Influential Data

Like art, data can be used to influence an audience in a positive direction or a negative direction.

For the sake of argument, a positive direction is one that provides the most amount of good (energy, vibes, outcomes) to the most people most of the time.

On the other hand, a negative direction is one that provides the least amount of good to the fewest people most, if not all of the time.

What needs to happen with your data to provide the most amount of good to the most people most of the time?

• General cleanup?
• Deduping records?
• Updating addresses regularly? Each quarter?
• Enhancing your data with donor and prospect analytics?
• Rethinking how you group your constituents by way of constituent codes?
• Reimagining and clarifying the development structure by way of campaigns, funds, and appeals?

What are your most influential data? How do you use this influence? How can you increase its influence on your team's fundraising initiatives to provide more positive outcomes more often?

With influence comes power and with great power comes great responsibility - responsibility to your constituents, your team, yourself, to keep data accurate, clean, and secure.

Just like a painting, a sculpture, a song, a poem, a performance data can be a thing of beauty, a work of art. It can elicit a response and stir action. What response are you eliciting? What action are you stirring?