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Newsletter: October 2007

Changing Systems: Moving Your Data From One Program to Another

by Sasha Daucus

Why Move Data

The Ignatian Volunteer Corps was facing a donor data tragedy. Their data was in a custom program which was no longer updateable. “We couldn’t upgrade or get support, so we started looking for a new and improved system,” says Tamara Zavislan, Directof of Development.

This may happen to you, too. In a recent survey, primarily of FundRaiser users, 50% of respondents had moved their data from one program to another. Of those people, most had moved their data more than once. There are many reasons to move donor data, but usually it’s because an organization has outgrown its system; or like the Ignatian Volunteer Corps (IVC), is no longer able to update or get support on their old system. Knowing some basics about moving your data can help you navigate through the process which can be quite complicated. You may think, like I did, that putting data into another program should be pretty straightforward. Zavislan at IVC knew the real story was more involved.

The Real Story on Data Conversion

Data conversion or data migration are the technical terms for moving data from one program to another.

To understand why data conversion can be complex, imagine that your software is a house. Your house had an architect and builders. Each architect has a somewhat different vision. Each builder uses somewhat different methods and tools. The house, or your program, is the result of that process. For that reason, different programs operate in different ways.

Now imagine that you are moving to another house. While 'houses' all share some similarities, inside they are set up with different living areas, storage space, and different special features, like a hot tub or a pantry. Even the plumbing and electricity will be laid out differently.

When you move from one donor database to another, you need to store your data and do the tasks that are important to you in a new 'house'. When you look for your new house, you will be evaluating all of that. Remember when evaluating, that what you don’t see can affect you, too. Plumbing is often covered by wallboard, or hidden in the attic. In your software, the 'user interface' is the wallboard of your house. The colors, graphics, tabs, and buttons are a visual façade that cover the actual nuts and bolts of your program. Underneath the user interface are lines and lines of programming. The programming differs from database program to database program. This programming is the plumbing that your data runs through, in and out the taps, so to speak.

How Easy Will Moving My Data Be

Moving data from one program to another may be amazingly simple or extremely complicated. Answering the following questions can help you figure out which it will be:

Question 1: How compatible are the old and new software programs?

  • More compatible makes the move simpler. For instance, your old program may have a tool to export data to your new program.
  • Less compatible makes the move more complicated. More custom work will be needed to move the data from the old program into the new one. It will also take some time and training for you to learn how to find the old data in the new program.

Question 2: How much data do you want to move?

  • Fewer donor records, as well as having only one gift per donor make the move simpler. With fewer records, you can more easily do the work by hand. With only one gift per donor, you will be more likely to be able to use export/import tools.
  • Many records and more than one gift per donor make the move more complicated. It will be harder to do the work by hand if you have many records. More than one gift per donor will make it harder to move the data using export/import tools.

Question 3: What kind of data do you want to move?

  • Demographic data like names and addresses are easier to move. If this is the only data you need to move, then it is more likely that you’ll be able to use export/import tools yourself.
  • Codes and extensive giving history are harder to move by export/import tools. You may be able to do it, but it can be hard to understand what needs to be done to accomplish the move. Even more complicated to move are pledge schedules, membership history, and tribute gift records. These kinds of fundraising information are often organized in very different ways from program to program. Significant thought and custom work may be needed. Usually this is done with professional data conversion. If you only have a small amount of complicated data, you might also choose to move it by hand.

Question 4: What do you want to do with your data once it is moved?

  • If you use certain data infrequently, you might find some simple options even for complex data. This can be the case for historical data used only in prospect research. In that case, you might even leave it in the old program and access it as needed from there.
  • If you need to use the data for your day-to-day work, it is important that it be well integrated into your current mailing or report features. Except for basic donor data (names, addresses, single gift per donor), other data may be more difficult to move so that it can be pulled into your mailings or reports. Check that there is a place for these things before buying new software.

For IVC, preserving all donor data was a high priority. Zavislan knew that wasn’t going to be easy. "We had 4,000 records. With import tools, we couldn’t have saved the gift history. We would have had to enter it all by hand. In the past, we’d had experience with volunteers moving data by hand, and that hadn’t worked well," says Zavislan. She already knew, before evaluating FundRaiser, her options on moving data. This helped her make the decision on what software to buy.

How to Move Data

There are three ways to move data. Depending on your answers to the above questions, these methods offer you trade-offs between:

  • Time
  • Simplicity
  • Cost
  • Accuracy
  • Data loss

Let’s take a look at the advantages and disadvantages of these three ways of converting your data.

