We love them, we hate them, but we keep making them.

In new research from YouGov, about one quarter (26%) of people report having New Year’s Resolutions for 2019. As for the specific resolutions people are making, the most popular one is “exercise more” (59%) followed closely by “eat healthier” (54%) and “save money” (51%).

But according to podcast HowStuffWorks.com, 35 percent of us who make New Year’s resolutions break them by the end of January. And only 23 percent of those who make a resolution will see it through to completion. Can this year be different?

With each new year comes the promise of a fresh start, the chance to introduce new habits and stop bad behaviors holding us back. Whether in our personal lives, for many individuals and organizations both stumbling out of a holiday-induced haze of either overindulgence or (for those in the charity sector in particular) over-work, January provides the opportunity to set the course for what will be the year to come.

It occurred to me though that many of the resolutions we make as individuals can be equally beneficial in our professional lives and for our organizations. Consider the most popular resolution: exercise more.

Commit to Good Data Hygiene

What about the health of your organization? What about the health of your data? Many of the standard health clichés apply. If you put garbage in, your mouth or your database, you’ll get garbage out. Excess weight creates an additional burden, to both your knees and the systems on which your organization relies.

If it seems like a stretch, an attempt to create a seasonal blog post out of thin air, it shouldn’t. The impacts of poor data hygiene are significant:

• According to Forbes, 84 percent of CEOs are concerned about the quality of the data they’re basing their decisions on.
• Gartner measures the average financial impact of poor data on businesses at $9.7 million per year.
• MIT recently reported the cost of bad data can add up to an astonishing 15-25% of revenue.

The thing is, while individual people have the luxury of trying on a New Year’s resolution and failing only to try again another year, organizations aren’t that lucky. In the nonprofit sector, resources are limited and every penny counts. The financial impact of poor data hygiene is terrible on its own but poor data can also lead to higher risk. There aren’t always do-overs and new habits need to stick to make a difference.

Embrace the New Year as an opportunity for a fresh start! Whether you’re looking for a total data makeover or the life-changing art of tidying up your database. Check out our webinar, New Year, Fresh Start: Clean Data for Big Results, as we explore ways to kick off the year with optimized data designed to deliver the results your organization is looking including:

• The real impact of poor data on your organization
• How to identify and understand the root cause of bad data quality
• Practical tips and techniques to get your data healthy – and keep it that way

Watch On-Demand: New Year, Fresh Start: Clean Data for Big Results

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