In my last two assignments I was a full time DBA for RE and our operations were likely smaller than yours.  The questions you need to ask (and share with us) are how many constituents are in the database?  How many gifts do you process in a year?  How many users of RE will there be?  How many are dedicated to fundraising?

From experience I know that every database will suffer if not properly managed and one person is best to do the management so that leaves options 3 and 4 off of the table for me.  A DBA may actually manage (or even directly supervise) a team of staff who have part of the database management responsibilities such as gift entry, event management, prospect management, etc. but there is still a chain of command where the Database has one manager.  As a team where I am now three of us meet weekly to discuss RE issues.

Option 2 is sometimes used in very small operations where the DBA has other responsibilities including gift entry and acknowledgment, data entry, etc. where DBAs in any medium to large operation do not directly do that work - they simply oversee the database integrity.  But this assumes you are hiring someone with the skills to be a DBA and giving them these other responsibilities.  Managing this the other way around leaves your database at risk of poor decisions being made by a well-intentioned but untrained individual.

Option 1 is an option but I believe that they should be a permanent hire not an outsider.  I also think that you may soon find that part-time is not enough time.  Especially in the 12-18 months post conversion when you are still "ironing out the kinks"

Another option is that an Associate VP or other higher up position is reassigned (assuming they have the skills) or newly hired to oversee the database as part of their job and they delegate the responsibilities that a DBA would to their direct reports.  Again this is not something you would simply add to someone without them having full knowledge of relational database concepts, possibly SQL training, etc. 

Managing your database is something not to be overlooked.  You spend thousands of dollars in a year and your data is your most prized possession in your fundraising operation.  It seriously only takes one simple mistake for all of your data to become corrupt, unusable, or even disappear.  Imagine that day and hopefully you'll realize the important job a DBA has.

I don't know how big your organization is or what modules of RE you intend to use but a Database Manager is essential.  Do you have your own server or are you hosted by Blackbaud?  Are you intending to use NetCommunities for web-based information?  Who will update the constituent records?  Run queries?  Train new employees?  Create procedures and processes?  An outside source will not know your organization well enough to handle the job.  You need someone that will coordinate with current staff.  Depending on your size, this could be a full time job.  Keep in mind, this is not a technical position; but the person definitely needs to know RE and your organizations structure.

Maureen Kloker

Database Manager

Carroll College

Helena, MT  59601

mkloker@carroll.edu

Thanks for the great feedback Melissa! I am in complete agreement with your statements: "From experience I know that every database will suffer if not properly managed and one person is best to do the management..." AND  "Managing your database is something not to be overlooked...."  I was the Director of Development for a medium sized non-profit in Baltimore for 5 years, prior to joining the NFI team. We used Raiser's Edge and had a full-time Database Administrator who reported to me.  My prior experience is the reason I was asked to be one of the project managers for oNFI's Database Conversion...although it falls outside my scope of responsibilities as Director of Corporate Relations.  My prior experience is also the reason I am lobbying Senior Management at NFI to not be cavalier about the importance of having someone to shepherd the project long-term.

Option 4 was only presented to drive home what will happen if we do nothing. Option 3 presents problems with accountability and leaves the door open for too many things to fall through the cracks.  Option 1 would be great if we could afford to hire someone new, but we can't at this time...and even if we could...I would be concerned about turning this over to someone who has no understanding of the history of our data management challenges at NFI and the various persoanlities.  Obviously, this leaves Option 2 - which is my and my partner's personal preference for a number of reasons - (1) This option offers the most accountability for long-term success.  (2) We have a great person on staff who has managed databases before, is technologically saavy, has been at NFI long enough to understand our past data management issues, is extremely detail oriented (3) The aforementioned individual really enjoys this type of work and is willing to realign her job to take on this role.

Regarding your questions: 

• We have approximately 55,000 constituent records in our database? By the time we finish deduping the system and importing all the constituent data that was being tracked outside of our former database - Results Plus - we will probably have about 65-70K records.
• The number of gifts we process per year is a bit deceiving. Technically, we only processed 604 "gifts" in 2008.  However, we are not a typical non-profit.  Although we are a 501c3 and raise money, we also sell our curricula and services, AND we manage several large government contracts.  To provide some context, our budget for this year is 7 million.  At least for the first year, we will not process sales transactions through RE...but we would ultimately like to get to that point.  That said, we will be importing sales data into RE on a regular basis.
• Although we only have 6 staff members dedicated to raising funds from individuals, corporations and foundations, all 42 employees will be using RE for tracking proposals, sales calls, fundraising appeals, donations, etc. The idea is for RE to get everyone working off the same page...to create more efficiency system wide.

Thank you for your response Maureen! 

If you look at my response to Melissa Graves, it should answer some some of your questions. In addition...

• We will be using the Event and Membership Modules. 
• We have our own server, but we opted to use Blackbaud for Hosting because of the number of remote employees who work for NFI. 
• We will be using NetCommunity.  In fact, we will be kicking of that part of the project in the next couple weeks. 
• Only one person will enter gifts, but all 42 employees will have the ability to add/update constituent records?  Delete ability will only be givin to the person or people who ultimately end up managing the database (depending on the model we decide to use for DBA)
• Probably 1 person per department, plus the DA/s will be responsible for running queries
• We have a training pass that covers all classroom, online, etc.  The person or people who end up managing the Database also may be called on to do some training. 
• The person or people who end up managing the Database will create the Policy & Procedures Manual. This is one of the primary reasons that we need to resolve what model we want to follow for DBA quickly. That said, myself and one of my colleagues have already started mapping out the document. 

I currently manage all of the Blackbaud database at our school (9-12).  This includes Raiser's Edge, Financial Edge and Education Edge.  It is a full-time job (with other duties added, of course - I'm also the library/archives assistant).  My predecessor had cleaned up our databases (locking down tables, attributes, security, etc.) and formulated procedures for that time.  I primarily maintain the Administration and Configuration as time progresses and develop new procedures when fields are added thru software updates.  I also train new employees and assist them when needed. 

Hope that information helps.  Sandra Ross  

Our DB Administrator job is outlined below:

Job Title:  Database Administrator         

Job Description:

The Database Administrator ‘s responsibility is to increase the consistency and accuracy of the data within all of the Blackbaud programs and to develop competent, knowledgeable Blackbaud users. 

The Database Administrator reports to and is under the supervision of the Headmaster and the Director of Information Technology.

Job duties

1.      Verify synchronization throughout the databases is occurring as scheduled.

2.      Facilitate creation and implementation of community data standards via Blackbaud users manual(s) and policy and procedure manuals.

3.      Plan and provide various levels of training for VES Blackbaud users

4.      Provide technical support to VES Blackbaud users.

5.      Set up and adjust user security as needed.

6.      Assist department personnel in evaluating and implementing the use of Blackbaud.

7.      Create customized reports when necessary.

Qualifications

Microsoft office experience is required. College degree and/or extensive database experience or technical skill is required.

Hours

Full-time – 35 hours/week