From the Nominator

Donor, alumni, and constituent data quality is a strategic priority for the University of Michigan's development community, led by the Integrated Data Services team. The Golden Record framework is a data governance tool that empowers staff to analyze and manage record quality. It seeks to enhance data quality for over 1.9 million constituent records within the Donor Alumni Relationship Tool customer relationship management system. Using a tiered ranking system—gold, silver, and bronze—the framework benchmarks and scores individual records based on eight essential data points. Records are ranked and curated in a Constituent Quality Data Mart, housed in an SQL Server database, and refreshed nightly through an extract, transform, load process utilizing development data from the U-M Data Warehouse. Next, a Golden Record dashboard allows users to analyze data quality. By partnering with stakeholders, including prospect development, annual giving, and the major gift officers team, we have coded target groups for the "Look to Michigan" campaign—such as ultra-high-net-worth individuals, managed prospects, and next-generation prospects—into the dashboard for targeted analysis. This enables staff to take ownership of critical records, ensuring their completeness and quality. To support the Golden Record framework, IDS has developed a data audit and acquisition program. Over 90 automated data audits, known as DART Cleaner, are implemented to enforce data standards, with results presented in a monthly dashboard. IDS focuses on the core eight Golden Record data points for data acquisition to advance records within the Golden Record pipeline and ensures our data acquisition budget is used strategically on the most important records.

From the Judges

This submission stood out for its strategic, scalable approach to data quality improvement. The Golden Record framework is an innovative and highly effective model that aligns well with institutional priorities and enhances CRM data integrity. The use of automation and dashboards demonstrates thoughtful resourcefulness and cross-campus collaboration. This initiative is a strong example of how data governance can directly empower fundraising and engagement teams.