Tips for Customer Database Maintenance

 
Just as for-profit businesses track information about customers, mission-based organizations (nonprofits, non-governmental organizations or NGOs, public sector organizations, civil society organizations, etc.) must track information about people too: volunteers, clients, potential supporters, current donors, ticket-buyers, event attendees, etc.

The following database-related advice is especially designed for the unique needs of small mission-based organizations. Staff at these organizations have to stretch existing resources a long way, and may not have the resources to hire a full-time database manager or even a short-term consultant, let alone purchase specialized database software or send employees to computer training.

Not everything in the following tip sheet will be appropriate for your database; field names vary, as does the information you want to track about customers and clients. Accompanying each "what to do" part is a "why" part that I hope will help you tailor these suggestions to your database.

This advice comes from the many years Coyote Communications has spent creating and/or managing databases that track people and their activities, be it what tickets they buy, how much they've contributed to an organization in time or money, or if they've received the latest brochure. This advice is further enhanced by continued suggestions from nonprofit mailing list and soc.org.nonprofit newsgroup participants.

 
Inputting names into a customer database is not enough to keep database information up-to-date; database managers should also set a regular maintenance schedule, to make sure addresses are accurate, there are no duplicate records on the database, etc.

These suggestions for regular duties to keep a customer database "clean" are certainly not everything that needs to be done; just basic guidelines to get you started -- and, I hope, get you thinking about other things you can do. Note that field names vary from database to database; also, be sure to check out the companion tip sheet to this one, Customer Database Principles.

Who do you track on your database? Is it your clients? Potential customers? Donors? Board Members? Volunteers?

And what is your target area? Is it people in your city? Your county? A multi-county area? The entire state?

Before you start making changes to a database structure or the way information is obtained, make sure you can answer the above questions -- and make sure that other staff members, particularly the Executive Director, agree with your answers! Aside from the fact that you don't want to waste time tracking information that no one will use and that will take up valuable space on your computer, database managers should remember that the information they track serves different staff members with different needs.

This tip sheets identifies the following fields as the "core fields". You will probably have a lot of information about an individual record on your database (a theatre, for instance, would have ticket sales information and donation information about each person on the database). But the core fields are the ones that you need to generate mailing lists or "to call" lists:

• first name
• last name
• name tag name (because this is often different than the first name of a person on a database; for instance, in some cultures, people are addressed by what people in the "West" consider the last name)
• company
• position
• address
• city
• state
• zip
• day phone
• fax phone
• e-mail address

• Make sure that everyone on the company Board of Directors, and/or on any special committees, such as the Executive Committee or a program committee, is coded as such, and that these groups have up-to-date information in the core fields

  Getting the above correct may mean printing out a report and asking another staff member to go over the information; for instance, the Executive Director or her/his assistant review the Board of Directors information and forward any changes / additions / deletions to you.

  The Board of Directors and special committees at your organization are usually your VIPs -- the most important people you call or to whom you mail literature. Complete and correct information about these people makes your organization look effiecient and consciencious; incorrect information can offend a big supporter.

• Get rid of duplicate records on the database. Most database programs come with a function that will find duplicate records for you, based on certain criteria. If not, you can sort the information by various fields to find duplicates. The three searches that will turn up most of your duplicates will be searches for:
  
  • same first name and last name and company name
    then
  • same last name and company name
    then
  • same first name and company name

  Each of these searches, done seperately, will usually find all of duplicate records on a customer database.

  Taking too much time to get rid of duplicates on a database can lead to a lot of confusion when you are trying to look up information about an individual. De-duping once a month will make it easier for you to determine which record to keep and which to discard.

• Make sure that the press people on the database have correct information, and that all appropriate press people are on the database (at the very least, there should be representatives from all television stations, radio stations, and newspapers in the county where your nonprofit is located).
  Some United Way agencies in the United States publish press guides; in larger cities, marketing or public relations business associations often do. If neither are an option to you, then start with phone books for your service/audience area (the library should have all that you need), look up "media" in the yellow pages, and call the appropriate newspapers, radio stations and TV stations to get the correct information (this could be an excellent use of a volunteer's time).

• Make sure that information regarding major donors is correct, particularly the information in the core fields. Print out a report of major donors and ask your development director to review it and forward any changes / additions / deletions to you.

• Make sure all appropriate staff members are accounted for on the database
  This pertains to staff members who want information sent to their home, or who work in another office and would like to receive information there; or, staff members who need to be a part of reports off the database, such as a list of committee members. In the later case, to save on postage, leave the address information blank, so that they won't receive mailings.

• Identify executive directors at nonprofits similar to yours, as well as those at large nonprofits (such as the local United Way), and make sure they are on your database and that their information is correct.
  Professional colleagues should know what your organization is up to; such a courtesy on your part could lead to collaboration in the future (and funding agencies love collaborating organizations).

• Once or twice a year, put the words "Address Correction Requested" on your newsletter address page (your mailing house or the post office can tell you where this should go exactly). Any newsletter with a new or bad address will be returned to you with corrected information, and you can then make the appropriate updates to your database. Words of Caution: The first time you do this, you will receive a LOT of returns, so be prepared! Also, you will need to resend your newsletter in a timely manner to everyone with corrected information.

• At least once a year, buy a guide that gives the following information, and use it to update information re: officie holders/regional representatives for your area in the database:
  
  • State Assembly
    
  • State Senate
    
  • County Supervisors/Magistrates/Executives
    
  • City Council Members
    
  • Representatives in U.S. Senate
    
  • Area Representatives in U.S. House of Representatives

• The day after an election, go through the newspaper and note who has won all elections for the government offices listed above. Remember to note what day is the elect's first day in office; don't make the database change until then.

• Local newspapers usually have a business page once a week that lists local business people movements -- hirings, promotions, buyouts, etc. It's a good idea for either the database manager, the development director or the executive director (and at some nonprofits, this is all one person) to read these listing to be on the lookout for changes or additions that should be made to the database.

 
Removing Someone from the Database
In most cases, you should never remove someone from your database, even if that person requests it; instead, create a category that notes people who do not want to be contacted. Why? What if that person is removed, and later, a board member asks if that person, who is a friend, is on the database. You say no, and you put the person back on -- and get an angry call later from that person asking why you contacted him/her when he/she specifically asked you not to.

Another example -- a key supporter leaves the company where you were sending his or her information, and the company won't give you forwarding information. You remove the person from the database, instead of flagging them not to receive mail until the correct address is found. A board member then could ask if that person is on the database, and you would say no, and the board member would wonder what kind of database manager you are anyway, not having such an important person on the database. If you flag the person instead, your answer would be "Yes, but that person recently left Acme Systems and hasn't received information from us since last month. I don't have a forwarding address. Do you have information?"

However, you should regularly remove duplicate records from your database, as well as people who have moved outside of your targetted area, are deceased, or have had a bad address in your system for a year or more.

 
The soc.org.nonprofit newsgroup/Nonprofit list server FAQs (frequently asked questions and their answers) has more information about Purging Mailing Lists at http://www.nonprofit-info.org/npofaq/05/15.html

 
These tip sheets may also help you:

• Overview of Databases
  • Database Terms
    
  • "Flat" and Relational Databases
    
  • How Databases Are Joined

• Customer Database Principles

• Free Help With Databases & Software

• Importing Information Into a Database

• Choosing Specialized Software
  (label-making software, volunteer management software, project management software, fund raising software, etc.)

Return to Index of Coyote Communications' Database Tip Sheets

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