Nonprofits deal with data on a daily basis as they use it for donor outreach, creating donation forms, billing and other fundraising methods.

There is a lot of information to collect on the progress of the organization, support for the cause and funds, and charitable foundations have to make sure they are organizing their data correctly.

While it may seem like information stored in the charity's database will stay there forever and be reliable for years to come, this is unfortunately not the case.

Contact information changes rapidly and will need to be updated on a regular basis. Doing so will allow nonprofits to plan more effective online fundraising ideas and increase donations.

Why data is so important and how to address it
Keeping in contact with donors over a long period of time is essential if nonprofit organizations want to continue growing.

Continually attracting new supporters without keeping in touch with the old ones will not allow for substantial growth over time.

Instead of exhausting efforts to continually gain new donors, try focusing on data quality initiatives to retain donors and turn them into repeat givers.

Accuracy and organization are key to better data quality and will help charities fundraise effectively and grow successfully.

Here are a few tips to help manage nonprofit data properly:

• Work on address quality first. Donor outreach depends on accurate contact information, and npENGAGE says to make sure someone's job is dedicated to address information management.
• Establish strong communication about data on an organization-wide basis. The more people focus on data quality, the more the nonprofit will thrive.
• Track all metrics and data. Don't just focus on one piece of information all of the time. Instead, invest time into all metrics that need to be monitored and do so accordingly.
• Make data quality a part of the nonprofit culture moving forward.

Data is only as good as where it’s stored

Your donor database is one of the most crucial pieces of software that your nonprofit can invest in. A subpar CRM solution will only cause problems and headaches for your entire organization.

If, however, you choose a great donor database, you’ll be able to focus more on connecting with your donors instead of fixing software issues.

A suitable donor database will enable your nonprofit to track and manage:

• Donor profiles
• Volunteer information
• Relationships between donors
• Individual donations (cash and in-kind)
• Schedules for gift solicitation and stewardship
• Email communications
• Event planning
• And more!

While it’s important to have clean and organized data, that data is only as good as the database in which it’s stored.