Data Management

A new article has been posted to my website. Sometimes, no action is better than some action. It’s times like these when I say “Don’t just do something, stand there! Want to know why? Click here to read the article. Of course, if you’re already on my announcements list, you would have received notice of this new […]

I was recently asked for some guidelines on data conversion, when moving from one database to another. Here are some tips to keep in mind: Convert only the data you need. And the data you need is probably less than you think. For example, other than open invoices (invoices for which money is still owed),

Two new articles have been posted to my website. The first is The Untapped Sources of Business Intelligence. For many associations, useful behavioral data exists beyond what is typically managed in the AMS. And while this data may not be as easily accessible as the AMS data, it can provide valuable additional context about members

NTEN (the Nonprofit Technology Network) just released the results of their Data Ecosystem Survey. As they explain on their website: The data ecosystem is the collection of tools we use to manage all the ways we interact with donors, volunteers, activists, and supporters. We wanted to find out how happy organizations are with each of the

I admit I’m a data freak. I loves me some good stats. But one has to be very careful when interpreting data, especially something like “percentage increase.” For example, in this article, the sub-head states: “Millennials show the highest increase in participation [of loyalty programs]” The article goes on to say “… participation jumped 19

The end of 2009 marked the end of my first decade as a consultant. In that time I’ve consulted with over 100 associations, ranging in size from 1 staff to over 700 staff. Ten years is a long time, especially in the technology realm. As I look back over those ten years, I see there

Very often I learn my clients are managing data in a way that is “easier” for now, but winds up creating much more work later. Some immediate examples: Using a third party registration company to manage meeting registration (less work) and importing the attendance data back into the primary database (more work). Managing lists of

CDC Software has purchased gomembers, an AMS provider. You can read more about the acquisition here. There has been a fair amount of “turmoil” in the AMS industry over the past couple of years, most certainly driven in part by the tough economic times. It will be interesting to see what kind of impact this

I’m a huge fan of Amazon.com. I’ve been buying from them for years and have been an Amazon Prime member pretty much since they started the program. But Amazon can still find ways of amazing me. Last week on a Monday, my wife placed an order on Amazon at 7.55pm. According to Amazon’s site, if

Twice in the past couple of weeks (with different groups) I’ve heard words to the effect of: “We want to be careful about who we communicate with. We don’t want the whole world to know about this, because we would be inundated by inquiries from people who can’t benefit from what we’re offering.” I can’t