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Little Data Solutions

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Des Moines, IA
Little Data Solutions

Little Data Solutions helps nonprofits of all shapes and sizes with their analytics and data needs.

05/29/2026

Welcome to part 3 of my series: CRM Spring Clean Up 🌱

We've covered constituent records, households, addresses, and giving records. Today we're finishing with three areas that don't always get attention but really should.

📨 Acknowledgements and Letters
☐ Review your active acknowledgment templates — remove anything outdated, duplicate, or mislabeled
☐ Check that your tax language is consistent across all templates
☐ Make sure in-kind letters are not mentioning the value of the donated item — that's the donor's job to determine, not yours

🗂️ Segmentation and Reporting Readiness
☐ Can you identify board members, staff, volunteers, and estates without digging through notes?
☐ Check whether critical reporting information is hiding in free-text note fields — if it is, it's at risk
☐ Run a duplicate check and merge where appropriate, but review relationships and giving history first

⚙️ System Settings
☐ Review user access levels — not everyone needs admin rights
☐ Remove former staff and volunteers — inactive users are a compliance and security risk

If you've made it through all three parts of this series, your database is in better shape than most.

And if you got to the end of this list and thought "we need help actually doing this" — that's exactly what I do. CRM assessments and cleanup are one of my specialties! Feel free to reach out.

05/28/2026

Yesterday we talked about constituent records and households. This week we're getting into the stuff that directly affects your budget and your compliance.

Welcome to part 2 of my series: CRM Spring Clean Up 🌱

Outdated addresses cost real money if you're mailing. And giving records that don't align with your finance team's structure make reconciliation a nightmare every single year.

Here's what to check on today:

📍 Addresses and Contact Info

☐ Audit how many records have no usable mailing address — is that intentional?

☐ Remove any names or notes that have crept into address fields

☐ Schedule an address hygiene update (NCOA or equivalent) if you mail regularly

☐ Scan for malformed emails and phone numbers

☐ Confirm opt-outs and contact restrictions are actually being tracked

🤝 Giving Records and Fundraising Hygiene

☐ Review your campaigns and funds — do they align with how finance reconciles?

☐ Check for old or duplicate funds cluttering your lists

☐ Audit non-deductible benefit tracking for events and sponsorships — are you acknowledging those correctly?

That last one catches a lot of people off guard. Event sponsorships and registrations are often not 100% tax deductible, and your acknowledgment letters need to reflect that.

Tomorrow part 3: acknowledgements, segmentation, and system settings.

05/27/2026

Spring Cleaning isn't just for your house: your fundraising CRM needs a cleanup too!

Welcome to my 3-part series: CRM Spring Clean-Up 🌱

Join me this week as we check off the simple tasks that can make a huge difference in the effectiveness of your CRM.

We all have things like a business saved as a person, a spouse listed twice, a salutation that says "Dear John and Mary" and another that says ‘Dear Tammy & Mike” because nobody ever picked a standard and stuck with it.

None of it feels urgent until you're running a major appeal and you spend hours cleaning spreadsheets. Don’t you wish you could clean up the source so lists come out right the first time?

So today let's start here: constituent records and households.

☐ Check individual vs organization types
☐ Search for placeholder names like "Unknown" or "Test"
☐ Clean up name fields — no titles, credentials, or notes in there
☐ Mark inactive and deceased records clearly
☐ Confirm spouses are linked correctly and only one is set as Primary for mailings
☐ Standardize your addressees and salutations and stick to it

Small fixes here save a lot of embarrassment during your next appeal. 📬

Part 2 tomorrow: addresses and giving records.

05/20/2026

The moment a nonprofit leader stops feeling overwhelmed by their data and starts feeling confident in it, that's why I do this work.

A lot of what I do happens behind the scenes. No storefront, no flashy deliverable. Just a small team that suddenly has the information they need to make better decisions, faster.

I work almost exclusively with nonprofits, organizations doing a lot with very little. Getting to be the person who brings some clarity to that? I don't take it for granted.

