It’s been a busy week at IAIDQ Towers, and in Day-Job Villas as well (not to mention that personal life I read so much about on Wikipedia - urban myth I fear), so we didn’t get around to updating the blog with the winner of our Travel Mug.

Thanks to Jim Harris of the OCDQBlog.com for his donation which pushed us to within $20 of the magical $1000 mark on this fundraising drive. An anonymous donor then topped us up to the $1000 mark.

It wasn’t Lwanga. We checked. But he’s thinking of going again with another challenge later in the summer. Watch this space.

Not only did Jim give generously, he also said some nice things about us on his chipin.com comment…

I am happy to contribute to the fundraising efforts for the CIQP certification program and I am proud to be a member of the IAIDQ.

Jim - we’re proud to have dedicated and passionate souls like you as members of the IAIDQ. It is through the actions of individuals that great things can happen, and your contribution is very welcome indeed.

So, we’ve raised $1000 this month towards the costs of rolling out the CIQP certification. There is still a way to go before we can pop champagne corks to celebrate the launch of the certification. However we are getting closer every day and every dollar.

Bear in mind that the funds we are raising will go towards:

• Development costs of the certification, including the exam formats and questions.
• Part of the 1st year administration and management costs associated with running the certification

Vendors or larger corporates wishing to sponsor our activies should contact our Director of Partnerships

Phew… it’s been a busy few hours.

First off, Lwanga has matched all the donations that were made between the 1st May and the 9th May, a total of US$430 (I’d chipped in $20 earlier in April to “warm the pot” just to clarify things).

That brings our total Chipin Donations on this leg of the fund-raising to $880.

However, to further demonstrate the real support that there is in the Community for this Certification initiative and the real demand that is out there on  the “front-line” for a neutral and holistic framework for professional development in the Information Quality Profession, we received a comment on one of our earlier posts from Victor Hudy in Great American Financial Resources, Inc who very kindly went to bat for us and has secured a donation of US$200 from his employer. A thousand thank yous to Victor and his employers for their vote of confidence and encouragement.

This brings the total donations from the Community thus far on this round of fundraising to US$1080, and takes the total we have raised from the Community (not vendors, not ‘vested interests’, but flesh and blood front-line information quality professionals and practitioners) to $3932.

Right now I am offering a prize of an IAIDQ travel mug to the first person who brings our donations to date over the $4000 mark within the next 48 hours (that’s a $70 donation people, but it is a really nice mug)

The “Lwanga Challenge” has finished. Given the success of this fundraising sprint we may do another later in the summer to help push our fundraising during the IAIDQ 5 year celebrations.

A really big thank you to everyone who donated and shared kind words, and a particularly big thank you to Daniel Gent on Data Quality Edge who has taken the Chipin Widget and put it on his blog to help spread the word.

Thanks again to you all.

Daragh

The ‘Lwanga Challenge’ seems to have struck a chord with information quality practitioners at the front-line.

As of the time of writing we have raised US$400 on this round of fundraising, bringing the total raised to date from individuals in the Community - not vendors but real ‘coal face’ practitioners to US$3052 - all of which goes directly to a ring-fenced fund for the CIQP project.

But we can’t rest on our laurels. Developing a robust certification is a business that requires a lot of investment of  money, time, and personal effort. The time and personal effort we have in spades from our passionate team.  So we will keep on looking to raise funds to  ensure that we can openly and honestly market this certification as one that has been developed by and for the Community of Information Quality Professionals. 

When you donate, you prove that we really are doing this FOR you rather than doing it TO you or AT you… and that is a very important distinction!

But apart from the money that is being donated (in amounts ranging from $15 upwards - this isn’t expensive for an individual to contribute to) are the kind words of support and encouragement we are getting from the people who are putting their money where their heart is. I’ve featured a few of them already, but here’s the latest, from Mark Gallert:

I share in everyone’s excitement about IAIDQ and the future certification program. This will give data professionals the recognition deserved for the impact, commitment and saving we have on our respective companies. Thank you for making this a reality.

No Mark. Thank YOU. Your donation helps make this a reality, and your words energise us and make us even more determined to be strong ’servant leaders’ in developing the CIQP certification and developing the profession of Information/Data Quality Management.

Thanks also to all the people who have Chipped In so far. We have set an ambitious goal but every day we get a little bit closer (a dollar or euro or pound or zloti at a time). We still have over a full day (going by US Pacific Standard Time, where Lwanga is based) to raise more money to meet ‘Lwanga’s Challenge’

Yes, we are approaching vendors for sponsorship and support for the CIQP programme (we have sponsorship opportunities for vendors on our THREE forthcoming industry reports - if you are a vendor and are interested, please contact our Partnerships Director), but it is absolutely wonderful to be able to say to potential sponsors that we know our Community wants this certification because people are putting their own money behind it as well.

