15 Critical things to consider when migrating data from Raiser’s Edge to Salesforce for Nonprofits.

We have yet to meet a Nonprofit that does not believe their data is extremely important to them. So the thought of migrating that data from their current databases and spreadsheets can cause some anxiety. But rest assured, even though the Salesforce database structure is different from the legacy data systems, such as Raiser’s Edge and spreadsheets, you can always create a logical home for the data and the relationships between that data.

Do not be surprised to find out that your data might not be as clean as you believed. You will almost certainly identify duplicate data, conflicting data, missing data, incorrect data, ancient data, and missing relationships between your data.

It is always best practice to do a full data backup before data migration and test that you can restore the backup. It is also good practice to decide how much data to bring into Salesforce for Nonprofits – a good practice is 7 years worth of data or less (remember data quality decays over time).

To help you think about was is needed, here are 15 critical things to consider when migrating data from Raiser’s Edge to Salesforce for Nonprofits:

• Data mapping: Plan and map out the data that needs to be migrated from Raiser’s Edge to Salesforce, including donor information, gifts, events, volunteer data, and other relevant data.
• Data quality: Ensure that the data is accurate and up-to-date in Raiser’s Edge before migration.
• Data cleanup: Clean up any duplicates or outdated information in Raiser’s Edge to minimize errors during the migration process.
• Data deduplication: Implement a deduplication process to avoid duplicating data in Salesforce.
• Custom objects and fields: Decide which custom objects and fields are necessary to support the organization’s business processes in Salesforce and plan for their creation and migration.
• Third-party integrations: Consider the impact of any third-party integrations on the migration and plan for their reconfiguration in Salesforce.
• Data security: Ensure that all data migration is secure and comply with data privacy regulations, such as GDPR or HIPAA. Identify your sensitive data.
• User training: Plan for user training and communication to ensure that all stakeholders are prepared to use Salesforce effectively. Change is hard and you need to support your stakeholders during the migration process.
• User access and roles: Determine who needs access to which data and configure user roles and permissions accordingly. Follow the minimum access needed mantra.
• Post-migration support: Plan for post-migration support to address any issues or questions that may arise after the migration is complete.
• ETL migration tools: Consider using an ETL (extract, transform, load) migration tool to automate the data migration process and minimize manual data entry, and uploads of CSV files.
• Salesforce consultant experience: Choose a Salesforce consultant with experience in migrating data from Raiser’s Edge to Salesforce for Nonprofits. Ask them what tools and processes they typically use and how they approach data migration.
• Data retention policy: Develop a data retention policy to determine how long to retain data in Salesforce and plan for periodic data archiving.
• Data privacy and security: Ensure that all data migration complies with data privacy and security regulations, such as GDPR or HIPAA. Put data to be migrated in a secure cloud storage with clear access rights
• Customization and integration: Plan for customizing and integrating Salesforce to support the organization’s specific business processes and needs.

By taking these critical considerations into account, organizations can ensure a successful and seamless migration of data from Raiser’s Edge to Salesforce for Nonprofits.

Redpath Consulting Group team is experienced in Raiser’s Edge data migration to Salesforce for Nonprofits. We have built out a set of tools, mappings, and best practices to mitigate the risks and ensure your data goes to the right place in Salesforce for Nonprofits to help further drive your vision. To learn more about our Raiser’s Edge to Salesforce migration process please visit our Raiser’s Edge migrations webpage.

If you would like to speak to someone from our team about Salesforce for Nonprofits and our Raiser’s Edge data migration experience and approach, please contact us here.