In today's fast moving world, volunteers of non-profit organisations are finding that they have less time to sit on Management Boards. A reluctance for people to put their hand up has placed an incredible strain on the few trojans who have decided to give up part of their lives for the community. Such a workload has ultimately led to the decline of the relevant organisation so that everybody loses. One way to address this problem is to make the most of the membership database. Here are some simple tips showing how technology can reduce the workload of these wonderful people. It could even encourage others to participate and thereby reduce the time and effort for everyone:
Key Step #1 - Sort Members into Classes Sit down and determine the different classes of membership your organisation has. Ensure that your database allows you to allocate the relevant class to each member. If for example, the organisation's constitution allows for Social Members, assign this class to those who belong to it. When you need to send a letter/email to those who are Social Members only, your database should then let you to produce search results based on Social Members and then write or email to these directly from the database, saving enormous amounts of time.
Key Step #2 - Set up Categories Let's assume some members are sponsors or players or both. If we are going to have an Annual Presentation Dinner, our database should allow us to set up unlimited categories so that anyone in our club or non-profit who is a sponsor can easily be identified. It should never be just a list that we look at and say, "They're a Sponsor." This will lead to mistakes and you can bet that someone who sponsors will be accidentally left off the invitation list. We also might want to contact all those players who are in the football top grade. Allocating such a sub-category under the main category of Footballers means that we can search for Footballers on its own if the message relates to all footballers or we can search for the top graders only if we so desire.
Key Step #3 - Keep the Database Current It's no good having a database that is out of date. Assign the task to somebody who will review the database regularly and update accordingly. This will save time in the long run.
Key Step #4 - Ensure that the Database is Simple to Use A database system that is difficult to use will see new Board Members who need to use it, struggle and then lose interest. These days there are many useful affordable packages that are easy to use so that time is not wasted on trying to learn the system on handover.
Key Step #5 - Is Your Database Easily Accessible? Having a database that is stored on one person's computer is not always ideal. This is because other authorised members may need to get access to this database at different times which can be difficult if the person is away on holidays or sick.
Key Step #6 - Have a Database that can Record Historic Data It is often useful to be able to quickly look at past contacts with the member or anyone else in the database quickly. It could be when they were sent a meetings notice or a renewal subscription. If there are any disputes, it is good governance to have a record of any dealings that you had with them and you will be complying with your constitution.
Key Step #7 - "Mine" Your Database! By recording enough information about each contact within your database , you will be able to look at your classes and categories and determine whether activities such as fundraising could be more relevant and successful by looking at these groups and act accordingly. If for example, a large number of our database enjoys golf, we might organise a golf day starting with a fun teams event followed by watching on television the final stages of the US Masters in the clubhouse capping the day off with a dinner which could be used to raise money for our organisation.
The message is very clear. Never underestimate the benefits a powerful, yet simple database can deliver!
