Tag: Database

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Fundraising Databases Insights

The Engaging Networks Integration Tool for Charity CRM systems

In the dynamic landscape of charity data management, having tools that streamline operations with precision and compliance is now a necessity. Actually Data are thrilled to introduce our bespoke Engaging Networks Integration tool, designed to revolutionise how your charity integrates with your CRM system with your online engagement tools.

Take your first step towards a more efficient, effective approach to digital advocacy, fundraising and engagement by exploring the key features and benefits that make this tool an indispensable asset for your charity.

Key Features

Bespoke Data Transformation

  • Tailored Functionality: Created exclusively for your charity, the tool seamlessly transforms Engaging Networks data into a CRM-friendly format, tailored for your instance of your charity’s CRM system.
  • One-Click Operation: Simplify data imports with a one-click mechanism, eliminating the need for continuous development or third-party intervention.

Enhanced User Experience

  • User-Friendly Interface: Accurately code Engaging Networks pages for a cohesive data integration experience.
  • Empowering your team: Users retain control over the data transformation processes, easily accommodating changes in internal protocols.

Seamless Integration

  • Streamlined Processes: Leverages your CRM’s inbuilt import tools, ensuring a smooth and seamless data integration process.
  • Flexible Data Management: Enables you to continue to adapt data as internal processes and policies change, without requiring additional development.

Robust Data Handling and GDPR Compliance

  • Data Security: Utilizes Microsoft Excel, empowering you to govern data storage and processing, ensuring stringent adherence to GDPR and data handling protocols.
  • Integrates with your Tech Stack: By working through Microsoft Excel, the tool offers a familiar environment for staff to work in, within a program you likely already work with.

Innovative Reporting and Analytics

  • Insightful Analytics: Complemented by Actually Data Analytics, it provides data-driven reports on supporter engagement, offering insights into the efficacy of your online initiatives.
  • Strategic Adjustments: Helps you identify areas that require change, further optimising your charity’s online engagement strategies.

Customisation and Scalability

  • Customised Solutions: Tailored to meet the unique needs of you charity, offering flexibility as you import and report on your activity.
  • Significant Scalability: With a one million row import limit, the tool can accommodate a substantial number of daily transactions, far exceeding most charity’s requirements.

Responsive Customer Support

  • Personalised Support: Enjoy the peace of mind and consistency of interacting with your own Account Manager, who will also be the person who implemented the system for your charity.
  • Minimal Learning Curve: With an easy-to-use interface and training provided as you implement the tool, users will be able to effortlessly generate files and import Engaging Networks data into your charity CRM system straight away.

Benefits

1. Time-Saving

Automate the cumbersome task of data transformation and integration, freeing up your team to focus on core charity data activities or larger strategic projects.

2. Cost-Effective

By reducing the need for third-party developments and continuous adaptations, it serves as a cost-effective solution for data management.

3. Enhancing Data Accuracy

The tool ensures precise data coding and integration, enhancing the accuracy and reliability of your CRM database.

4. Strategic Decision Making

With data-driven reports, the tool aid you as you make informed strategic decisions, helping boost your charity’s online engagement and success rate.

5. GDPR Compliant

By offering control over data storage and processing, it assists charities in adhering to GDPR guidelines.

6. User-Friendly

Designed with a user-friendly interface, it facilitates a hassle-free user experience, requiring minimal user training.

Investment and Support

To foster a seamless transition into a more structured and efficient data management regime, the Engaging Networks Integration Tool is priced as a one-off cost. This investment guarantees a system tailored to your charity’s specific needs, with the potential to significantly streamline your operations.

If  your charity requires further developments or changes, we are here to assist at a standard day rate. Our team is committed to supporting you in enhancing the tool’s functionality to meet your evolving needs.

Case Studies

Here’s a link to a case study for Refuge where we talk about integration to Blackbaud’s The Raiser’s Edge

Here’s a presentation that our CEO, Anthony, delivered at the Engaging Networks conference that talks about the integration work in more detail. Making Sense of your data

Get In touch

If you’re ready to start your CRM Integration journey, why not get in touch for a call to discuss your requirements in more detail.

Categories
General Insights

Maths for Database People

While many database professionals are proficient in math, I’ve met a few who break out in a cold sweat when I ask them about it.

As with most things I teach, I always try to start simple. You’re a database administrator, not a financial modeller. It’s the same with statistics; once you’ve mastered the fundamentals, you can ignore the rest until you really need it.

So, to make things a little less scary, and especially if you’re doing a lot of work with reports, here are a couple of things that might help:

FunctionIn ExcelIn Power Bi (DAX)Notes
Sum (Adding Up)Cell + Cell or =Sum()Sum()This will combine values.

