Information & Communications Technology 2008
Much of a charity’s work these days is about building strong and effective relationships – with donors, volunteers and beneficiaries. Yet you may be dealing with hundreds of different people every week. That means it’s only possible to talk to someone knowledgably about their particular interests and issues if somewhere behind the scenes is a robust and well-managed database.
Sometimes the information that you need for such a database is scattered in different spreadsheets, sometimes you need to upgrade to better software. The result is that you need to ‘migrate’ your data from an old system to a new one.
We were faced with these challenges earlier this year when we got a call from ITV Fixers – a new TV and web initiative to encourage youth volunteering. They are inviting thousands of young people to change things for the better and then to make a film showcasing their project online. These films will be streamed on a dedicated web channel on ITV Local, and some projects will also be featured on television. Every single volunteer will be looked after throughout their involvement in the 18-month campaign.
We supplied the ITV Fixers team with the CTK Online Data Manager (ODM) to help them manage their relationships with the young volunteers and provide appropriate support along the way.
The database is online and contains information about different projects designed by the young volunteers, the individuals involved and associated organisations. The database provides the team with a way of tracking and monitoring projects, as well as managing their relationships with the young volunteers.
ITV Fixers first got in touch in January of this year. Their main campaign kicks off in June – with a series of news features in the ITV Meridian, Thames Valley and West regions. But they had already started to find young people who wanted to participate, and around 50 were eager to get more involved. So ITV Fixers had started to build up data about the young people, their ideas, potential films, and associated organisations in various spreadsheets.
That meant our first task – as it is with most software customers – was to recommend the best way to efficiently and effectively migrate this data into the new system. I know that many charities tend to regard moving data from an old system into a new one as a necessary but uninspiring chore. However, I believe that planning and navigating the data migration process is vital.
The ITV Fixers team was clear that it knew which pieces of information needed to be moved to the new system. Members of the team felt they were best placed to decide which data to keep and move to the new online database, which to archive, and which to delete.
This is unusual – we are often asked to do basic data migration work for a charity when they buy a new software system: migration that the charity is actually better placed to do.
The ITV Fixers project is run by the Public Service Broadcasting Trust. Their CEO, Margo Horsley, said that developing the new database involved creating a flow diagram that shows the whole process of involvement a young person might have with ITV Fixers.
“As we developed the database we really clarified our thinking over what would happen from the moment a young person gets in touch to the point at which they’ve made a film and are ready to move onto another project or some other activity. It’s easy to think that databases and data are just about storing bits of information, but they can actually be at the heart of developing a positive relationship with someone and ensuring they have the best possible experience as they take part in a project.”
By Mark Kemp for
Charity Times magazine
April 2008 issue
