Why you should apply Swedish Death Cleaning to your donor management system

The concept of Swedish Death Cleaning is pretty straightforward: We pare down our possessions before we die so that our surviving loved ones aren’t burdened by an overwhelming amount of our stuff. And though “Death Cleaning” sounds morbid, one of its most powerful benefits comes while we’re alive. With fewer objects to deal with, especially ones we’re not using anymore, there’s more time and space to focus on the meaningful aspects of life.

So what does Swedish Death Cleaning have to do with donor management systems? A lot, actually. Most fundraisers won’t stay in their jobs forever. When you start a new job, do you want to spend time wading through digital clutter, or would you like to be able to dive into your work? Similarly, you probably don’t want your replacement to inherit a mess of a database from you.

There are a number of ways you can tend to your database so that you reap the benefits today, and your successors will benefit in the future as well.

How to tend to your donor database

Archive whatever you aren’t using anymore

This is the database equivalent of getting rid of sports equipment or clothes you haven’t used in years. Here are some examples:

• Acknowledgment templates: If you’re still scrolling past options like “Golf Tournament Thank You 2022” when assigning an acknowledgment template to a gift record, it’s time to reduce that clutter. Little Green Light users can set the status of these templates to “Archived” so that they’re no longer available for selection during gift entry. This will speed and simplify the gift entry process. And, you can always reactivate them in the future if you need them.

• Campaigns, Funds, Appeals, and Events: You can also archive campaigns, funds, appeals, and events. Like acknowledgments, these won’t be available for selection during gift entry once they’ve been archived in Little Green Light. But, you’ll still be able to search and report on gifts coded to a campaign, for example. And you can always re-activate something if you need to.

Check for duplicates

Duplicates can lead to data hygiene issues and cause frustration as you try to perform daily tasks in your database; it’s akin to having three of the same size Tupperware container, but only one lid.

• Check for and clean up duplicate constituent records. If you’re using Little Green Light, the duplicate checker can help with this task.
• Review your constituent groups and categories for any duplicates, such as “Board” and “Board member.” If you find any, merge those values.

Let your wishes be known

One of the most valuable steps we can take is to leave clear instructions on how the database should be used after we’re gone.

Your organization’s data hygiene will suffer if gift records are entered inconsistently. When you’re no longer at the organization, how will your successors know how to properly enter gifts in your database? Developing standard operating procedures will help, but only if these procedures are documented and easily accessible. You can even store this document in Little Green Light. If you’re not sure how to start, check out 4 do’s and don’t’s for documenting your fundraising procedures.

Conclusion

Of course, Swedish Death Cleaning can’t be a one-time occurrence. In order to really benefit from it, you’ll have to go through this process in your database on a routine basis. But the benefits are well worth the time. Not only will processes be ready to pass on to the next fundraiser who sits in your chair, whenever that time comes, but you’ll also be able to use your database more efficiently and productively now. And that will free you up to put more energy toward fundraising effectively for your organization.