Coding and decoding the

database puzzle; keeping

constituent information
current and accurate
Goals

„ Creative strategies for information

acquisition and maintenance.
„ Concepts.
„ Broad brush.
Who Are You?

„ Advancement Services?
„ Annual Fund?
„ Alumni Professionals?
Is your role clearly defined in regards
to data collection and acquisition, or
are these activities relegated to
another area of responsibility?
„ Other areas?
Information Challenges
 Data is ComplicatedResearch
Finance
Global
Economic &
Other External
Data Sources Student
Information
Giving Biographical
System

Events Solicitation Key for Enterprise

Telemarketing Analysis
Web Most Difficult to Get
Others
Outbound to the Web - Internal & External
Consumers
Not all Data is Visible

Your Data is Transparent Until You Start to Analyze It

Becomes Opaque Very Quickly

Data Mining Resources

http://www.supportingadvancement.com/reporting/reports.htm
Internationalization

https://www.starbucks.com/card/default.asp
Budget

Commit Resources Now & Plan Ahead

Resources Related to Volume
Staffing
Staffing
Staffing

Records is Often Back Room

Records Often Least Amount of Budget
Certification of Records Skill Set
We’re Not Always Good at Marketing
Privacy

„ One of the single biggest, if not the

biggest issue in the future for
acquiring information.
„ Complication of opt-outs.
„ Ongoing reactivity of privacy
legislation.

http://www.supportingadvancement.com/records/records.htm
Getting Started
Prioritize Elements to
Collect
First Contact
Your Web Space

„ Next to the personal visit, your alumni

web site and alumni community will
become the most important and cost
effective vehicle for collecting
information.

„ Data, networking, interests, behavior,

wealth tracking and much more …
Information Update
Forms
„ What’s in your form?

„ Compelling case statement?

„ Are you collecting everything you need
for the new age?
„ Contest, with published winners list?
„ Encrypted?
„ Internal and external forms.
Information Update
Forms
„ 50 Site Survey

# of clicks to information update

1 – 1 sites
2 – 6 sites
3 – 13 sites
4 – 2 sites
5 – 3 sites
No information update form – 25 sites
Lost Alumni

http://alumni.brandeis.edu/web/classes/lost_alumni.html
Lost Alumni

„ Acquisition prizes for turning in.

„ Online information on lost alumni
database driven always.
„ Blind contact friend to contact a friend
as part of the piece.
„ Work lost alumni at events on and off
web.
„ Lost alumni and ties to reunion both
on and off the web.
Lost Alumni

„ Six Degrees of Separation

Pursuant Group
„ Flash solicitation for finding lost alumni
including elements of gorilla
marketing.
„ http://pdt.findyourbrothers.org/sixdeg
rees/email_1.asp?tpgid=59943944&sn
=1
Steps to Effectiveness
Partnerships

„ Information Integrity/Acquisition
Committee
„ Annual fund for volume activities.
„ Partnerships with campus. Career
services, student services.
„ Dovetail information acquisition with
events.
„ Affinity partners.
Partnerships

„ Cooperative purchases. (National

Change of Address)
„ Colleges and departments provide
door prizes, raffle items to acquire
information etc. iPod a month.
„ Educating and presenting benefits to
all areas across campus.
Education – Benefits
of Good Addresses

KM
Approach
Conventional
Saves Money
Approach
Tailored

60 Mile Radius or 60 Minutes Driving Time

Justification Worksheet

http://www.supportingadvancement.com/records/data_integrity/impact_on_fundraising.htm
Performance Tracking

By Division, By Record Type, % of Active

Also Available Month by Month for Performance Tracking
% of Active Entities
With Good Home Address
100.0%

80.0%

60.0%

40.0%

20.0%

0.0% May 04 Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr 05

% of Active 63.0% 64.0% 64.0% 64.0% 64.0% 64.0% 70.0% 71.0%

Simplify Reporting of this for Management

Hybrid Data Entry Model

„ Gifts & Pledges – Central

Entity Creation – Central
Degrees – Central
„ Prospect Rating – Hybrid
„ Bio Maintenance – Central
„ Activities and Similar - Hybrid
Democratization of Database
Empowerment of Users
Buy in to System Use
Hybrid Data Entry Model

Easy to see who’s not

doing their work.

Bring their dean in

for a tour.

Assign Responsibility
Data Control Reports

„ Every time you find an error in the

database, store this and explanation in
a table grouped by user.
„ 1 Script, 1 Table
„ Hand out as a training tool.
„ Highly effective strategy in a
decentralized data entry environment.
Data Control Reports
Accountability

„ Job descriptions changed especially in

non-central office to measure
accountability.
„ Accountability for data based on who’s
responsible from a programmatic
standpoint.
„ Separate update responsibility from
information acquisition.
Random Ideas

„ Laminated luggage tags for business

cards to acquire employment.
„ Seeding ids in all mailings to get
copied publications.
„ Provide incentives to eliminate shadow
databases.
Lost Dogs
„ Lost Dogs Brochure

Better response if there’s a contest involved.

Publish winners list on web.
Pushing Your Site
The Future
The Future
„ No home phone numbers.
„ No address information submitted.
„ Checks may never be written.
„ Many email accounts.
„ New information on research profiles.
Web and Online Behavior
„ National change of address services may
become less useful.
The Future

„ Emails, documents, Podcasts, video

clips, blog postings and more become
essential pieces of information to track
and manage.
„ Robots, Electronic Content
Management Systems, Digital Rights
Management.
„ Creative Acquisition, email, flash, more
…
Too Much Info.
Resources

„ SupportingAdvancement.com
http://www.supportingadvancement.c
om (On the records page.)
„ ARMA and Other Associations
„ Lots of web resources out there.
Google search.
Any final questions?

http://www.supportingadvancement.com
brian.dowling@supportingadvancement.com