From Chaos to Clarity: Building a Single Source for A Multi-Org Data Issue

When 5 different organizations are trying to manage shared data, you can imagine the inconsistencies that show up. This was the case for Legacy Ministry Services before they reached out to Roghnu for help with a data warehouse solution.

For decades, multiple departments within their charitable organization each maintained their own database of the nearly 900 independent churches they served. Each group tracked information differently, leading to inconsistent data, duplicate records, and missing contact details (e.g., no phone number or mismatched church names— for example, was it Fairbluff Bible Chapel… or Fairbluff Bible Church?). 

Staff often had to call each other to verify basic information, wasting time and creating frustration. They were managing data congruently — but never cohesively.

Can Excel be my database?

Knowing this was a sore point for everyone, they came up with the idea to bring it all together. But often, that’s easier said than done. 

The effort was led by the organization’s Comptroller, Glen Deligdisch, CPA. 

“Everybody was saying, ‘Well, do it in Excel,’” Glen recounted. And I said to everybody, ‘Excel is not a database.’”

And Glen’s absolutely right. In a situation like this, bringing the data into Excel would have still created a massive risk for error and data loss. Excel isn’t designed for collaborative data management. It’s a spreadsheet tool, not a database.

When multiple people are working on a file, it’s almost guaranteed that someone will overwrite a value, save over the wrong version, or break a formula that ties the data together. There’s no reliable way to maintain a single “source of truth” in Excel.

We hear this often. Excel is familiar to many, so it’s often the first tool that comes out of the toolkit. But in a shared data environment, it quickly becomes a patchwork project that can’t be sustained.

A Partnership with Roghnu

For Legacy Ministry Services, a partnership was already in place with Roghnu for Sage Intacct. So naturally, when the opportunity came up, we were excited to help architect a solution.

The goals of the project were simple on paper, but complicated on the back end. Roghnu partnered with Legacy Ministry Services to implement a custom database application on top of our Roghnu Data Portal. The system:

• Establishes a master index (Golden Standard) as the authoritative source for all churches.

• Integrates and aligns disparate datasets from five contributors into one centralized structure.

• Provides an easy-to-use and maintain centralized platform where all of the contributing organizations can easily access and update information

• Handles complex relationships between multiple records (different names, contacts, emails, addresses) while tying them back to the correct master ID.

The Impact of The Right Solution

After years of seeking a better way to manage their data, this complete application, purpose-built for their organization, was a huge sense of relief. The frustration of incomplete, unreliable data was replaced by confidence.

For the first time, staff across departments could trust that they were all looking at the same information. No more phone calls to a neighboring department to confirm contact information. The answers were right there, in one place. A true Golden Standard.

The centralized database also opened the door for better collaboration. Each of the participating organizations could make updates in real time, helping to keep information fresh and accurate. 

And perhaps most importantly, this wasn’t a temporary fix. It wasn’t a brand new spreadsheet tediously validated and waiting to get messed up again. It was a long-term foundation for better data management. The new structure is maintainable, and designed to scale with the organization. As their network expands and evolves, their data will stay accurate and accessible for years to come.

Get in Touch with us

At Roghnu, we specialize in customized solutions like this that take the chaos of data and turn it into a powerful tool for organizations that want to level up their operations.  Get in touch with us to see what we can do for your organization.