Note from Sasha: I have worked with Robert L. Weiner at the TechSoup forums where we have both been volunteer forum moderators in the database and software section for many years. Come visit us there sometime! Over the years, I've come to respect his depth of knowledge and skill at sharing about best practices for using donor databases. This article by him is one of my favorites. Robert is an independent technological consultant to non-profits and is not affiliated with FundRaiser Software. I'm sharing the article because I believe it is one of the most concisely helpful resources written on the subject of donor database best practices, and that FundRaiser users will benefit from reading it.
After people, data is your most important asset.-- John Kenyon