That new database smell... What would you do with a brand-new blank RE database?

Hi.. I wanted to thank everyone for all the great advice on this post and I wanted give a little update on how things have gone...

It's been a year since we set up an RE NXT database from scratch. Setting up the database was incredibly easy. We sent in the signed paperwork, had a few quick meetings and within two weeks we were given the login to a new, totally empty database. The hardest part of the whole process was convincing various people at Blackbaud that no, we didn't need any sort of "data conversion" work because the organization had only been formed a year before and only really had a few spreadsheets filled with contact info.

The very first thing we did was set up some basic security classes and send invites to the Advancement Services staff and a few key IT people. While our IT department worked on setting up the posting process the Advancement Service staff worked on setting up basic code tables. We also spent a few hours in a meeting with the stakeholders where we talked out some scenarios and thought up some constituency codes and report ideas. Interestingly, the policies, constituency codes and some of the reporting ideas were different than those we used for our University. Each organization is going to customize Raiser's Edge to their unique need, and RE NXT makes that fairly easy.

Next we set up two Campaign codes, then we entered the two Funds and a couple appeal codes. After those were in place we created about 10 constituency codes which we had discussed in those initial setup meetings. With those basic things in place my experienced staff started compiling the constituent and gift info we needed to transfer into the new database.

That first day of real data entry went slowly because we hadn't even considered some of those little code tables we all take for granted. We added in new titles, a few new phone types, another constituency code (all the planning in the world doesn't always prepare you for reality), a bunch of relationship codes and even a couple basic attributes.

We manually entered about 30 board members and existing donor constituent records. Next we moved on to entering our existing gift records (less than two dozen) and we finished out the day by building a few reports where we could total our gifts and compare to our existing records, just to make sure we didn't miss anything.

Over the next six months we ran some imports of constituent records from Excel spreadsheets and we spent about three hours training the BSACAM staff on how to do basic constituent data entry. They picked it up rather quickly and they all found RE NXT to be very approachable.

A year later we now have a little over 2,000 constituents, a few more gifts and a few more reports. We have all our basic code tables in place, we have about twelve different constituency codes and only three custom fields/attributes (so far!). The BSACAM staff can build their own lists in RE NXT and they feel pretty confident in basic data entry.

We keep the stakeholders involved with monthly meetings where we just touch base, have a short training session on a particular topic and usually work through some questions and make policy decisions.

We have some basic documentation, mostly from our meetings, but we haven't written out any expansive instructions because we're still not sure how all the staff positions and roles will play out once we get back into the office in person.

Overall, it's been exciting first year of using our new RE NXT database. As jaded professionals we may not be impressed by simple database functions, but some of the staff were simply amazed by basic reports and lists that were not possible in their old Excel spreadsheets. They love that RE NXT is web based and they can even look up things on their phones. The staff members of our new organization have had an incredibly positive experience and they're excited about seeing their data presented in such an accessible and professional way.