Data Migration is standard practice when your organization develops a new member portal or membership site, and this can be a daunting task. Your association is going to want to keep your data in order to continue tracking reports on member engagement, member retention, and the popularity of your membership benefits, especially if your organization relies heavily on data to manage its operations and achieve its mission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, with the right tools and strategies in place, data migration can be a smooth and successful process. This is where CiviCRM comes in \u2013 an open-source CRM software that can help organizations migrate their data effectively and efficiently. Whether your association changes its CMS, AMS, or LMS. This blog will guide you through the steps of setting your data’s broad objectives and cleaning it up to prepare it for successful data migration<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here are some tips for achieving data migration success using CiviCRM:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Before going deep into the data, take a step back to think of what your association’s goals are for your data. How do you want to use it? How does it benefit you? What saved reports do you want to create with it? Which dynamic (liquid) fields are you going to want to create from the data? What automation will you want from the data?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Make a list of the goals you have for your data. From this point, make sure you have the data you want to reach those goals, and that you create fields to house that data in our new data management system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Start by asking your association\u2019s team the following questions:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1. What data do we want to migrate?<\/strong> The Must-Haves<\/strong> 2. Does future work and reports require all the data?<\/strong> Use the following framework to decide what data to keep; ask yourself: You do not need to throw out the data that your association doesn’t need. It is reasonable to assuage your what-if fears by saving a backup in a location other than your association\u2019s new CRM or database. This way you can access it if ever the need arises and it won\u2019t clutter up your new database and reports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Before your association rushes to shuttle all your existing data into the new member portal, this is a welcome opportunity to clean up your data. You\u2019ll want to make sure your association only carries over relevant and up-to-date data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s like moving to a new home; you\u2019ll want to go through the basement and ask yourself, \u201cDo we really want to clutter up our new home with all the stuff we haven\u2019t used in ten years?\u201d Your task here would include deduplication, normalization, and other data-cleaning task.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now that we know the data content types we want to move forward with, let\u2019s look at the data fields<\/em> of each content type. The fields are the titles of your columns in your data; and the categories so you can make sense of the date. Delete the data fields you do not need. Not sure if you should delete them? Go back to the questions above: does the field support your association\u2019s mission? Is there a practical application for the data?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Your team will likely have inherited data from previous years and programs that are no longer relevant. You may need to update or delete these data altogether. Your data may contain everything and anything! Let\u2019s take a closer look.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The main content types your associations likely need to transfer for a member portal are your contacts, staff, members, membership types, events, activities, donations, user profiles, relationships, and partners. There may be other content types that are specific to your association\u2019s needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There will be data that is not useful to your mission and reporting. Either it\u2019s historic, not relevant, or incomplete. We encourage you to feel comfortable with letting go of the data your association doesn\u2019t need. Avoid the what-if mentality of thinking, \u201cWe may use it one day!!\u201d Focus on your association\u2019s mission, how you serve your members, and the practical applications of the data.<\/p>\n\n\n\nHow do we know if we will need the data in the future or not?<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n
Does the data support your association\u2019s mission?
Does this data help you better meet the needs of your membership?
Do you see practical applications for the data that you will use in the near future?<\/p>\n\n\n\nSaving a Backup of Historic Data<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n
Housekeeping<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n
Step 2: Getting a Closer Look at the Data Fields<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
1. Identify Fields to Migrate<\/strong>
Look at all the fields in the data. First name, last name, email, location, donation amount, relevant tags \u2014 there are plenty of important fields. There may also be granular data that your system stores and isn\u2019t relevant to your association\u2019s work and mission \u2014 for example, time stamps on an event from years back or the food preferences of people who passed away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n