Among all the resources required to run an organization, data is one of the most essential and valuable. Data management is a complicated procedure, especially for Non-Profits, where it carries primary importance in the operations of the organization.
The routine operations of Non-Profit organizations involve several recordkeeping tasks. Manually managing them can be challenging, with more room for errors. Data management for Non-Profits has evolved a lot over the past few years, and new trends have come into play.
Effective data management enables your Non-Profit to make an improved overall impact. It enhances the organization’s efficiency, improves relationships, and leads to better decision-making.
What is Data Management?
Data management is the process of collecting, organizing, encrypting, storing, and processing raw data. It ensures that the databases’ data are readily available for decision-making for authorized access only.
Data management is essential for strategic decision-making for an organization. Data management for Non-Profits refers to the organization, processing, and secure storage of data collected by Non-Profits. It includes donors’ data, volunteers’ data, market trends, and the organization’s performance.
Benefits of Data Management for Non-Profits
Although data management is vital for all organizations; Non-Profits need to give it prime importance. This is because Non-Profits thrive by establishing strong relations with their key stakeholders. Data management aids in establishing and building these relationships.
The following are the ways how Non-Profits benefit from data management.
Enhanced Data Security
Effective data management leads to enhanced security of sensitive data. A significant part of data collected by Non-Profits consists of donor data. Non-Profit organizations need to take great care of the safety, security, and legit use of this personal data. Securely deleting useless data is also a concern for them.
Using data management software such as CRM allows Non-Profits to organize and encrypt their data assets such that they are secure from unauthorized access. Moreover, Non-Profits must follow data security regulations for the data they collect and use. Effective data management covers all these functions and provides Non-Profits with the assurity to safely utilize data assets to fuel their functions.
Creation of Viable Opportunities
The goal of data management is to securely collect and organize databases to draw useful conclusions about them. When data is well-organized in the databases, it is easier to get meaningful insights for the Non-Profits.
Organizations can utilize different tools such as trend analysis, graphs, and other visual representations to transform the raw data into meaningful datasets. As a result, it creates new opportunities for organizations to expand their operations. They can find opportunities to promote their cause and efforts well and attract more donors.
Better Strategic Planning
The concentrated Non-Profit market urges Non-Profits to walk the extra mile to achieve their goals. Organizations that plan for the future in advance have the edge over other competitors. The insights obtained through effective data management help Non-Profits create their short- and long-term plans.
Non-Profits can analyze their current plans on the basis of past data and forecast the future. When you back your plans with numerical evidence, tracking and monitoring your performance is easier.
Steps for Non-Profit Data Management Strategy
Your Non-Profit data management strategy gives you the direction to manage your data efficiently. Having a comprehensive data management strategy is important to achieve your organization’s goals.
You must follow the following steps for an effective Non-Profit data management strategy.
1. Define your organizational goals.
The first step is to identify and analyze the goals and objectives of your organization. The goals provide a direction to invest your financial and human resources. Make sure you define your goals clearly, and there is no room for ambiguity. You must know the objective behind collecting data, what kind of data you need, and what data is relevant to your decision-making process.
2. Choose the right data management software.
Several data management software is available for Non-Profits. You need to choose the one that caters to your data management needs. The standard functions are usually the same in all data management software, with a variation in additional features.
Does your organization focus on email marketing or data automation? Do you need assistance in planning or data reporting? Such types of questions will define what features you need in your data management software. Besides features, you must consider affordability and ease of use while choosing the right software.
3. Decide what data to collect.
Determining what data you need to collect is important to ensure you are not wasting your resources on unnecessary data. It can be an overwhelming process, especially for larger Non-Profits. The following are the types of data usually relevant for Non-Profits.
- Donors data
- Market trends
- Campaign performance
- Website traffic and analytics
- Financial data
Besides this, you must also define what details you are looking for. For instance, donor data relevant to your organization can be donors’ names, ages, gender, donation frequency, and contact details. This will simplify the whole data management process for your organization.
4. Define your metrics.
Once you have collected data, you need to clean and audit it. For this, you need some performance indicators or metrics to understand what matters to your organization. Analyze your collected data based on your metrics to decide what to keep and what to discard.
Another important thing is to update your databases regularly. Outdated data can affect your strategic planning and decisions. The data you retain must be reliable to create value for the organization.
5. Allow secure access to the data.
Securely storing data is an important part of the data management strategy. If you fail to store data securely, it can cause problems for your organization. Ensure that only authorized access is allowed to your Non-Profit’s database so that no data security regulations are breached.
Do not complicate the access to enhance security. The decision makers must have an easy and quick access to readable data to incorporate the insights into their planning.
Conclusion
Non-Profit organizations cease to stand out from the crowd in the modern world without effective data management. Make sure you have a foolproof data management plan following the best practices. Employ highly effective data management software to automate the job and maximize your organisation’s benefits.