Data retention

Data retention is off in every new organisation: your records are kept for the life of your subscription unless you set a period. Under Settings > Data retention, which is also a tab of Settings > Profile and terms, you choose how long each kind of record is kept once it is closed, and whether it is then anonymised or deleted.

Before you start

You need Can access Settings > Organisation. Every change you make here is recorded in the audit log with who made it, the old value and the new one.

A daily run does the work, at 2:00 am in your organisation's time zone. It never runs during a grace period, or while your organisation's access is limited.

The two groups

Records holds the ten kinds of everyday record, such as Conversations, Internal comments, and your organisation's own terms for Applications, Funding Rounds and Contracts. Each starts Off.
Accountability records holds the six kinds that show how funding was decided, paid and overseen: audit log entries, integration log entries, conflict of interest records, payments, contract documents, and decisions and letters. Each starts Excluded, and the daily run leaves it alone until you include it.

A kind of record whose module is switched off for your organisation is shown as skipped.

Labels follow your organisation's own terms if you've renamed them.

Set a period

Go to Settings > Data retention.
On the row, turn the switch on.
In Keep for, enter a whole number of months from 1 to 240.
In Then, choose Anonymise or Delete. Audit log entries, integration log entries, contract documents and Funding Rounds offer Delete only.
Select Save.

A record is reached only once it is closed and has been quiet for the whole period. Next run shows what the next run would do, such as 12 to delete · 3 to anonymise · 4 kept. Above 10,000 records it shows 10,000+.

If someone else saved the same row after you opened the page, your save is refused. Reload the page and make the change again.

Include accountability records

Funders commonly keep accountability records for 7 to 10 years, and your obligations may be longer. Removed records cannot be restored, so including one of these groups is its own step.

On the row, select Include….
Read the statement, then type INCLUDE in capital letters.
Select Include. The row now edits like any other and starts Off, so set its period as above.

To stop, select Exclude on the row. Retention stops for that kind of record, and records already removed are not restored.

What anonymise changes

Anonymising keeps the record and replaces the personal details in it, so your totals and history still add up. Personal details the record has to keep for its own purpose, such as a payment's financial record, are replaced too. Details another record still needs are left for that record's own period. Files attached to the record are removed.

Why a record is kept past its period

A record is held for as long as something that depends on it is kept. A Contract with a payment still on file stays, whatever its own period says. A record held this way is counted as kept, and the run looks at it again the next day.

Deleted Funding Rounds

A Funding Round you deleted is removed for good 30 days later, whether or not you have set any retention period. This is separate from the settings on this page.

Recent runs

Recent runs lists the last ten daily runs with their date, status and how many records were deleted, anonymised and kept. Select a date to see the counts for each kind of record. Before the first run it says No run yet. The first run is at 2:00 am.

Outcomes records

This appears only when it is turned on for your organisation. Outcomes records shows the nine classes of the outcomes retention register, read-only, with their period, basis and how many are due. They are disposed of through the register, not the daily run: select Manage in Outcomes › Retention.