Situation
Our client, a UK charity, faced challenges in gaining a comprehensive view of their relationships with philanthropists and supporters. With over 23 million supporter records and more than 80 million marketing permissions, data was scattered across internal and external systems, leading to duplicates, inconsistencies, and a lack of clarity around reliability. These issues made it difficult to personalise interactions and engage effectively.
Approach
Valcon implemented a Semarchy xDM-based master data management (MDM) solution to establish a holistic 360-degree view of each person the charity worked with. Data from both first-party platforms, such as online fundraising and FONIX, and third-party platforms, such as JustGiving and Facebook, was integrated into a single environment. To ensure quality and accuracy, existing CRM data was first cleansed and validated before automated processes for validation and enrichment were introduced. Matching rules were applied to identify and consolidate duplicate records, while marketing permissions and supporter records were merged into a single, unified golden record.
The solution was designed for scale and efficiency. Hourly integrations were enabled, with the capability to move to near real-time updates in future. GDPR compliance was also simplified by automating anonymisation processes for “right to forget” requests. In addition, integration with the wider data network prevented duplicate supporter records being created in downstream applications, ensuring the integrity of the golden record was preserved across all systems.
Results
The MDM solution delivered tangible results:
- 3% reduction in supporter base data through the removal of duplicate and inaccurate records.
- Increased unclaimed Gift Aid submissions sent to HMRC.
- Deeper supporter understanding through a single consolidated view of relationships.
- Improved data quality and governance, ensuring accuracy and reliability across systems.
- A definitive source of truth in the form of the golden record, published back to organisational applications.
