Data silos, or isolated collections of data stored separately, are responsible for trapping 40% of business-critical data, costing the global economy over $3 trillion annually. This costly challenge impacts organizations in every industry—marketing organizations, healthcare operations, and even fraternities like yours.
Your fraternity’s data enables personalized communications, alumni engagement, and much more, meaning you can’t afford to leave it fragmented or inaccessible. Breaking down data silos paints a full picture of fraternity operations, including your interactions with members and fundraising potential. Let’s explore the key strategies you can employ to eliminate silos and realize these benefits!
1. Centralize data management
Data silos are commonly caused by technology limitations. When organizations store information in disparate systems that lack integration capabilities, data becomes fragmented, inaccessible, and disorganized.
Think about all of the data your fraternity collects. This could vary but likely includes:
- Personal information of members and alumni, including names, contact information, employment details, etc.
- Fundraising data, such as donation history or matching gift eligibility
- Interaction history, like communications and event participation
Let’s say you store contact information in your communication tools and fundraising data in a fundraising platform. When the time comes to reach out to eligible alumni about matching gift opportunities, you may find yourself switching from platform to platform or attempting to manually compile datasets as you search for their employment information and preferred communication method.
Your fraternity’s first step in breaking down silos should be ensuring you have the tools to centralize this data. The right software will not only aggregate and organize your data, but it will also offer features specific to your fraternity’s needs, such as membership management tools and payment processing solutions. As Fonteva explains, a system that specializes in membership management can result in a better understanding of your members for more successful engagement and retention efforts.
2. Standardize data entry
Data management tools can provide consistency in your records by reducing the risk of duplicate or incomplete data entries. However, your team and volunteers are also responsible for entering data into the system—and entering it correctly.
This means you must have standard practices in place concerning the way data is recorded. NPOInfo recommends outlining procedures for team members to follow when inputting:
- Names
- Phone numbers
- Physical addresses
- Email addresses
- Employment information
- Other relevant data points
For example, consider the data you input when setting up membership directories. Do members live on “Main Street” or “Main St.”? Are their phone numbers listed as (123) 456-7890 or 123-456-7890?
By setting rules for how information should be entered into your database, you’ll ensure that all records follow the same format. This way, all data points will be consistent, reducing the risk of duplicate or confusing entries. Especially when multiple team members are responsible for inputting and managing your fraternity’s data, standardized processes are critical to keeping data organized and accessible.
3. Enhance data sharing
Eliminating data silos requires a shift from the mentality of data ownership to data sharing. In other words, your data shouldn’t be privately owned by any team member or department but made shareable to promote collaboration across teams.
When everyone on your team can access the right information, they can use your data in powerful ways for various purposes. For example, your fundraising team may collect data on members’ commonly used payment methods. Your marketing team can also use this information to appeal to members, letting them know they can pay dues, registration fees, or donations in the way that’s most convenient for them.
This allows your team to facilitate smoother collaborations, especially for larger-scale projects. For example, let’s say your fraternity is hosting a capital campaign, which requires collaboration between active members, alumni, and external partners such as event planners, donors, and university administration. To effectively execute this campaign, everyone involved must have access to the same, up-to-date information to align their fundraising efforts.
4. Adopt data governance best practices
From the moment you obtain important data to the opportunity to use it, your fraternity must handle its data with care. This requires a predetermined strategy for managing data from collection to utilization, otherwise known as data governance.
Data governance involves managing data properly and responsibly to maintain quality and protect sensitive information. Your fraternity should establish a governance plan that includes the following best practices:
- Invest in a relationship management system: Find a solution, like a constituent relationship management (CRM) system, to centralize information and draw meaningful insights for your fundraising and retention efforts. When researching solutions, compare different systems to determine which one offers the best tools for putting this data to good use.
- Create access control policies: Data should be shareable, but only when appropriate. To protect sensitive information, create access control policies that limit who has access to specific types of data according to their roles.
- Determine how data is collected: Establish guidelines for how data should be collected. This includes the data entry procedures mentioned earlier, as well as practices for appending your existing data.
Proper governance is essential for leveraging your fraternity’s data and handling it responsibly. Beyond protecting sensitive information and reducing the risk of security breaches, these practices also instill trust in your fraternity. When members and alumni know their information is safe with your fraternity, they’ll be more open to sharing their data with you. As a result, you can learn more about your members and tailor your efforts to their interests.
In an increasingly digital age, data is at the heart of every organization’s operations. Your fraternity depends on it to appeal to its members and alumni, so you must prioritize proper data management.
By breaking down data silos, you’ll gain access to accurate, updated, and centralized data that you can use to target your appeals, appreciation messages, and other communications. This way, you’ll lead more successful fundraising initiatives and garner more support for your fraternity.
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