Handover Checklist

Leaving Well: A Handover Checklist for Data and Insight Professionals Leaving Charity Roles

Whether you’re moving on to a new challenge or simply wrapping up a contract, this checklist will help you leave your role in the best shape possible for your colleagues and your successor.

1. The Essentials

• A summary of your key responsibilities and recurring tasks
• A week-in-the-life task list or time log to show day-to-day workload
• A full list of regular reports and exports (who uses them, when and why)
• Locations of saved reports, queries, dashboards or automations
• Documentation on data selections, segmentation logic and key queries
• An overview of integrations and data flows (including third-party systems)

2. Technical Access and Processes

• All logins and credentials stored securely and shared appropriately
• List of systems with admin rights and user management guidance
• Instructions for data tasks linked to finance (e.g. Gift Aid claims, income reconciliation)
• Export and import processes for fundraising campaigns and fulfilment
• Any scheduled or automated tasks documented (e.g. via Power Automate, SSIS, cron jobs)
• Any “manual” processes that happen at critical times (e.g. batching, deduping)

3. External Relationships

• List of external contacts (fulfilment houses, consultants, print suppliers, etc)
• Contact points at key platforms (CRM provider, forms platform, email tools)
• Explanation of what each partner does and how you work together
• Any contracts or service agreements flagged and passed on

4. History and Context

• A short timeline of what has changed during your time in post
  • e.g. GDPR implementation, migrations, new tools or integrations
• Notes on any system or process improvements made
• Summary of key challenges you managed and lessons learned
• Known issues or risks with data structure, reporting or compliance

5. The Parking Lot

• List of ideas and improvements that have not yet been implemented
• Any low-priority tickets or requests that have been paused
• Suggestions for what should be prioritised next (short term and long term)
• Any skills or roles the organisation may want to invest in next

6. Sharing the Knowledge

• Screenshare walkthroughs recorded for tricky or high-value tasks
• A team-wide Q&A session offered or scheduled
• Confidence that knowledge is now spread more widely

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What Might Be Missing?

For fundraisers, finance teams and supporter care colleagues

Here is a prompt sheet to help you spot gaps before or after your database colleague leaves. Use this sheet to ask the right questions and jog memories during handover.

Remember: this is not about catching people out. It’s about surfacing the invisible work that keeps your data and income flowing.