Get RP Ready For 2017, Part 2

A couple weeks ago I shared some "first things first" ideas to get your ResearchPoint database ready for the coming year.  Life gets so busy—especially this time of year—and I thought a couple quick lists may help you navigate the process easily.

Now that you’ve tackled the basics, here’s the next level.  Today’s ideas are a little more detailed than what I previously shared, so there are fewer suggestions knowing they might take a little longer.

1. If you have The Raiser’s Edge and want to integrate it with ResearchPoint, knock that out to share data easily between the two systems.  I am a visual person, so this video helps me a lot, and this written documentation is nice to keep on hand too.
2. If your RE and RP are integrated, when was the last time you linked and synced records between the two?  If it’s been a while, make sure you’re as current as you want to be.
   1. How to sync a research list in ResearchPoint with Raiser's Edge
   2. How to link ResearchPoint records with their Raiser's Edge record
3. Take a few minutes and review the addresses for your highest priority prospects (especially if your RP is a stand-alone database).  Are they up-to-date in RP?  If not, you may not have the most current research details on your prospects.
4. Are there data points your workflow dictates be populated on every record or certain types of records?  If so, query to find any records where those fields aren’t complete and clean them up. (Thanks to TA community member Eileen Disken for sharing this idea alongside last month’s post!)
5. If you find yourself doing a lot of work outside the database to prepare prospect research reports, consider using the templates already in RP—or even build your own custom template!
6. And just for fun…never used the prospecting database in RP?  Give it a shot and learn more about people of interest who aren’t in your database yet.

What didn’t I include that your organization prioritizes to keep your database in good shape?  Drop an idea or two in the comments section!