If you do this with cells, all of the mathematical operators (+,-,/,*) will work.
Mean Average=Average()Average()This will yield the mean average. (Total all the numbers and divide by the number count)
Mode Average=Mode()It’s complicatedIn Power Bi, you must calculate the frequency of the numbers that appear to take the one at the top. The Mode Average is the average based on how many times a value appears in a list.
Median Average=Median()=Median()The median average is the number in the middle of the range; it is similar to the mean but differs slightly.
Percentage=cell*x%

Or
=(small number / big number)*100		=DIVIDE( small number, big number, 0)

*The zero just removes the possible errors.		If you wanted to know what a percentage of a number is, for example, the GiftAid amount on a donation, you could multiply the donation amount by 25%. If you wanted to know how much Individual Giving income there was in comparison to the rest of the organisation, you would need to total (sum) the income for Individual Giving, sum the income for the organisation, and then divide the individual giving income by the total income and multiply the result by 100.

Essentially the way I remember it is small number divided by big number multiplied by 100.

There are many resources on the internet that can assist you with these functions and provide a more detailed breakdown, but hopefully this means that some of you who used to break out in a cold sweat now have a little more assistance.

As with previous posts, these are not exhaustive. As with the post on Excel Functions, I’m not here to rewrite the Microsoft help files; rather, I’m here to point you in the right direction.

Categories
General

Excel Functions for Database people

The ability to use Excel is a critical tool in a database professional’s toolbox. There are a few key formulas that you should be familiar with. Here are a few of my personal favourites.

But, before we get there, I thought I’d mention some of the other things Excel is good at and bad at.

I’ve used Microsoft Excel (full name) for a variety of purposes. I’ve used it to transform data and to create desktop apps with the help of Macros and Forms. I’ve used it for reporting as well as, dare I say, data capture. Please see my other post about Excel not being a database!

It can be a very flexible and powerful tool, and it is also an application that most businesses have, making it simple to roll out solutions to customers. Another great feature of Excel is that it includes Microsoft’s new(ish) power query tools. If you’re unfamiliar with Power Query, check out my post about how APIs have become much easier to use!

Right, I’m getting carried away, let’s get back to formulae or, as they’re sometimes called, Functions. Here is the official Microsoft function help: 5f91f4e9-7b42-46d2-9bd1-63f26a86c0eb – https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/excel-functions-by-category-5f91f4e9-7b42-46d2-9bd1-63f26a86c0eb – Never be afraid to seek assistance (F1 is the shortcut key for help in all Microsoft Applications). If you get stuck, remember that Google is your friend.

So, to get you started, here are some formulas that I use frequently when working in Excel; these are the slightly more obscure ones rather than the standard SUM, AVERAGE, COUNT, and so on.

  1. =IF – This allows you to generate a Boolean logic value based on a set of criteria. =If (CELL>=50,”Top”,”Bottom”), for example, would identify if the value in a specific cell was greater than 50, in which case it would say top, otherwise it would say bottom.
  2. =LEN – This function returns the CELL’s length. When importing data into fields with a maximum length, such as telephone numbers, this feature comes in handy.
  3. =Substitute – This function allows you to replace values within a string, for example: =Substitute(“Anthony”,”hony”,”onia”) would change Anthony’s name to Antonia.
  4. =CountA – Counts the number of non-blank cells. This is something I’ve used a lot when creating custom reports for customers.
  5. CountIFs and SumIfs – I’ve combined these two because they are used in Reporting, where I need Count or Sum functionality based on a Logical Statement, for example: Count this row if the Town is London. Sum if does the same thing but adds a value, for example: What is the total income from London residents?
  6. NETWORKDAYS – This is a sometimes useful function that returns the number of working days between two dates, such as how long it takes to send a thank you letter after receiving a gift. I’d use networkdays based on the gift and acknowledgement dates. This could also be used for supporter journeys. How long does it take to turn a prospect into a participant?
  7. LEFT / RIGHT – This returns a number of characters from the left or right side of a string, for example: =Left(“Anthony”,3) returns “Ant” because these are the first three characters.
  8. ISDate – This checks to see if a value is a real date, which is useful when you have data that will not import into a system.
  9. ISBLANK, ISERROR, and ISNA are all used for error checking. All of these are extremely useful when working with reporting and data that may not meet your report’s criteria.
  10. Finally, all good database professionals will be well-versed in Vlookup. This is the ability to take data from another source and match it to your row using a common field. For example, if you want to add a postcode to your contact sheet but the address is in a different table, Vlookup is the way to go. It has some quirks that you’ll need to get used to, but once you do, you’ll be hooked. It reminds me of pivot tables, but that’s a story for another day….

Finally, some new developments with Excel functions, which, if you’re still reading, must mean you’re interested.