Entering Data By Hand

If you have a small amount of data to be moved, and you have time to do it, you may want to reenter it into your new system by hand. Someone simply sits down with printouts from both programs-- or with both programs open side by side-- and enters all the data that you need into the new system. This method can also be used to supplement other ways of moving data.

  • Advantages: if you have the time, or volunteers who are willing and able to do data entry, this is usually the least expensive way of moving data.
  • Disadvantages: this can take a long time. Data being entered inaccurately is often an issue.

To continue the comparison of moving house, you might see this as packing up a small apartment and putting the boxes into your own car to carry them to the new place.

Using Built in Import Tools

You may have built-in tools to export data from your old system, and import it into the new system. Some systems are more compatible than others, making the tools available more or less effective. For instance, all data can be imported from FundRaiser Basic into FundRaiser Select and Professional.

  • Advantages: quick, inexpensive, and accurate for the data that you can move in this way. Most commonly, you can move basic demographic information such as names and addresses; and one gift per donor.
  • Disadvantages: usually only certain kinds of data can be moved, and it may be difficult to understand what needs to be done. Moving codes and giving history may be complex. It is unusual to be able to move pledge, membership information, or tribute records in this way.

In house-moving terms, this might be compared to renting a truck to allow you to move more efficiently and with less breakage.

Professional Data Conversion

If you have a lot of donor data which can’t be moved by export/import tools, professional data conversion is the method to use. It involves having someone write a special utility program to convert your data. This program extracts the data out of the old system and installs it in the correct place in your new system. This is custom work. It requires a skilled programmer and help from you to understand what data should be extracted and where it should be installed.

  • Advantages: Regardless of the amount or complexity of your data, you can move your data with accuracy. Data that is entered incorrectly into the old program, such as code errors, can be reorganized properly (called data cleansing) during the move. While the data conversion is in process, you have a chance to learn the new software
  • Disadvantages: Because this is custom work done by skilled professional, it usually costs quite a bit.

This option is comparable to finding a moving company to pack, truck, and unload your belongings into the new house.

Because of the complexity of her data, Zavislan knew she wanted professional data conversion. "The first experience I had with data conversion, with another company, was that the data conversion people seemed to be speaking an entirely different language. We never got beyond that point," says Zavislan.

IVC finally choose FundRaiser Select for three reasons: great cost, powerful software features, and FundRaiser’s customer friendly environment. For data conversion, customer service was most important.

She spent time thinking through her data, discussing it with other IVC staff members and then helping the FundRaiser data conversion team understand her needs. "We developed a chart here in the IVC office. We’d say, 'this code or group in the old database was used in such a way and we think it matches this code best in FundRaiser.' We talked to the FundRaiser data conversion team about our rational," says Zavislan.

When IVC found data that they didn’t use everyday, the FundRaiser data conversion team offered advice about what to do with it. "They helped us find a place to put it where it wouldn’t clog up the system. They made suggestions, like putting things in house notes, or other into special inactive category codes, so we kept all the historical information."

Happy Ending to Donor Data Tragedy

After Zavislan’s move into her new FundRaiser home, she stretched out and got happy. "We’ve now been working in FundRaiser Select for a year. I can do so much more: get reports, analyze data, segment things. It’s wonderful." says Zavislan. "I can do more and do it more easily. The software helps us streamline and be more efficient."

"I can’t speak highly enough of FundRaiser. People say to me, 'I can’t afford donor management software.' I say, 'You can!' You can even just buy FundRaiser Basic, and start like I did. What you can do with Basic is amazing."

Sasha Daucus edits the FundRaiser Software newsletter, focusing on articles that help nonprofit organizations feel more comfortable with their donor management software tools. In her free time she enjoys cooking and listening to world music from the Mediterranean region.

Resources

 

Ignation Volunteer Corps

How Well Did Your Data Move?: Checklist for Imported Data

Overview of Data Conversion at FundRaiser Software

FundRaiser SoftwareFundRaiser Software offers non-profit organizations intuitive donor management software that is easy to learn and easy to use. Three programs, ranging from simple to sophisticated, let you choose the features you need now, while guaranteeing a built-in growth path for the future. Software flexibility, budget options, and superb technical support make FundRaiser Software uniquely adaptable to the needs of non-profit organizations - whatever their mission.

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