UnTangled with Duncan McGovern: Crawl, Walk, Hike(!) to Data Maturity

When you say “Do you have a data strategy at your organization?” to most nonprofit folks, you usually get a quizzical look and a hesitant “I think so…?” It’s not exactly the type of thing that most folks feel super confident about.

And yet, every nonprofit has some version of a tech house they’ve built over time. A CRM here. An email tool there. Maybe an events platform tacked on, a new peer-to-peer fundraising tool, a survey platform, or a shiny AI pilot someone wanted to try. Each new piece gets added like a new room on a house. A sunroom here. A second floor there. Maybe a small addition off the garage.

The problem is that, most likely, none of it was designed as part of a bigger plan. Connecting that new room to the main house gets messy. The wiring doesn’t match, the plumbing is questionable, and eventually, no one remembers what’s behind that door at the top of the stairs. What you end up with is a rambling, cobbled-together structure that’s hard to navigate and even harder to use to get a clear view of donor behavior.

On last week’s episode of UnTangled, Duncan McGovern from Pedal Lucid (www.pedallucid.com) and I talked about the importance of starting with a Data Strategy to ensure you have a plan that drives the adoption of and connection of tools, what data to collect in those tools, and how that data is best used to serve your organization’s mission.

Start With Mission, Not Tech

When the house gets confusing, the instinct is often to add another tool to fix the problem. Or worse, to change tools entirely without tackling your data and engagement strategy first.

That choice simply takes your disconnected and siloed approach to donor engagement and moves it into a new platform. Fast forward many months (or even years) and tens (or hundreds) of thousands of dollars later, and you still have the same problems, just in a shinier interface with a bigger invoice.

This is why organizations need to pause and return to their principles. What is our mission? What are our organizational goals? What do we actually need to know to advance them?

A solid data strategy starts by working backward from those goals to determine:

• What information do we need to collect?
• How should we store it and access it?
• How will we use it to engage supporters and drive impact?

The technology should follow the strategy, not the other way around.

Conduct Regular “House Inspections”

Every year or two, organizations should step back and audit their tech and data landscape. Ask:

• What tools are we actually using?
• What data lives where?
• How do, or don’t, these systems talk to each other?
• Do we have clear ways to get data out of each silo and use it across the organization?

This kind of regular “inspection” keeps the house from becoming unlivable. It’s also where concepts like data lakes and warehouses come in. These tools allow you to pull data together from different systems to get a fuller picture of donor behavior.

But you don’t have to start with a data lake. Even a basic map of what data lives where, and how it could be better aligned, is a powerful first step.

Crawl, Walk, Hike

This is where the crawl–walk–hike approach matters. Data maturity is not about racing to some imagined finish line. It’s about building capacity step by step and gaining perspective as you go. (which is why i like the hike metaphor rather than the run)

• Crawl: Identify a few key pieces of data that directly support strategic goals. Start with simple, intentional improvements rather than a complete overhaul.
• Walk: Layer in more structure. Connect a few systems, clean up data flows, or pilot an integration that actually makes day-to-day work easier.
• Hike: Once you have solid footing, you can go further. Hiking gives you new vantage points. You can look back and see how far you’ve come, and look ahead to chart smarter paths forward. This might be the moment when a data lake makes sense. Or when you’re ready to architect true omnichannel campaigns where each tool contributes meaningfully to personalized donor journeys.

Why It Matters

If you want to deliver truly personalized, omnichannel engagement, you need a data strategy that matches the ambition. That means:

• Knowing what data you collect and where it lives.
• Having clear pathways to get that data out of siloed systems.
• Understanding how each tool fits into a cohesive strategy.

This isn’t about shiny technology. It’s about clarity, intentionality, and sustainable growth.

The Bottom Line

Data strategy does not have to be overwhelming. If you focus on mission first, audit your house regularly, and build capacity step by step, you can transform a rambling tech shack into a structure that actually supports your work.

Crawl, walk, hike. Enjoy the view as you go. The real power of a mature data strategy is not in the tools themselves. It’s in the insights and clarity you gain when you can finally see the whole landscape.

Watch the full conversation here:

Have thoughts or questions about where to start with data strategy at your organization? Book some time with me and let’s talk about it!