Data Collections are groups of related information (sometimes referred to as data sets) that are generally more comprehensive than can be gathered through any single existing report. While there are hundreds of pre-defined reports and reporting options available within Keystone, not every question and requirement an affiliate has can be addressed by one of these reports. However, with some knowledge of how to work with data sets in Excel, you can use the Data Collections feature to create an almost unlimited variety of reports, charts, and merge data.
With Data Collections, you can devise complex searches and then locate records matching those criteria in your Keystone database. You can achieve these results by exporting two (or more, depending on the complexity of your search) sets of data from Keystone - called 'Collections' - that each comprise some part of your criteria and then using Microsoft Excel to take those data sets and find the records that match all of your criteria.
The following are a few examples of reports you can create using Data Collections that you could not otherwise do with existing, pre-defined reports in Keystone.
Data Collections offer countless possibilities, of which these are only a small number of basic examples. Hopefully they will spark some ideas on how you can use this powerful feature.
The above examples describe reports you can create using a single collection. However, you can also combine collections to generate an even wider range of reports. For more information, see the Exporting Data Collections section.
Generally speaking, when creating reports, your goal is to gather information in a format that best communicates that information and its meaning. Sometimes achieving this goal can be as easy as using one of Keystone's standard reports or exports. But at other times, as described above, you may need something beyond that. In these cases, Data Collections used with Excel may be able to meet your needs. We'll describe this process in two parts: 1) getting the data you need, and 2) presenting your data.
You can export Data Collections in one of two ways to help you get the data you want - using a single Data Collection or combining sets of data.
You can use Data Collections with contacts, donors, family partners, volunteers, mortgage and escrow, and properties.
Take some time before you proceed to determine what data you need to collect, because in many cases you can find the information you need from using just one Data Collection. If so, this will save you a lot of time.
If you find you need to get information from more than one Data Collection, plan out which individual collections you need to achieve the result you need. For more information about the fields exported by each collection, see the reports sections listed below.
Using a single Data Collection
Because Data Collections bring together (collect) information from multiple, related parts of Keystone, there are combinations of data in these collections that don't appear on any single Keystone report. If a single collection provides you with the information you need, you can simply export just that one collection, sort the data in Excel, and delete the rows and columns you don't want to get the data you are looking for.
Combining sets of exported data
In general, Keystone exports single sets of data using the Labels and Export Data reports (available under most report categories) on the Reports screen. Two examples of this are all contacts who are on committees at your affiliate or all donors who have given over $100 in the past year.
However, there may be occasions when you need information that must match a variety of criteria that span more than one area of Keystone. This is what Data Collections are for. And in some instances, the information you need spans multiple Data Collections.
For example: If we generate a set of data that contains all committee members (we'll call that Set A) and a second set of data that contains all donors (Set B). From those two sets of data, here's some of what we can find out.
Given that Data Collections are available for many areas of Keystone, the combinations of these data sets that you can create in this way are nearly endless. And if needed, you can expand this concept to using more than two collections of data.
Once you have the data you need in Excel, you have many options on how to present it.
Any Excel reports and charts you make can be copied into Word documents or PowerPoint presentations.