Assessment - North Peak Solutions

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This assessment tool is for nonprofit and grant-making organizations that have the goal of turning their database into a business intelligence tool. The assessment should take 5-15 minutes to complete and will cover the present infrastructure, culture, and practices for having a high-functioning Constituent Relationship Management (CRM) and/or Grant Management System (GMS).

Responses are evaluated by North Peak staff with a brief summary of results and recommendations sent to the respondent within a short amount of time.

Purpose [Question 1 of 5]

An impact statement defines why a database is crucial to support the way you aspire to work, the business goals in your strategic plan, and ultimately the community you serve. This statement should be widely communicated to all staff and used to guide future enhancements or investment in resources.

Is there currently a clear, well-documented vision or strategy for your database (i.e. a definition of its purpose and the value it's intended to provide your organization)?

YesNo

Purpose [Question 2 of 5]

If you ask staff what this impact statement is, could they tell you?

YesNo

Purpose [Question 3 of 5]

How would you describe your org's level of sophistication with your database?

Poor - The data is untrustworthy, staff are keeping information elsewhere, the system is rarely/never changed.OK - It supports daily work, enables more frequent/quicker task completion, more accurate data capture, etc. It is not driving decision-making or process improvement.Good - It enhances the way we work, resulting in changes to processes that create efficiency and better results. It may or may not drive decision making.Great - We use data insights from it to measure the success of our organization, to make decisions about how to manage it, and where to take it next.

Purpose [Question 4 of 5]

How do staff currently view your database?

Poor - Something we pay for but makes little difference in our ability to pursue our work efficiently and effectively.OK - It is a repository for some data, not always up-to-date.Good - It's a fundamental tool to help our teams work more efficiently and have a greater impact.Great - It's a critical part of our current and future organizational strategy.

Purpose [Question 5 of 5]

Is the database included in the organizational roadmap, or a system-specific roadmap? (i.e. health assessments, potential growth)

No - The system is not included in future planning and strategy.Somewhat - The system is included in the roadmap, but it is not represented to its full potential and/or is not actively managed.Yes - We have a roadmap that is actively managed with priority changes made to the system as needed.

Leadership [Question 1 of 4]

A high-functioning database needs a messenger with influence and authority - a leader. They need to believe in it wholeheartedly and take ownership for the outcome. We refer to this person as the Executive Stakeholder. Keep in mind: this person is not necessarily the CEO/ED, and it can be shared across roles.

Is there a leadership team member who is responsible for the overall health of the database (Executive Stakeholder)?

NoYes, though this responsibility is informalYes, this is the explicit responsibility of leadership team member(s)

Leadership [Question 2 of 4]

Is the Executive Stakeholder involved with setting database-related strategy and priorities?

No, executive leadership is rarely involved.Yes, but they only engage as requested or required.Yes, executive leadership is responsible for setting database strategy and regularly engages on database-related priorities.

Leadership [Question 3 of 4]

When it comes to departmental leadership, how would you describe the level of engagement with database-related priorities and strategy?

Poor - Not engaged, not much knowledge of priorities or strategy.OK - Unclear on the exact value and purpose of the system. Engages only as requested or required.Good - Is a topic of conversation, but not in a scheduled manner.

Great - There is active engagement with the system, and clear understanding of its purpose.

Leadership [Question 4 of 4]

If time allows, please describe in your own words the engagement of leadership (executive and mid-level) with and/or knowledge of database-related priorities and strategy.

Staff [Question 1 of 4]

A healthy CRM and/or GMS requires good staff engagement at all levels of the organization, as being data-driven is dependent on their involvement.

What is staff's current level of satisfaction with the database?

Poor - Staff do not understand its purpose or value.OK - Some staff understand its purpose or value to a limited extent.Good - Most staff understand its purpose and value, but these facts are inconsistently communicated.Great - Staff understands its purpose and value, and can communicate this to other team members.

Staff [Question 2 of 4]

What is staff's current level of database use?

Poor - Staff do not spend time contributing to or using it.OK - Some staff rely on it as the primary system of record for themselves.Good - Most staff rely on it as their primary system of record.Great - Most staff consider it essential to their work and support its purpose as the primary system of record for the organization.

Staff [Question 3 of 4]

Are team members using insights from the database when measuring progress to goals, setting priorities, making key decisions, evaluating staff performance, etc?

NoRarelySometimesFrequently

Staff [Question 4 of 4]

Can you recall a decision in the past week that was informed by the database?

YesNo

Process [Question 1 of 8]

How organizations train, support and evolve their system is critically important to ensure the CRM and/or GMS evolves and consistently can be said to be a 'critical tool' for both leadership and staff.

Does your organization set a database budget each year?

NoNot at this time, but we have in the recent past.Yes, but it's not sufficient to support team members and keep pace with evolving processes.Yes, and its sufficient to support team members and keep pace with evolving processes.

Process [Question 2 of 8]

Are new team members required to attend database training, specific to their role, as part of the onboarding process?

NoRarelySometimesAlways

Process [Question 3 of 8]

Is there a documented training plan specific to departments/teams?

YesNo

Process [Question 4 of 8]

Do staff have an internal resource they can easily contact for help with the database?

NoYes, this is an informal roleYes, this is a formal role

Process [Question 5 of 8]

Is there a person who is responsible for the day-to-day maintenance and routine enhancement of the database?

Yes, though this responsibility is informalYes, this is the explicit responsibility of staff member(s)No

Process [Question 6 of 8]

Do staff have channels via which they can share feedback on and ideas about the database?

NoYes, the channels are informal or ad hocYes, there is a clear, formalized way to request changes supported by systems, processes, formal documents, meetings, etc.

Process [Question 7 of 8]

Are you practicing performance management in relation to the CRM or GMS initiative (i.e. there are goals, reports are run and assessments made regularly to review if the initiative is hitting metrics as to the health of the database and the efficacy of the team in using it for their means)?

NoRarelySometimes, not scheduledYes, on a regular schedule

Process [Question 8 of 8]

On what schedule does leadership get informed of the health & well-being of the database towards the team's goals?

NeverRarelySometimes, adhoc, not scheduledRegularly, on schedule

Technology [Question 1 of 4]

Your system should be right-sized for your organization and its needs. While being tailored to your business and teams processes, the complexity should match your capacity to manage/evolve the system.

Was your current technology selected and designed with the team's goals, strategies, processes and outcomes at the forefront?

No, we used basic criteria to buy what we hoped was the right product.Yes, we started by identifying our goals, desired outcomes and more, then used these in the process to acquire and configure our solution.

Technology [Question 2 of 4]

How would you describe your organization's technical capacity to manage/administer and evolve the system?

The technology is too complex for us to manage.We have a skills-gap or capacity-gap that prevents us from managing or evolving the system.The technology is too complex AND we have a skills-gap or capacity gap.We currently have the knowledge and skills to manage and evolve it to our changing needs.

Technology [Question 3 of 4]

Do you have an external resource in place to supplement this capacity?

YesNo

Technology [Question 4 of 4]

Do users have to reference multiple systems to be up-to-date or pull together relationship status reports?

Yes - Data is fragmented between systems and/or spreadsheets, or similar.Somewhat - Not all required data is always available in the system in real time.No - Our current system is the database of record. It pulls in information from across our organization for users to reference.

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