4 Practical Ways to Keep Dirty Data Out of Your Database

You probably know that keeping your nonprofit’s data clean is critical for your organization. Having cleaner data helps you to send more targeted and personalized communications, run more accurate reports, and generally work more efficiently and effectively.

While regularly cleaning up the data you already have in your database is important, remember that keeping data clean starts the moment you collect it. If you ensure data is clean and in the desired format before it reaches your database, then you're one step ahead in the data hygiene game.

Here are four ways to maintain a cleaner database by keeping bad data out in the first place.

1. Keep Your Database Policies and Procedures in Check

Having well-defined standards in place for database entry and management helps to keep dirty data out. If you don’t already have one at your nonprofit, create a database policies and procedures document. Ensure that the document includes things like:

• Consistent naming standards for campaigns, events, queries and exports to make searching for and reporting on data easier and more accurate.
• Data entry guidelines for common fields, such as names, addresses, phone numbers and email addresses.
• Rules for identifying and consolidating duplicate records.
• Policies for who has permission to enter, view, edit and export certain types of data.

Review the policies and procedures at least once each year to make sure the information is still accurate. Any time you change a policy or procedure, notify the entire organization. Let everyone know the details of what has been changed and why it’s been modified. This will help everyone to understand the importance of the change and its impact on the organization.

Related story: How To Perform a Database Cleanse

Also, make sure your employee onboarding process includes a review of the database policies and procedures document. This will help to ensure that new staff members have the knowledge and tools they need to help keep your data clean. 

Always be on the lookout for recurring data integrity issues in your database. Such issues might be a signal that you need to retrain staff on your database policies and procedures and possibly limit the number of people who can update key information. You might also need to update data entry procedures in your database policies and procedures document to ensure directions are clear and correct.

2. Put Data Validation Rules in Place

When using any type of online form to collect data, have validation rules in place for input fields where accuracy is critical. For example:

• When collecting an email address, the @ symbol is required.
• Use a picklist/dropdown for information like state, country and gender to ensure spelling is consistent and in the format you prefer.
• Limit the number of characters allowed for entry in a field when applicable, such as when you only want a middle initial and not an entire middle name.

Also, be sure to run data integrity checks each time you import data from a list or another platform, such as your email or online fundraising software. The data should conform to your data standards, including the data validation rules you set in place for your online forms, before you add it to your database.

3. Invest in a Good Form-Builder Tool

If you’re using a form-builder tool that was chosen simply because it was an inexpensive option, you might find that it’s flawed when it comes to helping to keep your data clean. And you might end up spending more time and money cleaning your data in the long run. Invest in a form-builder tool that has all of the capabilities you need to meet the data-collecting standards you set forth in your policies and procedures document. 

4. Have a Plan for the Data You Collect

It can be really tempting to collect lots of information in your online forms. After all, you want to know your constituents well. But collecting data without a specific plan to use it can lead to a cluttered database, further clean-up time and database user questions. In the end, it’s a waste of your — and your constituents’ — time.

So, avoid asking unnecessary questions like “Do you have any pets?” or “What is your marital status?” unless you have a clear strategy in place for using this data.

Keeping your nonprofit’s data clean and accurate will help you use it optimally for everything from insightful reports to personalized marketing and fundraising campaigns. Ensure it’s clean and formatted correctly before it even reaches your database, and you’ll have a leg up on data hygiene for years to come.

The preceding post was provided by an individual unaffiliated with NonProfit PRO. The views expressed within do not directly reflect the thoughts or opinions of NonProfit PRO.