GIFTS Online: Clean-Up Your Data
Published
Data, data everywhere, not a bit to help.
The old saying, “Knowing where you want to be will help you to get there” holds true not only for life but also for collecting your data in GIFTS Online.
Strategic realignment and strategic goal evaluation is a best practice that is very useful, but can create a messy data situation. If your organization has been tracking data using a set of historical measures that are then combined, split, ended or just trashed you could end up with information that you don’t need.
How to make the old get along with the new.
You might feel that you don’t want to dump the old data; it might come in handy. You also don’t want the old data mucking up, slowing down, getting in the way, of your new data.
Solve it with coding!
Before you start tracking your data on the new metrics, batch code all of your historical data with a code called Historical Data, or Data Before DD/MM/YYYY. If your organization has historical data that fits into many different categories, create a table called Historical and then make each value specific. Value examples: Before August 2016, Before Merger, Dan’s Old Data
If you have programs that are possibly combining and you don’t want to remove an old code yet, you don’t have to. Just add your new code to the record and when you feel comfortable, remove the old code. You can do this in batch too.
Clean-up, clean-up.
My toddler son has a song he sings when it’s time for him to pick up his toys. It helps to pass the time while he does it, and by the time the song is done, his cleaning is complete.
The re-coding and batching process is so simple, that you could re-code an average size system before you finish my son’s clean-up song. J Happy singing and cleaning. J
The old saying, “Knowing where you want to be will help you to get there” holds true not only for life but also for collecting your data in GIFTS Online.
Strategic realignment and strategic goal evaluation is a best practice that is very useful, but can create a messy data situation. If your organization has been tracking data using a set of historical measures that are then combined, split, ended or just trashed you could end up with information that you don’t need.
How to make the old get along with the new.
You might feel that you don’t want to dump the old data; it might come in handy. You also don’t want the old data mucking up, slowing down, getting in the way, of your new data.
Solve it with coding!
Before you start tracking your data on the new metrics, batch code all of your historical data with a code called Historical Data, or Data Before DD/MM/YYYY. If your organization has historical data that fits into many different categories, create a table called Historical and then make each value specific. Value examples: Before August 2016, Before Merger, Dan’s Old Data
If you have programs that are possibly combining and you don’t want to remove an old code yet, you don’t have to. Just add your new code to the record and when you feel comfortable, remove the old code. You can do this in batch too.
Clean-up, clean-up.
My toddler son has a song he sings when it’s time for him to pick up his toys. It helps to pass the time while he does it, and by the time the song is done, his cleaning is complete.
The re-coding and batching process is so simple, that you could re-code an average size system before you finish my son’s clean-up song. J Happy singing and cleaning. J
News
ARCHIVED | Blackbaud Grantmaking™ Tips and Tricks
08/30/2016 1:06pm EDT
Leave a Comment