Our front-line fundraisers are usually busy with meetings, events, and other donor activities. How do we encourage them to enter data into the system correctly and accurately?
This is never an easy task, and the advancement services team or a database manager can’t do it alone. To address the first question, it’s always best to get support from your management team. Ideally, your management team should understand the importance of tracking this data and can help convey the importance of making accurate and timely updates. An easy way to convey this to the team is via Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). Front-line fundraisers and leadership should agree upon KPIs and include goals that can be directly measured with your data, such as the number of solicitations delivered or visits recorded. This will not only hold staff accountable for entering their data but also incentivize them to enter it to track their own progress toward goals.
Now, to address the second part of the question: this is where robust reporting can make a difference. Reports can be used to measure progress to goal or track KPIs, and as a data audit tool to clarify to all staff whether they are correctly entering data. For example, I recommend scheduling a weekly report on actions and activities (Actions in Raiser’s Edge, Activities in Salesforce, and Steps in Tessitura) that is distributed to all staff. If a fundraiser sees that the report is missing an activity they entered, that fundraiser can confirm that the activity was entered appropriately, and update it if not. Reports that staff can use to understand their work, or those that allow individuals to see themselves in overall team progress, are critical in helping all staff members see the benefits of entering accurate data in a timely fashion.
We’re ready to invest in your success. Are you?
