Fiscal End-of-year Is Near, Where Do I Start?
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Have you ever asked yourself that question? End-of-year activity can be overwhelming, even when you have processes in place to help you move from task to task. Many year-end tasks focus on cleaning up your database. Whether database administration is new to you or old hat, here’s a great way to learn or freshen your perspective on key data administration topics—watch the eLearning course Raiser’s Edge: Basics of Database Administration.
And while you’re preparing for end-of-year activity, these tips will keep you on point:
- Make a checklist. This may seem like a no-brainer, but in reality it’s easy to get overwhelmed and find yourself essentially paralyzed—and your progress hindered. However, when you systematically move through a checklist, crossing items off your list will free you from your anxiety. You’ll feel motivated, knowing you’re accomplishing things in a timely manner.
- Delegate, or ask for help. This is a great time for you to rely on that policies and procedures guide your team so carefully put together. Armed with a well-planned procedures guide, your team should be able to share some of your workload. If anyone on your team can help, use them. The following vital tasks can help expedite additional reporting needs, whether they’re carried out in Raiser’s Edge or not:
- Compare board member data – If your board changes annually, print lists of board member names and constituent codes (use a query and output names/constituent codes). Highlight members whose profile information needs to be updated.
- Update campaign information – Print a list of active campaigns. Highlight any that need to be inactivated; this can also be done for funds, appeals, and packages. Want to learn more about campaigns, funds, and appeals? Take the Blackbaud University instructor-led class Raiser’s Edge: Campaigns, Funds, and Appeals.
- Start now. While the end of May might seem too early to begin your end-of-year processing, it’s really the perfect time to begin laying some foundation for this monumental effort. You can ease into things simply by doing some organizing. For example:
- Create network folders for upcoming year – Create the structure for where you’ll store reports on your network.
- Run a preliminary annual report now – You need time to review your data and ensure it’s correct. Remember, it’s vital to check constituent names and giving amounts for accuracy. Since this can take a while, you want to begin early. Need more information on building a better annual report? To help you fine-tune your annual report, consider taking Raiser’s Edge: Building a Better Annual Report.
- Define new report, query, export, and batch settings in Raiser’s Edge – Just because you have limited “future” data doesn’t mean you shouldn’t think about the tools you’ll need for the upcoming year. You can create parameters for future use right now.
- Plan some buffer time. Ensure the time needed to complete required tasks includes some extra time, in case you run into snags. Remember that people take vacations, reports may take time to process, and bosses may have their own timelines—which conflict with yours. Here are some “back burner” tasks you can tackle when you find yourself waiting on others (or just waiting on processing).
- Inactivate old Thank You letters in Configuration
- Run table cleanup
- Check any favorites saved on home page
- Write off pledges
- Set up solicitors – Learn how in the Blackbaud University class Raiser's Edge: Moves Management and Retention
- Clean up any reports and queries no longer needed (delete or rename)
End-of-year needn’t send you into a panic. It’s all about preparation and timing. If you have any thoughts or tips to help alleviate end-of-year anxiety, feel free to comment on this blog, or start a discussion in the Community!
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Raiser's Edge® Blog
05/18/2017 12:44pm EDT
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