by azadi shERIDAN
Part 3 of the “Tidy, Sweep, Polish” Data Cleaning Trilogy
You’ve Tidied. You’ve Swept. Your CRM is officially lighter, cleaner, and far less haunted by outdated records and phantom duplicates. But clean data isn’t the finish line—it’s the foundation. In this final post of our trilogy, it’s time to Polish: to refine, enhance, and put that data to work.
Because a gleaming database doesn’t just look good. It performs better. It fuels segmentation, drives giving, improves stewardship, and reveals insights. Here’s how to make your data sparkle—and stay that way.
Why Polishing Matters
Cleaning up your CRM without polishing it is like decluttering your wardrobe and then never folding the clothes. You’ve done the hard work—now let’s make it useful, visible, and future-proof.
Polishing your CRM means:
Enhancing records with additional value
Making your processes more efficient
Ensuring future data flows is clean, not dirty
Leveraging your clean data for smarter outreach and analytics
Let’s dig in.
Step 1: Smarter Imports = Less Cleaning Later
One of the best ways to future-proof your clean CRM is to look at how new data enters your system.
Ask yourself:
When importing new alumni from the student database, are you mapping fields consistently?
Do incoming records include unwanted abbreviations, inconsistent formatting, or missing identifiers?
Are relationships (e.g., to parents, schools, sports clubs) tagged clearly at import?
🟩 Pro Tip: Get the source system (like your student database) to match your CRM standards. That’s upstream problem-solving at its best.
Step 2: Segment Like a Pro
Now that your data is clean and structured, you can segment with confidence. But before you hit "send" on that next appeal or event invite:
Are excluded groups (e.g. deceased, opted-out contacts) correctly flagged and filtered?
Do your donation segments reflect real behavior—like appeal response or attendance history?
Should codes or tags be reviewed or renamed for clarity?
Cleaning without refining your segmentation logic is a missed opportunity. Use this moment to reassess who gets what, when, and why.
Step 3: Review Your Giving Data
Gift and donation records are critical in advancement. Now’s a good time to check:
Are all donations marked as thanked?
Can gift records be reconciled easily for finance and reporting?
Have tribute or legacy gifts been logged with proper context?
Even a clean record can be incomplete if acknowledgements or donor intent aren’t recorded properly. Polishing is your time to double-check that the back-end matches the front-end.
Step 4: Augment the Data (Strategically)
Once your internal data is tidy, it’s worth asking: What external data would make our CRM even better?
Options to consider:
Data 8 or other cleansing tools to append updated contact details
Office for National Statistics (or your country’s equivalent) for wealth, household, and demographic insights
Opportunity or interest attributes—like areas of support, affiliations, or board candidacy indicators
But here’s the golden rule: only enrich data you’re prepared to use. Adding a dozen new fields won’t help if no one references them.
Step 5: Use Your Data or Lose Your Edge
This is where things get exciting. A polished CRM lets you ask and answer powerful questions:
Which campaigns generated the most donations per recipient?
Are bouncebacks (hard and soft) reflected and acted upon?
Are we tracking alumni success stories that could support stewardship or engagement?
Have our online donation forms been tested for clear language and donor-friendliness?
The best time to build in small insights is right after you’ve cleaned your CRM—when your foundation is solid, and your team has clarity.
Step 6: Reinforce Standards Going Forward
Your CRM will never be “done” but it can be sustainable. That means:
✅ Documenting your data entry standards
✅ Setting reminders for routine sweeps (quarterly or post-major campaigns)
✅ Training new team members on your CRM “house style”
✅ Creating exception flags for VIP records
✅ Scheduling analytics reviews and segmentation audits
Clean data is a culture, not a campaign. But you’ve built the habits, systems, and insights to make it last.
🎯 Downloads
Now that your CRM sparkles, celebrate your success and stay inspired:
Download our two free desktop wallpapers: gentle nudges to keep your data clean and strategic. Or, if you’re ready to take the next step, contact us to see how Productle can support your advancement goals.
Desktop wallpaper - Do you need the data?
Desktop wallpaper - Tidy data sparks joyful giving
The Trilogy in Review
Tidy: Define your standards, clean up outdated policies, and organise your data landscape.
Sweep: Remove duplicates, fix errors, and clean incomplete records.
Polish: Optimise your processes, segment smarter, enhance strategically—and turn clean data into results.
Your CRM isn’t just a database. It’s your advancement team’s most valuable ally. Keep it clean, keep it smart, and let it work for you.