If you’ve migrated donor data from one CRM to another, no doubt you have dealt with a lot of difficult decisions. In fact, our donor data migration clients often express surprise at the number of decisions they have to make. In this post, we discuss our list of Top 10 Tough Donor Data Migration Decisions. From our webinar hosted by Bloomerang on August 20, 2014. Presented by Gary Carr, CEO Third Sector Labs.

1. Presents
10 Decisions
you will face with any donor data migration
?

2. Our Agenda
Please participate in our online poll while we
get organized for today’s event.
1. Overview
2. Some ground rules
3. Data migration - the process, the plan
4. 10 unavoidable decisions
– And what to do about them
5. Takeaways and Q&A
2

3. Nonprofit Data Services
Founded in 2013 by professionals with 20+ years of technology and data experience with
Fortune 500 companies, the federal government, and nonprofits
Offices in Washington, DC and Seattle, WA metro areas
www.thirdsectorlabs.com
LEVEL 1:
ASSESSMENTS AND
CLEANING
LEVEL 2:
DATA MANAGEMENT,
ENRICHMENT, MIGRATION
LEVEL 3:
WAREHOUSING, MINING,
VISUALIZATION
3
Gary Carr
President, Co-founder
gcarr@thirdsectorlabs.com
linkedin.com/in/gpfcarr

4. Let’s get started
4

5. No decision is
still a decision
10 Decisions
you will face in any donor data migration
5
Highly degradable
… just like people’s
lives
As in
“unavoidable”
There is always
risk when you
move
something

6. Data confound us … why?
“It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data.”
• Sherlock Holmes
“Data is the new oil.”
• Attributed to many people
“Data is not the new oil, but instead a new kind of resource entirely.”
• Jer Thorp, in a Harvard Business Review article
6
Confound
kon-FOUND, v
- To perplex or
amaze
- To through into
confusion or disorder

7. Here’s the heart of the problem …
“Personally, the NSA collecting data on me freaks me out. And I’m
from the generation that wants to put a GPS in their kids so I always
know where they are.”
• Joss Whedon, screenwriter, director
We are feeling overwhelmed … big data = big confusion
What data do we need … and what can we ignore?
7

8. Answering this question …
“What donor data do we need …
and what can we ignore?”
... sums up the purpose of today’s webinar.
8

9. You are here today because …
1. You are in the midst of a CRM migration and you are
looking for insights
1. You have a CRM migration coming up
1. You have completed a CRM data migration recently and
you are still wrestling with some problems
1. Data inspires you!
– Then you must want a job with Third Sector Labs 
9

10. Let’s set some ground rules
“Never tear down a bridge before you
know why it was built. It may be your
only means of retreat.”
10
- Seasoned general
- Successful technologist

11. Our data migration ground rules
1. Your donor relationships depend on data – all of them. Therefore
you need your donor data to be as “complete” as possible.
2. “Complete” = what you will actually use.
3. Your shiny new CRM represents your fundraising future, NOT your
past.
4. Not making a decision is still making a decision.
5. All data migrations start with an understanding of the process,
and they require a plan.
11

12. The process and the plan
12

13. It’s data moving time
?
13

14. The technical process
14

This is what we do!!


15. The technical process … really
1. ANALYSIS 2. MAPPING
3. DATA
EXTRACTION
4. Clean now or
later?
5. Parse now or
later?
6. NEW
DATABASE
CONFIGURATION
7. Test file
8. Re-configure
database
9. CREATE DATA
IMPORT FILES
10. IMPORT 11. Test 12. Re-import
13. Test
14. Remaining
cleaning, parsing
15. Create
archives
15
Steps most
people
focus on

16. Creating a plan
Actually, your data experts
will build the plan
You want to plan ahead and
be prepared … and ask better
questions.
Start with a checklist
Here’s one from the Third
Sector website.
http://3rdsectorlabs.com/resources/data-migration-
checklist/

17. Checklists

18. 10 unavoidable decisions
18

19. #1
Do we need data governance policies?
(by the way, what is “data governance?”)
19

20. Data governance
What’s that?

21. Correct answer
“Yes!”
Why?
Without policies and
standards, you won’t be
able to make the necessary
decisions to complete your
data migration.
There will be too many
unanswered questions.
21

22. Examples
1. Purpose
– For what purposes do we store donor / constituent data?
– What defines a “complete” donor record?
2. Processes
– What are our processes for data gathering / input?
– How frequently (and on what schedule) will we clean / update / enrich our
donor data?
3. Storage
– How long do we store old records?
– When does a prospect stop being a prospect and just become ‘bad data’?
– How many instances of an address or phone # or email do we store?
4. Security
– What are our data security standards?
5. Other … compliance? Systems integration?
22

