In this post, Jenny Walton of Bloomerang walks readers through a comparison of messy and clean nonprofit data.
Admit it. At one point in your life the phrase “clean data” didn’t mean anything to you. Honestly, I still think of numbers in a bubble bath every time I hear it. (Now you will, too!)
The good news is that the term “clean data” involves short, pronounceable words and is reasonably self-explanatory. Unfortunately, “reasonably self explanatory” isn’t super helpful if you’re imagining numbers in a bathtub. Trust me.
Words to associate with “clean data”
- Accurate
- Complete
- Consistent
- Organized
Think of it like this
You’re a nonprofit, and you’ve been tracking data from donations, events, and programs for a few (or 20) years in spreadsheets. Now you’re ready to commit to a donor management system, and the salesperson asks you about how how clean your data is.
Appropriate response to this question: Deer in headlights.
But here’s what the salesperson’s actually asking: To what degree is your data accurate, complete, consistent, and organized?
Read more at: https://tinyurl.com/yd3cvvcc
