Is Your Charity Data Working Hard Enough?

1. Data Capture is the key

Correctly capturing your supporter's data on your website is essential. Failure to successfully capture could mean you ultimately lose your donation and loyalty of your supporter. Tools like Data8 Unify ensure that you capture all your supporter details correctly. Data8's Unify uses a single credit pack to access a variety of key validation services, including: 

• Name validation: Capture and validate your supporters name accurately at the point of entry. This will prevent bogus, random, and salacious names entering your database. This is an easy to install and ready to use in minutes.
• Address validation: Capture, validate and standardise your supporters address correctly. The Predictive Address™ functionality allows supporters to simply start typing any part of their address. As they start typing their address, a drop down will appear in real time providing them with a variety of addresses for them to choose from. The advanced fuzzy logic functionality means that even when misspelled words are entered, correct addresses will be provided.
• Email validation: With around 20% of the world’s emails being spelled incorrectly, you want to ensure that your supporter’s email is correct. Instant email validation services allows you to capture accurate email addresses at the point of entry, 24/7. Email validation can help increase delivery rates in marketing campaigns and increase customer service and retention rates.
• Phone validation: It only takes one single mis-typed digit to turn your new supporter’s data as incorrect, making it harder to contact them in the future. Easy to install phone validation allows you to standardise and verify supporters landline and mobile numbers (including international numbers)
• Bank validation: Ensuring your supporters bank details are essential to your charity. Incorrect bank details mean your donation is lost and causes embarrassment to your charity if you need to contact the supporter to rectify the problem. With the sharp increase of online sales, it is essential that you capture supporters bank details correctly. Effective real time bank validation allows you to check your supporters account and sort code are correct, direct debit capable and CHAPS supported.

The key to Data Unify is that it eliminates the need to purchase separate credits for the different validation services. The packs offer the flexibility to be used across all integrations including CRM, POS systems, web forms and e-commerce platforms. They are easy to install and ready to use in minutes, providing your charity with real time accurate data. 

2. E-commerce Integration

With over 21% of customers reporting that they would abandon their carts if the checkout process took too long, you want your supporters shopping experience to be speedy and simple.  Many charities now offer online shops of products for supporters to purchase, making e-commerce integration essential.  Data8 offer a wide range of e-commerce plugins including Magento, Prestashop, Opencart and Shopify.  

4. Data Cleansing

Keeping your supporter’s data cleansed is essential. You can dramatically improve the quality of your data through a variety of data cleansing services which include:

• PAF Cleansing: The Postcode Address File (PAF) is the most up to date address database containing accurate address data for over 33 million UK postal delivery addresses. By using Royal Mail's Postcode Address File (PAF) which contains the latest, most accurate UK address data coupled with our technology, we compare your data against the PAF to instantly update the records in your file and not fall victim to the vast number of movers.
• Data Suppression services: Identify supporters who are gone away, deceased or moved away to keep your database up to date.

De-duplication and merging services: If you hold multiple records for one individual with a variety of different details, you run the risk of breaching GRPR.  You will also be wasting money through direct mailing campaigns where you are contacting the same individual multiple times, this clearly sends out the wrong message to your supporters on how their money is being spent.

De-duplication can be done as an automated process online or with more complex rules through our bureau. Data8 can also remove duplicates within Microsoft Dynamics CRM by using the Data8 Duplicare product allowing multiple merging of records and scheduled de-duplication runs.   

• Batch validation services: Cleanse large files prior to marketing activities in real time.  
• Preference services: Stay compliant of UK legislation and GDPR with preference services which include TPS (telephone preference service), MPS (mail preference service) CTPS (corporate telephone service) and baby MPS. Preference services help save time, money and always keep data up to date.
• Appending and enhancement services: Tele appending services using BT OSIS and Data8 Universe. With the BT OSIS it provides you with access to over 27 million subscribers where we match names and addresses against the BT OSIS to provide a phone number, creating a more complete record.  

If you are already tied into an existing licencing contract with another provider, don’t worry, let us know when it is due to expire, and we can give you a call to discuss nearer the time. Moving to Data8 from another data provider is very simple.  Our dedicated charity specialist, Jo, has over 17 years’ experience in helping charities improve their data quality and is here to help every step of the way. We can also help with uninstalling existing solutions and seamlessly replace them with Data8 solutions.