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How Many Queries Do You Keep Yearly?

Bobby Steurer

I'm admittedly pretty bad about keeping random, one-off queries around after I've used them. I get so many asks throughout the year, and because our staff is constantly reviewing/editing/referencing lists and reports I've sent, I just kind of…hoard queries.

As someone who really enjoys purging unnecessary stuff, I'm asking the Community - how many queries would you say is a “healthy” amount? I know it's case by case, and some of these are evergreen that can be used year-to-year. Wondering what you all do.

Appreciate you.

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Comments

Karen Stuhlfeier

@Bobby Steurer I only keep the ones that are still in use - or ones that I'll use again. I delete everything else. A query can always be created again. It's just a list of records, not a sacred document.

Alan French

@Bobby Steurer we have over a thousand queries ? and it is definitely not a healthy (or helpful) amount! If I make a query for something like a global add then I try and remember to delete it immediately afterwards unless I think it might be needed for reference later on, I keep those in a separate folder anyway. I have a bit of a purge every year or so but it doesn't usually make much of a dent

Dariel Dixon

@Bobby Steurer AS someone who is as pro-deletion as you'll find around here, I don't know if there is as big of a need to purge queries. I'm much more of a bigger fan of organization and folder management for queries. I also often don't save many very simple one-off queries, but if it's worth saving the first time, it might come up again.

That said, it is something worth considering if the purpose is still ongoing. I know I'm not the only person who has mailing list queries from 7 years ago still in a folder somewhere. At some point, I may go and purge the entire folder, but I haven't found the need to do so yet.

On a similar note, list management in NXT is a nightmare.

JoAnn Strommen

@Bobby Steurer LOL when I read your post. I love purging, too!

I inherited thousands of queries. I think there were over 9000 when I started in about 50 folders. Many by staff who were here years ago. So I have been deleting and cleaning as time allows. But I have also deleted a very old query only to find out it was being used in the backend as part of our alumni directory access. Caused a problem for some staff who could not get access they needed. Oops! Was a bit of work to re-create.

That said, I started by telling our staff anytime they run a query or export to SAVE it or make at least the smallest change to update the last run date. That's working and not working for me. Am considering new folder names and making them move them but we have two open staff positions for RE users who created/use a lot of them so holding off on mass deletion for now.

When I know it's a one-off query I will usually add the word ‘delete’ in the name so that if I don't delete it right off, I will see it later and know it should be deleted.

Marie Stark

@Bobby Steurer I rarely delete queries “just in case”. Unfortunately we have way too many queries now.

Jennifer Kluh

@Bobby Steurer we have 6 main queries we use monthly for our Finance reporting and about 10 other main queries for our weekly use. We have been trying to delete our quick need queries and labeling others with a DO NOT DELETE or a USE THIS ONE on others. We plan to do an end of the year query clean up

Jennifer Kluh

@Dariel Dixon folder management for queries is what saved me. I agree with you about list management in NXT. Have a great rest of your week

Joy Prevost

@Bobby Steurer
Folders really help. I have a Quick Look-Up folder which contains those that are used frequently. Clean Up Maintenance Queries folder for those self-audit queries.

Steve Townsend

@Bobby Steurer We have hundreds of queries. Some years ago they were getting out of control so we created a system based on naming conventions and folders, e.g. event-related queries would be in a folder for events but would also have names that begin EVENT_ so that you know they're in the right folder. We have a folder called Current for any queries that don't need to be kept long-term and all queries in that folder have the month and year at the end of the name. Once a year in January I delete any queries in the current folder from before the current school year. This has helped a lot with keeping them under control. It's not a question of numbers but of whether you need to keep them at all.

Candy Beckwith

@Bobby Steurer I keep our queries in folders. Once a year, starting in January, I do a purge from 2 years prior. So in January 2023 I purge anything from 2021 that's no longer needed. If I see a one-off at any time of year, I go ahead and delete it. This project can always end up at the bottom of the list of things to do, so to keep myself on track in January, every time I go into the Queries tab, I delete at least 20.

Chris Nungesser

Hi @Bobby Steurer,

We define our folders in two ways. The first is purpose-based - e.g. giving society queries, events queries, revenue tracking, etc.

And then within those, we have a General/Evergreen folder for queries that we will continue to use across multiple years. And then folders for Time Sensitive queries. Those folders are named for the fiscal year - FY2022, FY2021, etc. The Time Sensitive folders are for those one-off queries that really only pertain to something in that year. We won't use them after again down the road.

Splitting these up between the General and the Temporary has been really helpful. It makes it easier to view the current/relevant queries. It gets the older ones out of the way (but they're still available for reference for “how did we do that thing last year?” type moments). And then having them grouped makes it easier to delete older queries en masse if we decide to go that route.

Keith Wilson

We currently have 1850 queries created as early as 2/27/2001! ?
I have tried to get staff to “buy in” to purging outdated queries. With reluctance, I have have been allowed to mass delete queries with a “Last Run” date older than 2017 (5 years ago).
We also organize those queries into folders which is extremely helpful, and I highly recommend! Each staff person has their own folder--I don't meddle with any of those! Some folders are listed by Campaign or Initiative. Others below have similar suggestions on how best to organize queries if you must keep them around. Best wishes!

Christine Cooke

@Bobby Steurer I have done clean up since inheriting the database I'm in. A little bit at a time. Like others have said, looking at last run date - and who wrote the query (like a former employee that hasn't been there for. 10 years) balanced against if you can determine if the query is the backbone of another regularly used report, export etc. to determine if they have to be kept.

Folders! are your friend! I have them broken down by purpose and also reports that are run monthly, reports that are run annually and business rules-do not delete.

I used to keep one that are for annual events or annual, semi-annual mailings for five years but have come to realize that keeping 3 years is fair – and if there is some special monumental event like a 50th anniversary to keep those.

The other thing to keep in mind when considering deleting them - if you have been at your org for awhile and done a lot of cleanup throughout the database and restructured where info is kept on records or what info is collected, those old queries may not work anyway (unless they are static). And then - static queries are just a snapshot of a moment, so unless you really feel it is important to save that moment they are quickly useless.

There is nothing wrong with being on the fence about keeping or not – but I suggest getting them out of the way of daily work by dropping them in a folder of their own labeled as under consideration for deletion.

Faith Murray

@Bobby Steurer
Oh goodness, we have way too many. I went through and cleaned them all up a couple of years ago, and now they need cleaned up again. In general, we keep mailing list queries for about 3 years, so we can model the next year's list on it. I sort our folders into three groups: Staff Folders for other crew (events, planned giving, etc.); List Folders, for modeling and historical record of mailing lists; and Database Management folders, with our annual report, dashboard, and global add queries. I also have a “Working Folder” for disposable one-time queries. But the problem with having too many queries is that, at a certain point, you hit critical mass when it's easier to just create a new query than it is to hunt through the stacks of queries you already have.