Thank you to every client who has trusted me with the behind-the-scenes work. It means more than you know.

05/12/2026

Today's the day! 🕚👀

I can't wait to dig into fundraising data with all of you. If your nonprofit collects data but struggles to turn it into clear dashboards and confident decisions, you're in the right place.

Join me today, Tuesday, May 12, 2026, at 3 PM EST for a 90-minute interactive webinar where we'll walk step-by-step through:

✅ Defining meaningful fundraising KPIs that align with your goals
✅ Building a simple and scalable measurement framework
✅ Designing dashboards that actually highlight insights
✅ Using data to evaluate fundraising strategies and campaigns
✅ Creating a repeatable reporting process your team can maintain

💡 You'll also get ready-to-use KPI starter lists, a fundraising dashboard layout, a monthly reporting template, and a KPI definition worksheet so you can put it all to work immediately.

Bring your questions, and get ready to make your data work for your mission.

Last chance to grab your seat: https://www.charityhowto.com/nonprofit-webinar/fundraising-kpi-dashboard-reporting-system-nonprofits?list=Upcoming+Live+Webinars

05/11/2026

I recently had the pleasure of presenting for , and they've turned it into a fantastic resource for nonprofits ready to fundraise smarter.

Head to their blog to read the full breakdown — it covers donor segmentation, data-driven ask amounts, and how to build a strategy that gets better every cycle.

Give it a read: https://hubs.li/Q04f1zcy0

04/01/2026

This is one of my favorite events of the year, and it's a pleasure to help support Ballet Des Moines in the back end of making this event come to life. It takes a village to put on an event like this, between amazing volunteers gathering item donations, sponsors, table and ticket purchasers, creative staff who make beautiful and engaging imagery and messaging, decorators, caterers, emcees, A/V staff, musicians, dancers, leadership who somehow keep track of all the moving pieces... the list goes on. My humble contribution is to manage the auction system and website, and help ensure tech and bidding go smoothly on the night (all with lots of help from staff and volunteers). It's an adrenaline rush to be sure, and supports this gem of artistry and community that we are blessed to have in our backyard.
This Friday's gala is fully sold out, but be sure to take a peek at the wide variety of items before bidding ends Friday night!

03/26/2026

Exploring data more intentionally in your nonprofit? It can help to think about it in two categories: Internal and External.

✅ Internal data is everything your organization collects directly. This would be things like donor activity, program outcomes, and volunteer engagement.

✅ External data comes from outside sources like census statistics, economic trends, or regional demographics.

Both are useful on their own, but together they can provide a much fuller picture.

💡 A good thing to keep in mind: Internal data shows your org's story. External data adds the broader context.

03/24/2026

One of my favorite parts of the work I do is getting to connect with people who genuinely want to use their data better.

Thank you to everyone who joined our recent webinar. It was a pleasure connecting with so many people who are passionate about using data to strengthen their missions and grow their donor communities. It was a really great session.

One attendee shared this in the feedback survey: "So helpful! It felt like a crash course of my whole job, in the best way. It helped me find ways to improve my work and the integrity of our data."

And even better, with the webinar's success, it looks like there may be future ones with CharityHowTo down the road sooner than you think, so stay tuned. 👀

💡 When we understand the story in our data, we make better decisions.

02/25/2026

Today's the day!

I can't wait to dig into all things donor data with all of you. We'll cover how to reactivate lapsed supporters, grow your donor base, and of course, turn insights into action.

Grab a cup of something warm, bring questions, get comfy, and let's make your data work for your mission. By the end, you'll leave with practical tools, templates, and the confidence to act. 💡

Address

PO Box 41186
Des Moines, IA
50311

Opening Hours

Monday	9am - 4pm
Tuesday	9am - 4pm
Wednesday	9am - 4pm
Thursday	9am - 2pm
Friday	9am - 4pm

Website

http://www.littledatasolutions.com/

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