If it's not in your AMS, why not?
I like to tell my clients they'll know they've reached data management nirvana when the answer to any question about data is "It's in the database."
And I don't mean the obvious questions like "How many members do we have?" or "Who has registered for next week's event?" I mean the little details that can really add up.
For example:
- Who spoke at last year's annual conference?
- Who has volunteered to write for our publications (both volunteers and contributed)?
- Who is interested in coming to next year's annual conference?
- Who served on that committee three years ago?
- How many times has this member contacted the association with a substantive question or concern?
Every one of my clients wants to see a 360-degree view of their members and customers. But exceedingly few are actually capturing all of the ways the members interact with the association.
Is your association capturing this data? If the answer is "no," the next question should be "why not?"
Wes's Wednesday Wisdom Archives
Baby Steps
One of the keys to developing good data management habits is to be aware of […]
Success Requires Discipline
When it comes to data management, most of us know what to do; we just don’t […]
Take a moment to be grateful
Because we’re so focused on always improving what we have now, it’s easy to overlook […]
KPIs and Dashboards
I saw DJ Muller from MemberClicks speak on KPIs (key performance indicators). In his session […]
Documenting Process is Critical
When it comes to managing data successfully, process is critical. For example, a client of […]
Motion vs. Action
In James Clear’s book Atomic Habits (I recommend it!), he discusses the concept of motion vs. action. […]
Are You Answering Your Calls?
I’ve written about this before, but apparently I have to keep repeating it. If you’ve […]
Who do you trust?
Who Do You Trust I was reading an article recently about Warren Buffet’s “rules” for […]
Set benchmarks to measure progress
It’s impossible to measure progress if you don’t know your starting point. This sounds axiomatic, […]
You’ll make incorrect decisions. Acknowledge them and fix it.
A client of mine recently wrote the following to me: “It’s so hard to set […]