One source of truth: From Spreadsheets to a Data Eco-System

501c3 Technologists
Building Powerful Salesforce Solutions for Chicago’s nonprofits

One Source of Truth
From Spreadsheets to a Data Eco-System

July 11, 2011
Charlie Havens, Presenter
Building powerful Salesforce solutions for Chicago’s nonprofits.

www.501c3technologists.com

501c3 Technologists

About 501c3 Technologists
• IT support to small nonprofits in the Chicago
area since 1999.
• Specialize in organizations with fewer than 20
staff (but have supported as many as 90
workstations).
• Focus is Salesforce solutions for nonprofits
without IT staff and who strategically decide
to outsource such skills.

501c3 Technologists

Pulse Check!
Are you with us?
• We’re going to do a quick poll to start us off.
• Two survey questions now and one at the end.
• Answer all three and receive a small thank you.
• $10 Amazon gift card.


501c3 Technologists

As the poll questions appear select your answer and hit the
submit button.

1. Does your organization currently use Salesforce?
Yes /No?

2. Is your primary data stored in spreadsheets?
Yes /No?


501c3 Technologists

Traditional Spreadsheets Thriving Data Eco-System
Benefits of Moving:
• consistent shared data among users/departments
• ever-growing connections, between the tools you use
• data eco-system grows to include larger areas of work

501c3 Technologists

Traditional Spreadsheets Thriving Data Eco-System
Problems with Change:
• difficult transition • cost
• clean, consistent data • time
• de-duplicating records • new tools

501c3 Technologists

The mechanics of change can be challenging,
but they can be handled:

 Train staff
 Outsource complex aspects

Changing the mechanics of your processes may require time
(sometimes long-suffering patience), open mindedness, budget…

…but the more substantial change requirements
are…

501c3 Technologists

The bigger changes are
 Culture
 Business Processes
Moving to an organization to a culture of continuous
improvement based on a data eco-system requires a shift
in the importance given to data.


501c3 Technologists

Budget time and/or money for data, as though
it were utilities, rent, and insurance;  INSURANCE
things you must pay to stay open!
 RENT
 UTILITIES


501c3 Technologists

Data needs an advocate. A CHAMPION!

But in the end, it must be more than one
person internalizing the importance of data.

501c3 Technologists

The entire organization or department must
“own” its data.
Not everyone need be an expert!
• Some need to know how to generate or read
reports

• Some may only need to type in certain kinds
of data

• Others need to be intimately involved in
determining what needs to be tracked and
measured www.501c3technologists.com

501c3 Technologists

Data eco-systems require several roles.
• Data Eco-System Patron
• Work Process Analyst
• Data Eco-System Admin
• Lead & End Users
• Consumers of the info


501c3 Technologists

Data Eco-System Patron/Sponsor
(yes, these people are usually Saints!)

Like getting a puppy for a gift, someone must insure
that it gets the care, feeding, and shots, that it
requires.

Though that patron and the actual care-takers
within the household may both change over the life-
time of the pet, for the pet to be a healthy part of
the household, someone must be its patron and see
that there are care-takers.


501c3 Technologists

Work Process Analyst

• What is worth tracking?

• How will data impact our processes?

• Where does this system need to expand,
grow, contract?

• How fast should it grow and what
resources will it require?

501c3 Technologists

Data Eco-System Administrator
• How are the organization’s decisions about its
data eco-system implemented, enforced,
controlled, shared?
• Which users get access to what data and what can
they do with that access?
• How is one area of data related to another and
how might we track or report on that
relationship?
• How can we build systems that make this tracking
and entering of data easier and more fool proof?


501c3 Technologists

Lead User
• Staff who become the internal
experts on the use of the system or
parts of the system

• The ones who help train new staff
(and everyone else!)

End User
• People who need to enter data, use,
and see data, and make reports
based on that data.

501c3 Technologists

Information Consumers

• Consumers of the resultant
information. Those who use it
to evaluate outcomes of
processes. Are our processes
producing outcomes aligned
with our mission?


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Why are you growing a Data Eco-System?

What problem are you
What opportunity are solving?
you creating? www.501c3technologists.com

501c3 Technologists

Budgeting
Time Money
Organizations don’t often budget
time or money for spreadsheets.

However, you are:
• Building something more
robust.

• Making data central to how
your organization achieves its
mission.


501c3 Technologists

Trajectory
Is that data clean?
• Define purpose Are there duplicate records?
Are the email addresses formatted
correctly without extra spaces before,
• Establish patron after, or mixed into the address?
Are names separated by first, last, middle,
suffix, prefix,
Is the punctuation consistent? Mr, Ms,
• Data migration Mrs. with periods following or without?
Are formats consistent for phone
numbers and dates?
• Ongoing
maintenance

501c3 Technologists

Data must be CLEAN!
Cleaning Tools, Shortcuts, Resources
Outsourcing?
• Spreadsheet functions:
Questions for consultant:
How will your dataVLookup, Trim, etc.
Concatenate, need to be separated?
• Third-party Salesforce tools:
Will you need separate spreadsheets for
Apsona for Salesforce & Demand
donations pledged, donations made, for
Tools.
contacts, households, and organizations?
• Import into Access database for
How do related records on those
clean-up.
separate spreadsheets get “related” to
• Outsource.
each other? www.501c3technologists.com

501c3 Technologists

So much to consider… How to proceed?
A bad option and two good ones:
• Just Do It! Tell a consultant to implement things the way
they know best. (Watch the good ones gulp, and then, run.)
• Begin the internal processes yourself and create a plan for
learning and transitioning. Take your time, talk to others,
study the resources available through Salesforce and
Salesforce Foundation.
• Start with a consultant, or after doing some of the internal
work yourselves, transition to a consultant to guide you in
the mechanics and/or business process considerations.


501c3 Technologists

OR

Thoughtful planning will result in a robust thoughtful
foundation on which to build. The end results will be a
healthy, powerful and useful growing data eco-system.

501c3 Technologists

Thank You!
Charlie Havens
www.501c3Technologists.com
Cell: 773-848-0154
Email: Charlie@501c3t.com
Wooded Isle Inc.
1507 E 53rd St., #135
Chicago, IL 60615


501c3 Technologists

Last questions for gift card
3. Was attending today’s webinar worth your time? (This
will NOT affect you gift card eligibility! And no one is
going to “get in your grill” if you answer “no!” We
appreciate your honest feedback.)

Yes /No/Maybe ?

For those who answered all three questions, 501c3 Technologists will send you
an email asking for where to mail the $10 Amazon gift card.

501c3 Technologists

Your Responses?

Charlie Havens
www.501c3Technologists.com
Cell: 773-848-0154
Email: Charlie@501c3t.com
Wooded Isle Inc.
1507 E 53rd St., #135
Chicago, IL 60615


One source of truth: From Spreadsheets to a Data Eco-System

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