Here’s a few things to consider;

1- Sorting Out The Simple Stuff

As we know having a purge feels great but not so great when you later realise what you once had is what you now need! However some decisions about what to keep/throw away are easier than others. You’ll find you can part company with attributes that were only useful for a specific occasion – i.e.”2018 Xmas Flyer” or simply identify the attributes you use the least.

 2- One Track Find

It is likely that over time different Raiser’s Edge users will introduce custom attributes that are relevant at a  given time but for migration purposes are superfluous. This can lead to a situation when the same thing is tracked in multiple ways.

For example a previous user may have classified someone who has donated over $5,000 as a ‘Major Donor’. The question you should ask is does this attribute tell you anything about the donor that you couldn’t get from looking at their total donations?

It’s also worth remembering that definitions in your organisation will probably change. In this example the definition of a ‘Major Donor’ is highly likely to change simply because of the changing value of money. It may also be that the strategy in your organisation changes and the contribution of ‘Major Donors’ needs to be significantly higher – in both cases this attribute will be out of alignment with your business.

3- Dealing with the differences

OK! This is where things get a little more complicated, so bear with us.

Campaign Data:

As you would expect or already know the Raiser’s Edge way is not the Salesforce way. For example the structure of campaign in Raiser’s Edge is fundamentally different to Salesforce which will require you to convert data to fit your new system. It’s not an insignificant task but it creates an opportunity to streamline your campaign data structure!

Why? The short answer is that Raiser’s Edge has four defined levels – campaign, fund, appeal, and package – whereas in Salesforce there is only one type of object called a campaign.

In Raiser’s Edge objects at each level exist in a ‘many-to-many relationship’ (i.e. a fund can be associated with multiple child appeals, and an appeal can be associated with multiple parent funds). Individual donations can be tied to an object at any level.

In Salesforce there is only one type of object, called a campaign. Campaigns can be structured in hierarchical relationships in a one-to-many relationship (i.e. a campaign can be associated with multiple child campaigns, but a campaign can only have one parent campaign). Individual donations can be tied to an object at any level.

Attributes:

The Salesforce Nonprofit cloud data model differs to Raiser’s Edge in the way it deals with things like constituents, households, gifts, events and proposals. It’s more than likely that a longtime Raiser’s Edge user would set up a list of attributes related to each of these areas.

Let’s take constituents as an example. Assume for this example that four attributes (see table) have been set for each constituent in your Raiser’s Edge database:

A big difference between the Salesforce Nonprofit Cloud and Raiser’s Edge data models is that the Salesforce model includes both a Contact and a Household which obviously can have one or more contacts. (Why? Well that’s a different conversation but one we are happy to have if you want to).

Your challenge (and ours) will be to work out if the existing attributes are required and if so whether they apply to an individual contact record or that individual’s household record?

If you decided to keep all four attributes then  would map in the data model as follows:

So there is definitely some important pre-migration thinking to be done work to be but the end result will be better data which will allow you to make more effective fundraising decisions.

4-  Making The Big Calls?

As you prepare for the migration it’s time to get your data in the best possible shape and structure.

You’re investing in a new system but it needs the right ‘fuel’. One thing is for sure. If the system doesn’t deliver users within your organisation will blame the system and not the data – not the new start you’re be hoping for!