After nearly 20 years of working with associations on their databases, I’ve come to one conclusion: No one loves their database. OK, that’s an overstatement; I’ve met three or four people over the years who truly loved their databases (these are strange people). The reality is, most of us tolerate our database programs, and many of us actively despise them.
But this is important to know. Everyone struggles with their data management sytems. There are a lot of different reasons for these struggles (see these posts, for example). But the fact is, databases are “living documents,” forever changing, and ultimately created and managed by human beings. This means they will always be a challenge.
So it’s critically important to keep your database challenges in perspective. There will always be problems, challenges, and bugs (or there better be, or I’m outta work!). The important thing is to keep that in mind and focus on what is working. Keep working on what needs to be fixed, but don’t forget that you’re succeeding in spite of the problems. And that’s a good thing.
Hi Wes — I probably meet with 40 or 50 associations each year and I have never met anyone happy with their database. By the way, very few like their web sites also. Would you agree with what I tell them that 90% of their problems are usually staff training or people not fundemental problems with the software? Tony
Tony, I’m not surprised to hear that. I think your answer is generally true, though certainly not always true. That is, sometimes associations really are using very old technology, and no amount of training will make the technology any better. But more often than not (I’m willing to go to 60% but not 90%), it’s a training and documentation issue.