Data audit schedules help keep data clean and healthy, providing accurate information that can build a stronger fundraising program.  This data informs constituent, gift, process and report information.  But having and using the data is only as good as how much maintenance you prioritize.  

A data audit schedule is a helpful mechanism to document the tasks needed to ensure processes and data remain correct in the most efficient way.  It measures the task, frequency, owner, due dates and completions.  It can be categorized based on how your team is structured.  

For instance, it may be enough to just list the tasks by frequency, but maybe there are tasks spread across multiple teams and it’s useful to track that.  You could also describe the process type.  Keeping track of all this information helps organize, follow-up and report on progress.  All useful ways to manage everything you’re overseeing. 

These tasks could happen in a wide range of frequencies - daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, annually, etc. - but are equally important to monitor regularly.

Building the Audit Schedule

To build the audit schedule, first think about sorting tasks into 8 potential categories: Constituents, Gifts, Processes, Reports, PI and/or PHI, Imports/Exports, Gift Officer Metrics and Security.

Use these categories to think about the types of information it’s important to reconcile to regularly ensure that data and reports are correct.  Document each task by assigning it a frequency, owner and any other categories important for your organization.  Use the frequency to assign a due date, allowing you to also track the data it was last completed. 

Here are some task examples that are likely not automated in your CRM.  Some may be automatically configured if you’re using a 3rd party system to convert information.

Constituents

• Titles vs. Professional Suffixes

• Proper coding of inactive or deceased records

• Solicit Codes added/removed from certain groups

• Address formatting for new donors

• Blank or duplicate constituent codes

• Non-constituent spouse addressee/salutations

• Duplicate records

Gifts

• Appeal/Fund/Campaign review

• Reconciliation with finance

• Recurring gift status review

• GDPR countries applied solicit code

• Matching Gift pledges not paid to cash gifts

• Tribute notifications

• Receipt and/or acknowledgement letter processing

• Gifts linked to a proposal or planned gift intention

Processes

• Global changes related to data that are automated (i.e. no updates needed to query, export file or field mapping are necessary)

• Link unlinked spouses

• Update source queries

• Solicit codes based on age

• Expense reconciliation (events, appeals, etc.)

• End of fiscal year updates

Reports

• Progress to Goals or OKRs

• Daily Gift Report

• Deceased Patient Report

• Pledge Status Report

• New Stories

• Prospect Pipeline Report

• MG Prospect LYBUNTs/SYBUNTs

PI and/or PHI

• Information access audit trail (who has access to what and how)

• Unused patient data removed

• Review records for non-allowed PHI (i.e. outcomes) without consent

Imports/Exports

• Update affinity rating scores

Gift Officer Metrics

• Wealth Screening

• Prospect Manager assigned to correct Head of Household

• Solicitor gift credit

• Disqualified records

• Actions/contact reports correctly entered

Security

• Account access level review

• System user onboarding

• System user offboarding

Managing the Audit Schedule

Your audit schedule is an active document used for managing ongoing data informing your program.  It’s also a mechanism to set goals for an operations team or others who manage information that informs fundraising performance and strategy.

The last piece of your audit schedule is to audit the audit.  Check over your audit schedule periodically (i.e. annually) to ensure there are no tasks that require adjustment or removal.  Systems are continually improving capability, so there may be things that can be done faster.  There may also be others that you’ve discovered the program no longer needs and can be removed.  

The purpose of the audit schedule is to efficiently keep data correct and efficiently moved, so keeping things that don’t adhere to that would be redundant.