Record Keeping =/= Dusty Folders in Potentially Deadly File Cabinets

Have you ever opened the top drawer of a file cabinet and found to your horror that the momentum from the weight of the drawer had started the whole thing falling down toward you? Did you cry for help? What if you had been alone? Digital file management could literally save your life!

Years back I worked at an organization with over 40 years of donor data the majority of which was held in folders in an ever-multiplying row of chest-high black file cabinets. Every few months we'd have to go through and relabel much of it. Every few days we'd have to go through too many drawers for a poorly filed folder. Every few hours we'd each have to get up and dig through one or more of those drawers to find a grant contract or an acknowledgment letter.

Finally enough was enough, and I started our digital media crusade. All acknowledgments were scanned after signing, no copies to file. After developing a protocol and enlisting so many interns we were able to get everything into its respective record in RE. Now, with the advent of NXT, organizations who go digital like this will reap even greater rewards as those files are visible remotely. There is no downside to this practice. I highly recommend to everyone.