The Things We Track

Personally, I track wireless data use, calories, workouts, phone use, meditation minutes, writing time, and several other everyday stats.

What do you track on a regular basis?

Now take a short mental hop to your nonprofit organization. What fundraising data do you track so your organization's mission can be carried out successfully?

Think of your nonprofit's donor database as simply a place to store information until it is needed. An organized way to track fundraising and development related things so when they are required to help make decisions or gauge progress they are easily accessible. That's all you're doing. Nothing more and nothing less.

Typically you track gift amounts, number of donor touches, number of contacts with prospects, and emails sent just to name a few. These examples are quantitative data - the numbers.

The qualitative data is what flows in and around the numbers. Things like contact reports and notes give the numbers life and meaning. They create a story that can be retold again and again.

It is wise to track both the numbers and the narrative in your donor database.

In today's data-driven world we track all kinds of information both personally and professionally. It's important to keep in perspective what is important and why it's important.