Information Management Basics

Editor's Notes

• #4: Matt’s
• #6: We sometimes call this the most important formula for nonprofit information management success. Organizations that think technology will solve all ills set themselves up for information management failure. Good information management is born out of good culture. Successful nonprofit cultures focus on all five critical areas of information management – not just the technology. Organizations need to set themselves up well for good information management by taking into consideration all five Keys to Information Management.
• #7: Information management is what it sounds like – the management of information. Much of information in an organization exists in the minds of its people or within information systems. An information system can be “low tech” – such as a library of books indexed by the Dewey Decimal system. Or it can be “high tech” -- hardware-supported software (including the cloud) that manages the information. Now, on to the five keys, starting with….
• #8: When good leadership is engaged and setting the tone for an initiative, it typically goes much more smoothly. Even seemingly small information management initiatives benefit when leadership participates. Example: over 18 months of working on a major information management initiative, progress and success related directly to leadership’s commitment to participating and making key decisions at critical junctures.
• #9: Get the right people on the bus. Be sure to have good project planning and management, particularly time management. Be sure to communicate effectively with all of the audiences that need to be involved in the process: RACI (responsible, accountable, consulted, informed). Case story: national nonprofit made sure to have the right people involved, sound project organization, and thorough communications – resulting in a successful multi-year technology roadmap.
• #10: Designing effective processes means more than just coming up with the best way to do something. It means developing sufficient documentation of the processes, and above all, executing the processes consistently. It is one thing to agree of a standard process while “in the conference room” – another to actually put it into practice at your desk. Case story: national volunteer organizations defined its case management processes in such a way to make a clear information management roadmap and organizational change initiative truly effective.
• #11: Data must be consistently collected, well-organized, properly maintained, and USED! Organizations must do all of these things well in order to have an effective information management environment. Case example: Hunger-focused organization improved its data management culture and practices to provide superior insights
• #12: Technology can be viewed as the simple answer to address problems with leadership, operations, processes, and data. For the most part, technology is supportive of how organizations behave. New technology will (for the most part) make up what is lacking n the other areas. Success story: USAID-funded economic development organization chose technology that was truly reflective of their business needs and leveraged it effectively to create new opportunities.
• #13: The last two keys are largely dependent on the first three. If you don’t have good leadership, operations, and processes, success in data and technology management will be hampered.