Thursday, 10 February
Yesterday, I requested time this morning with our Development Associate to learn eTapestry, our online donor information database. We planned for 10 am. I just asked her about it and she said something about urgently needing to run reports and "can we do it this afternoon?" Well, no, I thought, but replied, "Let's just do it tomorrow. I was going to try to learn the system before I met with [the CEO] today so I'll probably just figure it out on my own and ask you any questions I may have" with a forced smile.
Today I spent the day with the foundations, researching deadlines and looking for inconsistencies and holes in our system. I was looking for ways to improve our systems of filing and organising our donor databases. We currently have three different systems of information storage: the "hard file," which houses paper documentation of correspondence with our foundation and government donors; the "electronic files," or the G: Drive, which is our common computer network server, where we store the electronic copies of proposals and related materials; the online file, or eTapestry, which is an online database that stores foundation information, but can't track any of the physical (or copies of) paperwork. These three individual systems combine to form a single, inconsistent system that requires that you check all three before verifying research on our donor relationships.
This hodge-podge "system" was created by employees who couldn't agree on how to organise the system, so they all went with their technological comfort levels, some moving things electronically, others maintaining the paper system. My goal is to organise the entire system, but I can't do that until the new Development Director arrives and provides us with her preference and guidance. So, for now, I will just leave the 'project' alone and record the holes when I find them.
I worked a full 8 hours today.
Today I spent the day with the foundations, researching deadlines and looking for inconsistencies and holes in our system. I was looking for ways to improve our systems of filing and organising our donor databases. We currently have three different systems of information storage: the "hard file," which houses paper documentation of correspondence with our foundation and government donors; the "electronic files," or the G: Drive, which is our common computer network server, where we store the electronic copies of proposals and related materials; the online file, or eTapestry, which is an online database that stores foundation information, but can't track any of the physical (or copies of) paperwork. These three individual systems combine to form a single, inconsistent system that requires that you check all three before verifying research on our donor relationships.
This hodge-podge "system" was created by employees who couldn't agree on how to organise the system, so they all went with their technological comfort levels, some moving things electronically, others maintaining the paper system. My goal is to organise the entire system, but I can't do that until the new Development Director arrives and provides us with her preference and guidance. So, for now, I will just leave the 'project' alone and record the holes when I find them.
I worked a full 8 hours today.
posted by Ruth at 10:03 PM
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