Advanced Data Strategies

Description

Your data can come from everywhere - online forms, sign in sheets, other databases and more. However, it won't help you organize unless it's properly parsed and de-duplicated. In Advanced Data Strategies, we'll cover how to effectively import spread sheets from other services and how to keep your data clean using deduplication and automatic merging.

Prerequisite: Comfortable adding and editing contacts, contributions, events and activities.

Agenda

Training materials, including login information on the training database will be sent to everyone who is registered.

Day 1: Importing Contacts

1:00 pm Eastern Time (approximately 120 minutes)

• Community Agreements and introductions - Data breaches - A & J
• Orientation - N
  • Review agenda
  • Introduce network site and training site
• Logging in and getting around - J
• Importing Contacts - A
  • Demo: import, and oh no! import errors and duplicates - screencast
    • What is a CSV file? Examining your data in a spread sheet program first
    • Import contact screens: choosing your settings, selecting your fields
    • Adding imported contacts to a group...why?
• Work Time: complete a contact import - N
  • Practice import files
• Strategies: Importing vs Batch Enter vs Data entry - J
  • Tips for making data entry faster: use of profiles or webforms
  • Use of saved field mappings to speed up routine imports

Day 2: Advanced Imports & Batch Updating

1:00 pm Eastern Time (approximately 120 minutes)

• Check in, Review questions, and getting logged in - N
• Demo: Batch Enter Contributions or Memberships - screen cast - N
• Dive deeper into complex imports
  • But first, fix your spreadsheets! Spreadsheet tips on for importing - A
    • Exporting zip codes from Powerbase to excel and handling leading zeros
  • Create custom fields needed to accept your data - see tip sheet - A
  • Handling the dreaded fields with checkboxes or multiple select options - A
  • Demo: import contributions, participants or activities - J
    • Importing event participants (Import contacts, then "Register for Event" action) - tip sheet and screen cast - import file
    • Importing contributions (Import contacts, then import contributions) tip sheet and screen cast - import file
    • Importing door knocking activities (Import contacts, then either "Add activity" or import activities) - tip sheet and screen cast - import file
  • Work time & Questions - J:
    • Import list of folks who attended a zoom meeting: Download sample sheets
      • Create Event in Powerbase (please use your name in the event so we can tell them apart)
      • Options:
        • Simple: After zoom meeting, import as contacts, then register all for your event as "attended"
        • Advanced (small meetings): Before zoom meeting, import as contacts, then register all for your event as "registered" and then email reminders via Powerbase. After meeting, search for participants, use "Update multiple participant records" to mark those who attended as "attended"
    • Import contributions from that have been exported from Facebook: Download sample sheets
  • Using Imports to Update records: - J
    • Export first - sometimes! Export the Contact ID, or Contribution ID, or Activity ID for easy matching on the import.

Day 3: De-duping, merging, and data cleaning strategies

1:00 pm Eastern Time (approximately 120 minutes)

• How are things going? Agenda overview and getting logged in - J/N
• Update multiple contacts, contributions, participants, activities using a profile - N
  • Demo: updating multiple participants to record attendance at an event
  • Update multiple contacts (example: update constituent type and staff responsible) - screen cast
  • Update multiple participants (example: update who needs transportation) - screen cast
  • Update multiple activities (example: update contact method for intake activity) - screen cast
• Dedupe rules - screen cast - A
  • What, exactly, is a duplicate? (computers are kinda dumb)
  • General versus Unsupervised versus Supervised
  • Tip Sheet: Overview on Strategies around Duplicate Contacts and Merging
• Merging duplicates - screen cast - A
  • From search results
  • From Contacts -> Find and merge duplicates

• Strategies for keeping your data clean: - J

  • Strategies around duplicate contacts and merging tip sheet
  • Tips on database maintenance and keep your data clean
  • How to find contacts to delete - using complex searches and groups - tip sheet
  • Regularly deduping
  • Deduping during every campaign

  • Always create dupes (security reasons) vs Try to avoid dupe creation (for logistical reasons)

  • More tips on cleaning your data screencasts

• Worktime: In your organization's database, try looking for dupes and report back what you find
• Evaluation - N
• Closing questions - N

Additional Resources

• Basic Import of Contact Info - Trainer CSV with Dupe (Anne Irving & Winfrey Bentley)
• Import participants and register for event - Trainer CSV file
• Trainer's Import Curriculum