Ops Insights #075 - Share Quantifiable Ops Wins
October 8, 2025 | Read Time: 4 minutes | Written by Jenny Kleintop
Just because you are in data and ops does not mean you don’t make a quantifiable difference, but no one knows you do, not even your leader, unless you share in ways they can understand.
Share the stats, share the wins, and keep these 3 things to in mind when sharing:
Make them digestible from a leader’s perspective.
Quantify as much as possible.
Show the benefit it had on overall fundraising efforts.
Below is an example that I recently shared with a leader. You’ll see I have 3 primary focuses, which are the summary part. Then the rest are the details. To make it digestible, start with the summary, then follow with the quantifiable stats and benefits.
It’s okay to include non-quantifiable bullets, as it’s not always easy to quantify our work. However, try to provide as many statistics as possible to illustrate the impact. Additionally, write it in a way that allows the leader to easily forward it to share with the rest of the team.
Example
Here’s a recap in case you'd like to communicate to the team the impact that we've had together so far after 19 days of working together.
Primary focuses have been:
Data integrity and clean-up to ensure our data is clean, organized, and the best it can be, positioning us well for our fundraising efforts.
Database support in terms of set-up and configuration to implement best practices for managing data, processes, and the database.
Moves management roll-out to align with front-end strategies by establishing processes for capturing, tracking, and measuring the success of prospecting efforts.
In terms of data integrity and clean-up, 65% of records (86,002) have been updated to improve data integrity.
Cleared out 273,942 old ratings to de-clutter and make room for refreshed ratings.
Cleared out 7,793 useless records, meaning only a name and address, and not used for anything, to de-clutter the database
Removed 13,826 old name formats on records to ensure we are utilizing the correct formats to outreach to our donors.
Updated 8,838 relationships to ensure we have a main contact at organizations to interact with.
Removed 246 individual relationships labeled as No Last Name.
So far, 1,153 duplicates have been tackled to ensure the donor's history with us is not split among multiple records.
Reviewed 13,421 tribute records to identify and remove duplicate records to more effectively report giving totals.
Removed 1,195 duplicate Constituent Codes from records to maintain clean records.
Updated 5,113 actions to clean up old actions and declutter users' action views.
10 audit queries were added for us to run on a routine schedule to keep data clean.
In terms of database support, 9 projects have been completed to improve the database and SOPs.
Reviewed all modules to ensure we have all the proper functionalities.
Reorganized the Addressee/Salutations formats to make it easier for users to pick the correct choice.
Reviewed 60 letter codes/templates and helped the team remove inactive ones to declutter.
Taught the team how to update conditional merging in Word/Merge templates to improve donor communications.
Assessed actions set up and reduced the number of action types from 93 to 11, and action notepads from 25 to 3, to align with best practices.
Created all the user roles in Web view and updated all user logins with roles to allow users to access appropriate fields and ensure the database is protected.
Revamped the way we track our $50K+ Giving Society to better align with best practices and allow the ability to track the various levels of the society.
Revamped the way we utilize Constituent Codes to align with best practices and ensure we can report on giving by constituency.
Fixed email series workflow for new Recurring Gifts to ensure we are thanking all new recurring donors and not only new donors.
In terms of moves management set-up, we completed the first phase of rolling out moves management by preparing the database and beginning to train the team.
Built out the database to capture, track, and measure success to lift up prospecting efforts.
Updated the configuration of prospect fields, fundraiser fields, actions, and opportunities.
Ran two trainings to teach users how to use the database for prospecting efforts.
Updated all 8,078 assignments to de-clutter the former assignments and highlight active assignments.
Updated 2,101 records marked as Solicitors to inactivate old solicitors to declutter screens.
Added 3 audit queries to run as part of supporting moves efforts for data integrity checks.
Take Action
Take the following 3 steps to make sure you can report out impactful stats for data and ops initiatives.
1 ➡ ONE: Track everything. You can do this through your data requests process and/or have a project-based tracking sheet as well. Keep it simple so you want to actually keep track.
2 ➡ TWO: Get in the habit of quantifying whenever possible. How many records did it include? What percentage improvement was it? What time savings does it do for the team? Etc.
3 ➡ THREE: Learn to add the benefit, as in the reason it mattered, such as improved data integrity so our stewardship letters are better, or declutter screens to improve the user’s experience, or added 100 new prospects to portfolios to increase pipeline opportunities. Etc. Try to flip to the front-end user and what they benefit from. If it’s hard for you to do this, ask them.
You’ve got this!
👋 See you next time,
Jenny
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