It’s easy to collect; it’s harder to manage

It's easy to collect; it's harder to manage

The beauty of today's highly configurable AMS products is that they make it very easy to collect and store data. But configuring the system is actually the easy part. The "hard" part is ensuring there is a process in place to collect and manage the data and that this process is executed consistently over time.

My experience with my clients is that very often good ideas are initiated but long-term follow-through is missing. For example, I once worked with a client who had about a dozen different demographic fields in their system with data that wasn't really being populated or used. When I asked why, the answer (three separate times) was a variation of "We had a marketing director who wanted to collect that data, and when she left, we stopped collecting it." (This was three different marketing directors!)

It's very easy to set up the system to gather data, and often it's even relatively easy to initially populate that data (e.g., use a survey to collect a member's area of expertise). But that data needs to be managed over time or it quickly loses its value. That's where the challenge lies.

So if you're tempted to start collecting some new data points, make sure you have a plan for not only collecting and storing that data, but managing that data for years to come.

Wes's Wednesday Wisdom Archives

Start with “Why” before you move to “How”

September 20, 2023

Start with “Why” before you move to “How” Something I’ve noticed over my years in …

Start with “Why” before you move to “How” Read More »

The power of users groups!

September 13, 2023

The power of users groups! Last week I had the honor and pleasure of speaking …

The power of users groups! Read More »

Associations are complex businesses!

September 6, 2023

Associations are complex businesses! One of the reasons managing data at an association can be so …

Associations are complex businesses! Read More »

Snapshots are required

August 30, 2023

Snapshots are required Recently a couple of different clients have asked me why it’s necessary …

Snapshots are required Read More »

“It’s in the database…”

August 16, 2023

“It’s in the database…” I often joke with my clients that AMS nirvana looks like …

“It’s in the database…” Read More »

Using the Pomodoro Technique for data management

August 9, 2023

Using the Pomodoro Technique for data management I’m a huge fan of the Pomodoro Technique, …

Using the Pomodoro Technique for data management Read More »

You need a PLAN to deal with duplicates

August 2, 2023

You need a PLAN to deal with duplicates Here’s the thing about duplicate records: No …

You need a PLAN to deal with duplicates Read More »

Asking for more is a good sign…

July 26, 2023

Asking for more is a good sign… A client who had recently implemented a new …

Asking for more is a good sign… Read More »

Take action…

July 19, 2023

Take action… “The greatest wisdom not applied to action and behavior is meaningless data.” – …

Take action… Read More »

The Rule of 100 and 1,000 revisited

July 12, 2023

The Rule of 100 and 1,000 revisited I’m finding that the “Rule of 100 and …

The Rule of 100 and 1,000 revisited Read More »

Scroll to Top