Little Data Solutions

It's easy to jump straight into analyzing data. But a lot of time can be spent analyzing data that never gets used. So let's take a quick pause and make the work much more valuable.

Before you dig into the numbers, ask yourself:

1️⃣ What decision are we trying to make?
2️⃣ Who needs the insight?
3️⃣ What action could this drive?

Answering these questions help make sure the analysis actually supports something meaningful instead of becoming an interesting report that sits on a shelf somewhere.

💡 Analysis should always be connected to decisions that move work forward.

With AI everywhere right now, the word "data-driven" has started to feel a little intimidating — like if you're not running machine learning models or letting an algorithm make your decisions, you're somehow behind.
That misconception is real, and it's creating a quiet kind of imposter syndrome for a lot of nonprofit leaders and staff. Like, if we're not doing all of this, are we even data-driven at all?

Here's the thing: data-driven work can start really small. Looking at your donor history — whether that's in a spreadsheet or a CRM report — to figure out the best segmentation strategy for your next appeal? That's data-driven. That counts.

When an organization describes itself as "data-driven," it doesn't mean decisions are made entirely by numbers with no human element. That's rarely how effective orgs work. Data alone seldom tell the complete story, and strong decision-making usually involves both. Numbers can highlight patterns and outcomes, but they don't always explain why something is happening. Experience, context, and human insight will always play an important role.

💡 Data and intuition aren't opposites. They're partners. And you don't need AI to get started — you just need to start.

A lot of this work isn’t really about numbers.

It’s about those moments where you’re looking at a report and thinking…
“this doesn’t make sense.”

I see this all the time. You’re already doing so much with limited time and resources and your systems aren’t always set up to support you.

So things feel confusing
or harder than they should be.

What I actually do is help you move from
“this doesn’t make sense”

to
“okay… I know what to do next.”

And once you have that kind of clarity,
everything starts to feel a little easier to manage.

Nonprofits and mission-driven organizations are out there doing incredibly important work — and sometimes all they need is someone to help them show it. That's my favorite part of this job. Taking the data that already exists and helping it actually mean something to the people who need to see it.

Polk County Housing Trust Fund, thank you for this beautiful review. Working with your team was such a joy, and we can't wait to do it again.

Why work with me?

Most of the nonprofits I work with aren't starting from scratch. They've got data. They've got tools. They've even got reports...kind of.

What they don't have is a system that actually works for how their team operates day to day.

I've had clients who were spending a full week every quarter just pulling numbers from different places to build a board report. Manually. Every time.

I've had others who couldn't tell you which donors were at risk of lapsing because their CRM was set up for data entry, not decision making. A little reorganization changed that.

The work I do doesn't look dramatic from the outside, but when a team goes from dreading their reporting process to actually trusting what they're looking at, then that is a success!

If you've ever thought "I know the information is in here somewhere" about your nonprofit's systems, that's probably where I come in.

Welcome to part 3 of my series: CRM Spring Clean Up 🌱

We've covered constituent records, households, addresses, and giving records. Today we're finishing with three areas that don't always get attention but really should.

📨 Acknowledgements and Letters
☐ Review your active acknowledgment templates — remove anything outdated, duplicate, or mislabeled
☐ Check that your tax language is consistent across all templates
☐ Make sure in-kind letters are not mentioning the value of the donated item — that's the donor's job to determine, not yours

🗂️ Segmentation and Reporting Readiness
☐ Can you identify board members, staff, volunteers, and estates without digging through notes?
☐ Check whether critical reporting information is hiding in free-text note fields — if it is, it's at risk
☐ Run a duplicate check and merge where appropriate, but review relationships and giving history first

⚙️ System Settings
☐ Review user access levels — not everyone needs admin rights
☐ Remove former staff and volunteers — inactive users are a compliance and security risk

If you've made it through all three parts of this series, your database is in better shape than most.

And if you got to the end of this list and thought "we need help actually doing this" — that's exactly what I do. CRM assessments and cleanup are one of my specialties! Feel free to reach out.

Yesterday we talked about constituent records and households. This week we're getting into the stuff that directly affects your budget and your compliance.

Welcome to part 2 of my series: CRM Spring Clean Up 🌱

Outdated addresses cost real money if you're mailing. And giving records that don't align with your finance team's structure make reconciliation a nightmare every single year.

Here's what to check on today:

📍 Addresses and Contact Info

☐ Audit how many records have no usable mailing address — is that intentional?

☐ Remove any names or notes that have crept into address fields

☐ Schedule an address hygiene update (NCOA or equivalent) if you mail regularly

☐ Scan for malformed emails and phone numbers

☐ Confirm opt-outs and contact restrictions are actually being tracked

🤝 Giving Records and Fundraising Hygiene

☐ Review your campaigns and funds — do they align with how finance reconciles?

☐ Check for old or duplicate funds cluttering your lists

☐ Audit non-deductible benefit tracking for events and sponsorships — are you acknowledging those correctly?

That last one catches a lot of people off guard. Event sponsorships and registrations are often not 100% tax deductible, and your acknowledgment letters need to reflect that.

Tomorrow part 3: acknowledgements, segmentation, and system settings.

Spring Cleaning isn't just for your house: your fundraising CRM needs a cleanup too!

Welcome to my 3-part series: CRM Spring Clean-Up 🌱

Join me this week as we check off the simple tasks that can make a huge difference in the effectiveness of your CRM.

We all have things like a business saved as a person, a spouse listed twice, a salutation that says "Dear John and Mary" and another that says ‘Dear Tammy & Mike” because nobody ever picked a standard and stuck with it.

None of it feels urgent until you're running a major appeal and you spend hours cleaning spreadsheets. Don’t you wish you could clean up the source so lists come out right the first time?

So today let's start here: constituent records and households.

☐ Check individual vs organization types
☐ Search for placeholder names like "Unknown" or "Test"
☐ Clean up name fields — no titles, credentials, or notes in there
☐ Mark inactive and deceased records clearly
☐ Confirm spouses are linked correctly and only one is set as Primary for mailings
☐ Standardize your addressees and salutations and stick to it

Small fixes here save a lot of embarrassment during your next appeal. 📬

Part 2 tomorrow: addresses and giving records.

The moment a nonprofit leader stops feeling overwhelmed by their data and starts feeling confident in it, that's why I do this work.

A lot of what I do happens behind the scenes. No storefront, no flashy deliverable. Just a small team that suddenly has the information they need to make better decisions, faster.

I work almost exclusively with nonprofits, organizations doing a lot with very little. Getting to be the person who brings some clarity to that? I don't take it for granted.

Thank you to every client who has trusted me with the behind-the-scenes work. It means more than you know.