Data Documentation: How and Why, featuring Philanthropy.io
When I was advising a client on steps they could take to become a more data-informed organization, I turned to Jeannine Corey and Mary Kadzielski of Philanthropy.io for insights on data manuals and documentation. In the conversation below, they share some thoughts on the purpose of data documentation, what should be in an organization’s data manual, and how to keep it up to date.
Karen: What is a data manual?
Jeannine: A data manual is a set of documents used to outline and govern an organization’s data structure, details and definitions for data elements, information regarding governance and maintenance, integration and transformation rules, and other data-related needs specific to the organization. As with the data itself that is referenced, it’s critical to keep the document up-to-date to maintain its value and application to business processes.
Karen: I guess it’s generally accepted that documentation is a good thing, but are there specific benefits to documenting data management practices?
Mary: Data flows through all parts of an organization, impacting risk management, security, knowledge management, technology infrastructure, learning and evaluation, onboarding and training staff, and quality control. Knowing what you have helps you put structure around that data, protect its privacy and security, determine what to move into a new system and which is the system of record, and plan for business continuity.
Oftentimes when clients examine the data they have and determine what they need, it can allow them to streamline their processes internally and externally. For grantmakers, this could mean applications and reports are refined to request only critical data that will be used by the foundation. Internally, they may reduce duplicate data collection or streamline their internal reporting processes. It may also help them see trends in their data and help focus their grantmaking.
Karen: Could you share a story about a specific organization where this made a difference?
Jeannine: In my role as Director of Grants Information Management at Foundation Center, now Candid, the data manual we created was critical for ensuring consistency across team members and being able to create externally facing uses for the data. Up-to-date lists of codes, definitions, and coding rules ensured alignment across the indexing staff and informed user guides and search algorithms for external users.
Like many things, it’s ‘garbage in, garbage out’ - when helping clients with data migration work as they transfer between systems we are able to get under the hood and see what’s REALLY been happening in their systems compared to what their process documents and listening sessions indicated SHOULD be happening. Using that as an opportunity to really reflect on the questions the organization wants to answer, the bandwidth of staff to be able to apply codes consistently during the review and approval processes, and implementing a data governance practice is critical to track activities over time, set benchmarks, and be able to utilize visualization and other tools to help communicate the work of the organization and its impact.
Karen: What kinds of documentation are useful and what is it most important to include?
Mary: Not to be circular, but the most useful type of documentation is the one that will be used. Understand what your needs and goals are, the audiences that will be engaging with the document, and build out documentation accordingly. If you’re just trying to define a few key terms to ensure everyone is on the same page, a short glossary or reference guide may be sufficient. More extensive use cases may warrant a formalized data dictionary accompanied by process/procedure guides (also called SOPs or standard operating procedures), policy manuals, RACI/DACI charts that identify responsible parties, and documentation that cross references business continuity and risk management procedures.
For example, I just created a process and system guide for a client that adopted new software. The guide documented their processes, how the system was used to facilitate the processes, system-specific information including itemizing decisions that were made during implementation related to configuration and data migration, and a glossary that covered organizational jargon and system-specific terminology. We made decisions as to what to include based on their particular use of the system and what they thought needed to be defined or documented. They wanted a guide that could be used as an onboarding tool and comprehensive reference.
We have created many types of documentation for a variety of purposes and audiences that have taken many formats. Some formats we use include:
Glossary (a list of terms and definitions for those terms)
Data Dictionary (a technical term used to describe elements of a database and their relationship)
Process Guide (documents the steps for completing a process or multiple processes)
Manual (a set of instructions, but we sometimes use this term when the documentation combines process and software)
Training Guide
Workflow Guide
Reference materials
Karen: Knowing that nonprofit professionals have many demands on their time, what's your advice for an efficient and effective way to create something like this?
Mary: Define your needs, but if you aren’t sure of the full extent of your needs, that’s ok and it’s still ok to get started. If you have a specific need or request today, you can build documentation to address it. Build that documentation out and refine it as you go. You could think of it as a Frequently Asked Questions sheet. You were asked a question and you need to provide an answer - put that answer in a word document and start to build out a set of FAQs that you can share.
Get started. Start small. Maybe doing so helps you to define your needs. Don’t let perfection be the enemy of progress.
Karen: What kind of maintenance is required, and what's the best way to keep the documentation up to date?
Jeannine: This depends on a number of factors, but mostly how often the information included changes.
We recommend people do their best to make their documentation evergreen so as to minimize the amount of maintenance.
We also consider the format or tool that we use to create documentation to make it easy to modify. Often we create documentation in Word because most of our clients have Office365 subscriptions and know how to make edits to a Word document.
Scheduling periodic reviews of the documentation that also factor in time and/or a budget to keep materials up-to-date is also a good practice.
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To summarize, data documentation enhances an organization’s ability to share knowledge, reduce risks, and make well-informed decisions. Philanthropy.io’s comments underscore the importance of keeping documentation updated, using simple tools and periodic reviews. Perhaps her best advice is “don’t let perfection be the enemy of progress”--just start somewhere, and revise as you go.
About Jeannine Corey and Mary Kadzielski
Jeannine Corey has been serving the nonprofit sector as a leader and thought partner since 2001. Jeannine focuses on business architecture and process projects, helping organizations become more effective, efficient, and intentional in their work. Prior to consulting, Jeannine served as the Director of Grants Information Management for the Foundation Center, now Candid. During her tenure, she was responsible for providing the leadership, vision, and strategic direction for the Center’s grants collection and outreach efforts. Jeannine served as the Center’s team leader for Electronic Reporting initiatives and oversaw the creation and implementation of the Philanthropy Classification System and was the co-lead on the Center’s development and implementation of a new custom database. Before joining Foundation Center, Jeannine served as the Director of Operations for grant-making public charity for 10 years.
Mary Kadzielski has more than a decade of experience in the nonprofit sector, working in pursuit of making the world a better place and helping organizations be more efficient and effective. Her consulting work has focused on strategy, operations, business processes and continuity, and change management. Mary has an MBA from Cornell University and a Master’s in Wild Writing from the University of Essex. Prior to switching to a consulting role, she managed operations and programs for environmental nonprofits.
