Getting Started

No matter how big or small your organization, you have some data that is important to making it work. This data might be stored in a simple database or spreadsheet of donors with addresses and emails. This could be as complicated as bank account information or behavioral data showing how people use your website.

Start by making a list of those data elements. Then, ask yourself this question, “Who is in charge of keeping each of these items safe and updated?”

If that’s a hard question, it’s time to plan. Consider appointing someone to steward each of those data fields. This is the first step in developing “data & analytics governance.” It is an important topic for data protection, for Boards of Directors and chief executives. It also increases the value of the data you already have.

Valuing Data as Critical Asset

What would you do if everything on that list you made disappeared or got scrambled? How much would you spend to reassemble the data? That gives you an idea of its worth and how much your organization should consider investing to protect it with backups, governance, and cybersecurity.

Expanding the Data List

Next, get some key leaders together to talk about what data is important. You probably don’t know what everyone in your organization does with the data your organization keeps, so ask them. Also find out where they get the data they need. What you’re doing is building and expanding a map of the critical data your organization needs to function well.

Making a Data Management Plan

When you’re done with your data map, you’ll have a good idea of your organization’s valuable data. Now it’s time to plan for managing it:

• First step is easy

Is there data you’re keeping that no one uses? Purge it or plan to purge it soon. Managing data is not free. If you’re keeping data that you don’t have plans to use, just stop keeping it.

• Second step is harder

Look at the data and people who are stewarding it for your organization.

Look at the data and people who are stewarding it for your organization. Are there ways to make stewardship easier by consolidating your data storage locations? Can you improve the ways the data gets accessed or shared? Be creative and open-minded. Also, look for chances to work together and share authoritative sources of data better.

• Third step is important

Look at the data list and ask who knows the legal rules that apply. How is the data supposed to be retained, protected, deleted, and shared? If the data is about other people (maybe your supporters or volunteers), do you have their consent to use it in the ways you are using it? This step may mean you must hire a consultant, send someone to data training, retain a law firm, or subscribe to an external service for the expertise you need to manage your data well, legally, and ethically.

The Lord Will Deliver

Don’t get discouraged or dismayed. Keep your eyes on what’s important. The Lord will help you discern the best directions forward with your data. Gird yourself with prayer for wisdom and against the temptations of the worldly values evident in how some organizations exploit or misuse data.

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Jeffrey Collins (PhD, Carnegie Mellon University) fights to release children from poverty in Jesus’ name as the Senior Director of Data & Analytics at Compassion International. He is a former military commander, Pentagon cyberspace strategist, Chief Technology Innovation Officer for NORAD, and the founding director of Air Force CyberWorx.

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