your legacy system
- Try to use a new software purchase as the opportunity
to review your current work flow and data collection protocols
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