Data Health Assessment

10 Questions to Understand Your Data

How healthy is your alumni and donor data? Most advancement teams assume their database is in decent shape until they measure it. Score each question honestly, add up your total, and see exactly where you stand.

Score each question: 0 = Not at all · 1 = Somewhat · 2 = Mostly · 3 = Completely

1

Email Accuracy

Can you confidently say that 80%+ of the email addresses in your database are deliverable right now?

Bounce rates above 15–20% signal significant email decay. Industry average for schools: 25–40% outdated.

2

Phone Coverage

Do you have a verified phone number (cell or work) for at least 60% of your contactable constituents?

Phone is still the highest-converting outreach channel for major gifts and events. Most schools are below 40%.

3

Address Currency

Have mailing addresses been verified or updated in the past 12 months?

12% of Americans move every year. Without regular NCOA updates, a meaningful portion of your direct mail budget is wasted.

4

Employment Data

Do you know the current employer and job title for at least 50% of your constituents?

Employment data drives gift capacity scoring, prospect identification, and career networking. It also decays the fastest of any field.

5

Lost Constituents

Is your 'lost' or 'no contact' rate below 15% of total records?

If more than 15% of your database has no valid contact information, you are missing major engagement and giving opportunities right now.

6

Data Freshness

Has your database had a comprehensive update or enrichment within the past 12 months?

Data decays at 2–3% per month. A database untouched for two years may be 35–50% outdated — even if it looks complete.

7

CRM Confidence

Does your team trust the data in your CRM enough to make outreach decisions without double-checking?

If staff routinely Google alumni before calling, your CRM is not doing its job. That is a data quality problem, not a staff efficiency problem.

8

Duplicate Control

Are you confident there are fewer than 5% duplicate records in your database?

Duplicates cause embarrassing double-mailings, inaccurate reporting, and wasted outreach budget — often without anyone realizing it.

9

Reporting Reliability

Can you produce an accurate count of contactable alumni by class year, region, or giving level in under 5 minutes?

If basic reports require manual cleanup first, your data is limiting your strategic decision-making — not enabling it.

10

Integrity Dashboard

Do you have a real-time Data Health Score for your database, helping you drive decisions?

Schools with a defined data health metric report 30–40% higher confidence in outreach decisions and stronger case for technology investment.