23. #2
How many years of donor data do we
migrate?
23

24. Wrong answer
The data hoarder
in us all says:
“Bring it all!”
24

25. Correct answer
(Answering a question
with a question)
When was the last time
you logged into your
CRM and studied donors
or gifts older than 3
years?
“Start with 3 years”
Justify anything else with
specific use cases … not fear
of losing data
Archive the rest
25

26. #3
What about lapsed donors – do import
them too?
26

27. Hint
• This is a communications / fundraising problem.
• NOT a data problem
27
????

28. Correct answer: “It depends”
Option A:
“Segment your lapsed
donors upon import.”
• For newer, retention-based
CRMS like Bloomerang
Why?
You need a separate
outreach strategy for
lapsed donors:
- 2 or 3 communications
- New messaging,
targeted
- Anyone responding goes
into the new CRM
- Purge non-respondents
28

29. Correct answer: “It depends”
Option B:
“Do not import lapsed
donors.”
• If you can use your old system
• To manage the targeted
outreach campaign mentioned
on the previous slide
Why?
The majority of your
lapsed donors are
probably lost
- Don’t muck up your new
CRM engine with a
bunch of gunk
- Only bring over the
lapsed donors that you
re-engage
29

30. #4
What about data that we can’t / don’t
import?
30

31. Wrong answer
• “Keep trying … there’s
got to be a way to get it
all in there.”
• “But it all fits in the old
system!”
31

32. Correct answer
Why?
• Legacy data may be
poorly formatted
• Corrupt
• Doesn’t fit new CRM data
structure
• Doesn’t fit with new data
governance policies
• You want to be able to
get to it later … if you
need it
32
“Archive it.”
• No, not in an actual file
cabinet …
• Microsoft Excel, Access …
something simple

33. #5
We have a couple of ad hoc text fields
with lots of notes – what do we do
about them?
33

34. Wrong answer
“We need text fields in
our new CRM database.”
“You never know when
we may need the
flexibility.”
L Name F Name Gift Notes
Abrams Sally $500 Born 3/4/74
Married, Dave
One child, Cindy
Michigan State
Attended gala
Referred Dave Smith
David Randel $250 Has vacation home
in Florida
Wife, Cheryl
Subscriber to
newsletter
Forresta Jacque 4/17 – spoke about
giving; made pledge
5/14 – followed up
about gift pledge
Nevers Alicia $50 Only send emails; do
not direct mail
34

35. Correct answer
“Save it, and
parse it …
later”
Why?
• Don’t let a parsing
project interfere with a
data migration … it will
slow you down.
• The text data needs
analysis.
• The parsing potential
needs to be assessed
against your CRM
database.
35

36. What is parsing?
1. Analyze fields
2. Look for opportunities to
break data into multiple
fields
3. Export to suitable tool …
(Excel often works)
4. Separate the data in a
new file
5. Map the new fields to the
database
6. Re-import data in the
new file format
L Name F Name Gift Notes
Abrams Sally $500 Born 3/4/74
Married, Dave
One child, Cindy
Michigan State
Attended gala
Referred Dave Smith
David Randel $250 Has vacation home
in Florida
Wife, Cheryl
Subscriber to
newsletter
Forresta Jacque 4/17 – spoke about
giving; made pledge
5/14 – followed up
about gift pledge
Nevers Alicia $50 Only send emails; do
not direct mail
36

37. The result
L Name F Name Gift D.O.B. Spouse Childre
n
Alma
Mater
Subsc
riber
Comm
Choice
Soft
Credit
Notes
Abrams Sally $500 3/4/74 Dave Cindy Michigan
State
All Dave
Smith
David Randel $250 Cheryl Yes All Has vacation
home in Florida
Forresta Jacque All 4/17 – spoke
about giving;
made pledge
5/14 – followed
up about gift
pledge
Nevers Alicia $50 Email
37
Ground rule reminder:
“Complete” = what you
will use

38. #6
When should our data be cleaned,
before or after the data migration?
38

39. Data hygiene polling data
When was the last time you cleaned your
29%
13%
4%
53%
donor data?
3 months
6 months
12 months
Not sure
39
*Data from TSL 2014 webinar attendees

40. Correct answer: “It depends”
Rule of thumb:
“Before migration.”
Why?
Only bring over clean
data:
- Apply data governance
- Normalize
- De-dupe
- Purge
Post import:
- Append
- Parse
40

41. Correct answer: “It depends”
Exception to the rule:
“After migration.”
Why?
• If the plan calls for it
• If too many records are
co-mingled in a larger
database … uncertainty
about record ownership
• If there is migration
urgency
41

