Recording our data

What did we have? 48 databases in our Archive drive Dave’s contacts on Google (personal, work, NACCOM) Duplication! Data protection! Accuracy! Duplication! – multiple places where someone’s info could be stored, so eg may get multiple letters from us! Ending up with multiple versions saved – not sure which is most up to date Data protection! – if someone asked not to hear from us again, almost impossible to make sure this happened Accuracy! diff addresses, diff information, accidentally rearranging columns / deleting stuff

Also word case notes!

Areas to consider (1) Clients (refugees and asylum seekers, past, present, waiting list...) Night shelter (venues, attendance, volunteers) Houses (owners, maintenance tracking, regular maintenance / checks...) Boaz Life activity attendance General client progress /developments

Areas to consider (2) Volunteers (who, where, what...) Giving (individuals, regular, one off, trusts) Churches (contacts, fundraising, prayer support, talks) Partner agencies Contractors (housing, interpreters...) Events (fundraising, supporter, volunteer...) Speaking engagements (contacts, plans, resources)

Options we looked at Totally bespoke (freebie OR prohibitively expensive!) CiviCRM through our local Council for Voluntary Orgs (GMCVO)- approx £7000+ upfront PLUS ongoing costs More or less “off the peg”, via a major supplier Different staff members at diff points with expertise in managing new DBs CiviCRM (£9000 + £1000 per year)

What we went with... Blackbaud eTapestry Health warning Sales pitch Persistent Wasn’t as flexible as we’d hoped / understood Blackbaud have over 30 years’ experience in providing databases to charities Many organisations such as CAP use Blackbaud as their database provider and The Message Trust will be moving over from using a bespoke system to using Razors Edge (by Blackbaud) in 2015. eTapestry by Blackbaud is specifically designed for small charities Cost- £7000 over 3 years

Was it worth it? YES! Asked finance, fundraisers, support workers and me.

Funders Accuracy of info Logging all contacts Reporting

Individual supporters Update monthly gifts Save letters / correspondence When someone phones up we know who they are and what their connection is (finance data is hidden) Relationships Data protection changes and fundraising regulation- helps us be compliant (eg single record, no more mailings, but an still keep data for GA etc)

How we use it for client support work

How we use it part 2 Journal entry- replaced endless Word doc case notes

How we use it part 3

Queries and reports (1) List of people accommodated in a time frame (e.g. current clients, all women, people hosted 2016-17.....) Waiting list (referrals through website create record automatically) Case note updates during a period (e.g. when support worker off)

Queries and reports (2) Number moved in / out / submitted fresh claims / attended review meetings Attendance at activities or night shelter Automatic monthly reports generated Journal entries by tags (eg “speaking out”)

Conclusion Our database is invaluable! It has dramatically helped us in reporting to funders (stats!) Also in client support- consistency and accuracy Funding is available If you don’t have an in house whizz, and even if you do, consider outsourcing!