  1. XLookup – A new variation on the Vlookup function that allows you to go forwards and backwards in time. It has a search mode, which is very useful.
  2. Excel 2021 is a new version of Excel that was released in October 2021.
  3. Finally, many people who are far more nerdy than I am seem to be getting excited about Excel and Lambdas: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/lambda-function-bd212d27-1cd1-4321-a34a-ccbf254b8b67 This appears to me to be a solution looking for a problem at the moment, but I’m confident that once I understand it or have used it, I’ll be raving about it.

So, what have I overlooked? Excel has so many functions that I’m sure you have favourites as well. As previously stated, this list is by no means exhaustive of all the functions available in Excel; rather, it focuses on the ones that I use the most frequently. Please leave a comment if you believe I have missed any.

Categories
People

If everything is important then nothing is

Patrick Lencioni’s quote is excellent. I see a lot of database managers, no, a lot of people in the industry struggle with this.

But I believe it is true. There is a lot of discussion about multitasking or task switching and how women are better at it than men. However, I believe that making a list of everything you’re doing and then attempting to figure out how to make that list more manageable will only help you get things done.

The difficulty in managing multiple tasks is usually due to the number of moving parts and interdependencies. As previously stated, I would make a list of the projects, going old school if necessary and writing it down on a piece of paper with a pen! Then you can figure out when things need to happen.

The key to all of this is managing expectations; whether you’re a consultant or an employee, you just have to be honest and tell people what you’re thinking. To be fair, I write this from a position of frequently getting myself into hot water over this. Anyone who has worked with me knows that I try to do too much, and I recently found myself in front of a client and friend, anxious and concerned about their project due to time constraints, the work that is required, and letting them down.

As obvious as it is, burning the candle at both ends cannot be sustained indefinitely. I’ve seen people working a frightening number of hours during lockdown just to keep things running while all the extra work, not business as usual, was being added. If this continues for an extended period of time, two things are likely to occur: people will become disinterested in their jobs, or they will be forced to take time off.

My suggestion would be as follows:

  1. Return to pen and paper and make a list of everything that needs to happen.
  2. Communicate this effectively to the team working on it as well as the larger stakeholder who is requesting more work. Sometimes stakeholders will come to an agreement and re-prioritize.
  3. Make a list of at least three things you’ll accomplish that day. Also, make sure that no single day has more than three tasks to complete. I don’t mean trivial tasks like making tea or doing the dishes; I mean tasks that require your full attention.

If your list cannot be broken down into three things that you can accomplish in a day, then your list-making process needs to be reviewed. Here’s an example of how to break down the list.

Problem: My database needs to be cleaned; this will take months, and I’m not sure where to begin.

This could be divided into the following areas of my database that have the greatest impact on users:

  1. Contact Types / Constituent Codes – Who are my stakeholders
  2. Action Types / Communication Types – What do I talk to them about
  3. Attributes / Profiles – Do some of these options need turning off

With those three things in place, many of your users will notice an improvement fairly quickly.

It’s the same with website or integration projects: break them down into something manageable or achievable so that something gets done, and if it can’t be done on time, explain it as soon as you know you won’t meet a deadline so stakeholders can make alternative plans.

Finally, why three? There’s a great piece here about how we are taught and given three options at a young age, read more about the power of three – https://www.businessinsider.com/using-the-power-of-three-to-your-marketing-advantage-2013-5?r=US&IR=T

If you have a different approach to dealing with the day-to-day challenges of managing a team and multiple people wanting multiple things at the same time, I’d like to hear about it.

Categories
Fundraising Databases

Engaging Networks Integration

Tired of manually transferring data from your Engaging Networks platform to your fundraising CRM system? Working with Actually Data as your Engaging Networks partner can help to streamline this process, saving you time and effort while allowing you to focus on what’s most important – your fundraising efforts.

Our experienced data professionals have extensive experience with Engaging Networks integration and can collaborate with you to develop a customised solution that uses Power Query as the ETL tool. With our assistance, you will be able to transfer data between your Engaging Networks platform and your CRM system easily and seamlessly, ensuring that your data is always up to date and accurate.

However, the advantages of working with Actually Data do not end there. Actually Data Analytics, our sister company, can assist you in visualising your Engaging Networks data using Power BI. You’ll be able to quickly and easily understand your data and make informed decisions about your fundraising efforts with interactive dashboards and reports.

We can provide training and support in addition to data integration and visualisation to help you get the most out of your Engaging Networks platform. We’re here to help with campaign setup, reporting, and any other aspect of your Engaging Networks usage.

Don’t waste time manually transferring data between systems; instead, work with Actually Data as your Engaging Networks partner to regain control of your data today. Please contact us to learn more about how we can assist you.