42. #7
We are three months into our data
migration project and we just figured
out that some data fields won’t
translate to the new CRM. What do we
do now?
42

43. Don’t panic!
43

44. This is not uncommon
1. This usually occurs after analysis, data mapping, CRM
configuration and initial testing is underway.
2. Then … Ah-ha!!
3. Some fields in the new CRM are not interpreting data
the way you expected .
4. How do you know?
– Reports look wrong
– Data seems missing
– Donor profiles appear incomplete
44

45. What to do
1. Stop the imports
2. Identify data gaps and mistakes
3. Re-map
– This can be tedious
4. Re-configure the new CRM database
– Do you need new or custom fields?
5. Create new test files
– Does the problem lie with the test file itself?
6. Then re-run your test imports
45

46. But be open minded
• If you can’t figure out a way for the new CRM to
accommodate the old data, you probably don’t need it
… and you were trying to hold onto it for the wrong
reasons.
46
Ground rule reminder:
The new CRM represents
your future, not your past!
• Is the real issue that the old
database is suffering from
bad data management
practices that the new CRM
won’t tolerate?

47. #8
We can’t agree on what data to keep
and what to purge. Can’t we just bring
it all over to the new CRM and decide
later?
47

48. Correct answer
“No!”
Why?
• You are stuck on one or more
data governance policies that
you don’t want to follow.
• Work through the problem.
• Remember: archiving data is
your piece of mind.
48
Ground rule reminder:
No decision IS a decision

49. #9
Once the migration is completed – and
our data is rock solid - who is
responsible for data quality?
49

50. Potential answers
1. Tech team or dba (database
administrator)
2. Marketing / communications
3. Fundraising
4. Consultant
50
(Just don’t expect this
level of enthusiasm)

51. Correct answer
“Any of them”
Why?
• All are good choices
• Depends on your org
structure
What is necessary:
1. Accountability
2. Budget
3. Manage data quality on
its own schedule
51

52. What do we know about data quality?
“If your data isn’t getter better, it’s getting worse”
-- TSL data scientist
“What! Why?”
-- audience

53. Data quality vs. data degradation
“Data degrades”
• What does that mean?

54. Data degradation
Cause #1: your organization
– Lack of data entry standards
– Unskilled data entry workers
– Common mistakes
– Record fragmentation
Cause #2: the technology
– Multiple, disparate systems
– System upgrades
– Integration, processing errors
– Sheer volume of data
Cause #3: those darned donors … life!
– Change in address … every 5 to 7 years
– Change in jobs … 9 to 11 jobs in a lifetime
– Family / life event … divorce rate, birth of children, death … what else?

55. That’s why data quality management requires
Three necessary ingredients:
1. Accountability
2. Budget
3. Manage data quality on its own schedule
55

56. #10
Do we need a data consultant to
complete our CRM migration, or can we
just rely on our new vendor?
56

57. At the risk of sounding self-serving …
“Probably”
(unless you have in-house
staffing)
Why?
• You need one or more
resources who can:
– Extract legacy data
– Clean, normalize and purge
– Create import files for the
new CRM
– Create post-migration
archives
57

58. New CRM vendor tech resources
• Want to receive a clean data set
• Configure the CRM database
• Import the clean data
• Get done as quickly as possible
Be sure to review a plan - including roles and
responsibilities - with your new vendor.
58
Ground rule reminder:
Data migrations require
a plan

59. Who is making sure you break down silos …
59

60. To achieve one complete view?
60
Aha!
Here she is!

61. Desired outcome of making these
unavoidable decisions
61

62. There are many
1. Clean data
2. Future focused
3. No wasted money on per-record SaaS costs
4. No wasted time due to bad data clogging up systems,
exports, etc.
5. Improved fundraising results
6. Better donor relationships
62

63. Remember … even with a new CRM
garbage in, garbage out

64. In conclusion
64

65. Take-aways
1. Understand the CRM data migration process
2. Identify the key decisions that will be made along the
way
3. Discuss pros and cons of decision options
4. Have a sense of preparedness and control over your
next data migration project

66. How we can help
Data basics
• Assessments, hygiene, management
Data intermediates
• Migrations, integrations, security
Data advanced
• Warehousing, mining, analytics,
66
visualizations
Gary Carr
President, Co-founder
ThirdSectorLabs.com
gcarr@thirdsectorlabs.com
linkedin.com/in/gpfcarr

67. For your time and attendance …
and …
a special thanks to our host
67
Thank you!

68. We’d like to hear from you!
Please submit your questions…
68
Q & A