Lwanga - you had better start getting your credit card ready for a big hit come the end of the week!

We are now just over the half-way point in the “Lwanga Challenge” (running from 1st to 9th of May). To remind yourself (or find out) what the Lwanga Challenge is all about, check out this post from earlier in the week.

At the time of writing, we’ve raised just over US$300 for the Certified Information Quality Professional certification programme. Not bad for a few days work. And it will get even better when Mr Yonke matches the donations at the end of the week.

Thanks to everyone for their support and goodwill. While we are just behind the half-way point on our target of US$1000, the recent surge in donations this afternoon might be the start of something special.

I hope Lwanga’s wallet is ready for what’s coming.

Donations are still open. Please give generously.

Daniel Gent, erstwhile Information Quality Blogger, has written a very nice and to the point post about the CIQP certification efforts over on his personal blog, Data Quality Edge (thanks to Jim Harris at ocdqblog.com for pointing it out on Twitter).

Daniel says:

The International Association of Information and Data Quality has been raising funds for a noble cause. That cause to create and implement a true data quality certification designation.

For all you data management, data analysts, data modellers, data architects and other data types, this certification will provide a professional designation for your efforts in data quality.

The CIQP development team (and the rest of the IAIDQ volunteer team) extend a heartfelt thanks to Daniel for his kind words.  

Now… we have a few days left to meet the “Lwanga Challenge” and raise as much money as possible by the end of the week.  Lwanga Yonke will match dollar for dollar all amounts raised in this first week of May (1st May to 9th May inclusive) up to a limit of $1000.

One of the recent donors to the CIQP fundraising efforts left a comment on our Chipin.com page which I felt I just had to share with you.

I gladly support this initiative because it is a tremendous opportunity for all the IQ professionals in the world to get the acknowledgement they deserve! I simply cannot wait to hear about the first Information Quality Professional to be certified! Best of luck, Almar

It is comments like that that not only reinforce the value of seeking support from the Community we are serving (Almar is a Process and Data Quality Analyst based in the Netherlands), but also stress the real interest in and need for this Certification programme.

On behalf of the rest of the IAIDQ’s CIQP team, I’d like to thank Almar for the contribution, and I look forward to seeing more contributions and comments coming through as people answer the “Lwanga Challenge” and contribute during this week.

Greetings fellow IQ/DQ Practitioners:

Here is a friendly challenge to all of you: as announced in the April IAIDQ monthly communication email, I will match dollar for dollar, and up to US$1,000, all donations to the CIQP fundraising effort made between May 1^st and May 9^th 2009 (midnight California time)

The easiest way to donate is via the ChipIn! widget on this CIQP web site.

Why am I doing this?

• In order to deliver a quality product, IAIDQ has hired a firm that specializes in certifications to help guide the effort.  Well, they did not come for free.
• IAIDQ is celebrating its 5^th anniversary this year – so this felt like an appropriate birthday present.
• I strongly believe in the unstoppable power of individuals coming together for a great and compelling purpose. To me, and I hope to many of you, the CIQP credential is such a noble cause.

Friends, let’s have some fun with this friendly challenge! On your marks, get set, go!  Donate now!!

Grateful thanks in advance!! - C. Lwanga Yonke

Apologies for the unplanned hiatus from this erudite blog. A combination of factors conspired against our regular news updates. But we return to the fray re-energised.

Question of the Week Results

The results of our last (increasingly inaccurately titled) Question of the Week further confirmed the priorities and assumptions of the CIQP Steering team in defining the certification framework.

• 75% of respondents asked us to make sure we weren’t assuming the CIQP candidates came from an IT/IS background.
• 25% wanted us to make sure we balanced principles with practical issues as well.

First phase of CIQP Sponsorship ended, another has begun

The first round of  fundraising from the Community for the CIQP certification ended at the end of March. We raised almost $3000 from individuals in the community. These aren’t ‘vendors’, they were individual practitioners.

We’re very grateful to those who donated, and we’ve decided to go again with a second round of fundraising using Chipin.

This round closes on the 31 July and we are aiming to raise $10,000.

Every dollar raised in this way is a dollar less we are relying on vendor sponsorship, and is yet another statement of the value of this certification to the Community.

There are certain principles we are trying to follow as we build the CIQP. We’d like to hear your thoughts on these questions this week: