Hello and welcome to the arrival of spring and much finer weather!
This edition of my blog is a little more “ad hoc” than previous postings, as I will answer a few random questions sent to me from a couple of Blog readers. If ever you have a Raiser’s Edge or technology related question that you would like to see addressed in a future blog, please feel free to contact me directly at plucas@resolutionstech.com
Thanks to Gary in England and Sherry in Winnipeg for submitting the questions:
1) What is the purpose and appropriate use of the Relationship/Reciprocal drop down menus when establishing a relationship between Constituents?
2) How does sharing and copying a preferred address from one Constituent to another work?
3) What is the best way to handle and eliminate duplicate records from displaying in the output of a query?
1) Whenever you are establishing a relationship between Constituents in your Raiser’s Edge – whether that be a Relationship between two Individuals or a Relationship between an Individual and an Organization – it is important to accurately identify and track the type of Relationship that exists between the two Constituents. The Relationship and Reciprocal fields are used to describe this relationship.
In some instances, the Relationship and the Reciprocal fields may be identical. Many organizations choose to identify married couples as “Spouse” rather than “Husband” and “Wife” in the Relationship and Reciprocal fields. In this scenario, both the Relationship field and the Reciprocal field will have “Spouse” selected from the drop down menu on both records.
More commonly, however, these two entries will not be identical and will in fact be opposite to each other. For example, if you are establishing an employee—employer relationship between an Individual Constituent (the employee) and an Organizational Constituent (the employer) on each of those two records the Relationship and Reciprocal fields will be opposite. Thus, on the employer record, the Relationship field is marked as “Employee” and the Reciprocal is marked as “Employer” and on the employee record, the Relationship field is marked as “Employer” and the Reciprocal is marked as “Employee”.
Similarly, when establishing a relationship between, for example, a parent and child in your Raiser’s Edge, on the parent’s relationship record the Relationship field will be marked as “Child” and the Reciprocal field will be marked as “Parent”; on the child’s relationship record, those two field entries will be reversed.
Whenever you are establishing relationships between your Raiser’s Edge Constituents, it is important to track the type of Relationship using the Relationship and Reciprocal fields to easily identify how Constituents in your data base are related to one another. Keep in mind that you can create virtually any type of relationship between Constituents in your database, and while the most common relationship that you draw is likely to be a spousal relationship, any kind of relationship – from Friend to Golf Partner to Business Associate – can be established. Simply remember that in the Relationship drop down menu, select the individual’s relationship to the Constituent, such as “Mother” and in the Reciprocal field, select the Constituent’s relationship to the individual, such as “Son”.
2) Frequently when you have established Relationships between your Constituents, you will note that two Constituents may share the same preferred address, for example in the case of a married couple or a parent and a child that live at the same location. These addresses and corresponding phone types can be marked as “shared”, thus indicating that the same address is tracked on more than one record in your database. By clicking “Constituent” from the menu bar of an open Constituent record, you will note the option to Copy and Share the current Constituent’s address to another Constituent. Thus, address updates and changes made on one record can automatically be applied to the linked record.
3) For anyone who runs queries in Raiser’s Edge, without question one of the most frustrating aspects of the whole query process is having duplicate records displayed on the query output screen. Why does Raiser’s Edge produce multiple listings of the same Constituent when that Constituent is only in the database once? There are essentially two reasons why the same Constituent may appear multiple times in your query results:
A) The Constituent qualifies for the criteria you indicated multiple times. For example, if part of the query criteria is something like “Gift amount greater than $100.00”, and the Constituent has 5 gifts each greater than $100.00, then that Constituent will appear on your query results 5 times if you have chosen a query output of, say First and Last Name.
B) Another scenario that may cause the same Constituent to appear multiple times in the output is the fields chosen in the output screen. For example, if you choose to have phone number in the output, each phone number that a person has will appear on a separate row in your output, thus the same Constituent may appear multiple times.
There are two things you can do in Raiser’s Edge to limit the occurrence of duplicates:
i) Use the “Suppress Duplicate Rows” feature found as a checkbox within the query under the menu item “Tools”, then “Query Options” then “Record Processing”. This will help alleviate the issue, though it often will not completely solve the problem.
ii) The single best method of eliminating duplicates from appearing in your query output is to not have any output whatsoever. If the output tab is left completely blank, clicking on the Results tab will provide you with the number of Constituents that qualify for the criteria you have chosen. This number will NOT contain any duplicates. To verify this, compare this number without any output to the number of returns when output such as First Name and Last Name is indicated and you may notice a difference in the number of returns generated. The difference between these two numbers is the duplicates being displayed when output is chosen. Thus, having no output whatsoever will eliminate these instances of duplication. The query can then be saved with no output and the user can utilize the Raiser’s Edge Export feature found along the main blue menu bar to export the results of the query to, for example, an Excel spreadsheet without having the duplicated records displayed.
Thanks again for reading my Blog and please contact us at sales@resolutionstech.com if we can assist you in managing your Raiser’s Edge database more effectively.
We offer personalized on-line training sessions through which we can explore in much more detail those three questions in today’s blog or any other specific question or challenge that faces you and your staff while working in Raiser’s Edge. It is a powerful, comprehensive database system, but can only be truly effective if the users and data entry people are properly trained and acclimated to the nuances within the system. It is these details within Raiser's Edge that have a tremendous impact on your organization’s ability to track and maintain essential data on your donors, alumni, board members, event attendees, suppliers and any other businesses or individuals that you have a point of contact with.
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Managing Relationships In Raiser's Edge
What are Relationships in Raiser’s Edge and how are they managed?
The Relationships Tab on the Constituent record in Raiser’s Edge allows you to link records throughout your database in order to identify and track those Constituents that possess special affiliations and associations. Through this Relationships Tab, there are up to 6 different kinds of Relationships that you can track for a given Constituent:
Individuals
Organizations
Banks & Financial Institutions
Education & Schools
Assigned Solicitors
Funds
What is the purpose of drawing these relationships and how does doing so benefit your organization?
By being able to identify such things as married Constituents or Constituents that are employed by a given organization, you are much better able to fine tune mailing processes and Appeal segmentations.
In this way, your organization is better equipped to organize your fundraising efforts and maximize your returns.
In identifying and establishing these relationships among your Constituents you are building the “Relationship Tree”, through which you can see a real-time break-down of all of the relationships of the Constituent.
The most frequent kind of relationship that is likely to exist for an average Constituent is an Individual Relationship. It should be noted that Individual Relationships are not restricted to merely spouses. You can create virtually any kind of relationship that two human beings may possess, from parent – child to business partners to friends, etc. These Constituents, regardless of the relationship, will be linked via the Relationships Tab and will each appear as a Relationship for the other. Be sure to indicate both the “Relationship” and the “Reciprocal” fields to keep the Relationships in order across both linked records.
Another type of relationship that you are likely to frequently draw between your Constituents is an Organizational Relationship. This may be the place of business in which the Constituent is employed, for example. However, just as you are not limited to only having a spouse as an Individual Relationship, you are likewise not limited to only having an employer as an Organizational Relationship. An Organizational Relationship can be any organization that the Constituent has any kind of affiliation with. Perhaps they serve on the board of directors of the local hospital, or are a member of a club or museum. These, too, are relationships that should be identified and tracked via the Relationships Tab.
You can also draw a relationship between a Constituent and a specific bank or financial institution. This is likely to be done much less frequently than establishing Individual and Organizational Relationships. Often this type of Relationship will only exist in Raiser’s Edge if you require the Constituent’s banking information in order to process their giving transactions. For example, if the Constituent chooses to donate through Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT), certain specific banking information needs to be tracked and maintained.
A fourth type of Relationship that you can draw in Raiser’s Edge is an Educational Relationship. In drawing Relationships between your Constituents and their places of education, you are able to track such things as year of graduation, grade point average, major/minor, etc. This feature is used most often by Colleges and Universities that utilize Raiser’s Edge to maintain all of their Alumni information.
Assigned Solicitors is another type of Relationship that can exist between your Constituents. Assigned Solicitors are those Constituents who have a specific role, or function within your organization to raise monies from other Constituents. These solicitors are frequently made up of senior members of your organization, members of your Board of Directors, etc. Once a given Constituent has been assigned a solicitor, that solicitor relationship will be displayed on the Relationships Tab.
The sixth and final type of Relationship that you can draw within Raiser’s Edge is a Fund Relationship. It should be noted that a Constituent can have a relationship with more than just one Fund. Essentially, these are Funds with which the Constituent has a special affiliation. An example may be if a Constituent sets up a Fund in the memory of a deceased family member. In this instance, you would draw the Relationship between the Constituent and that specific Fund in order to quickly and easily identify both through whom the Fund was started and which Funds a Constituent feels are especially important to them. This too will assist you in segmenting your Appeals, as you can direct given Appeals to specific Constituents based on where the monies from those Appeals will be directed, ie. the Fund.
The Relationships Tab is one of the most important features on the Constituent record in Raiser’s Edge, and the importance of drawing these relationships amongst your Constituents should not be understated. It is key that these relationships be identified and tracked in order to maintain integrity and accuracy across your database. Relationships are also fundamental to reaching your fundraising goals. For example, if you have an Organizational Constituent that is willing to match the donations of their employees – a Matching Gift Company – then the employee/employer Relationship MUST be established via the Relationships Tab in order to create a matching gift pledge on the Organization’s Constituent record.
So remember to identify and track those relationships that exist throughout your database and build the Relationship Tree! You will be building your infrastructure for improved fundraising.
The Relationships Tab on the Constituent record in Raiser’s Edge allows you to link records throughout your database in order to identify and track those Constituents that possess special affiliations and associations. Through this Relationships Tab, there are up to 6 different kinds of Relationships that you can track for a given Constituent:
Individuals
Organizations
Banks & Financial Institutions
Education & Schools
Assigned Solicitors
Funds
What is the purpose of drawing these relationships and how does doing so benefit your organization?
By being able to identify such things as married Constituents or Constituents that are employed by a given organization, you are much better able to fine tune mailing processes and Appeal segmentations.
In this way, your organization is better equipped to organize your fundraising efforts and maximize your returns.
In identifying and establishing these relationships among your Constituents you are building the “Relationship Tree”, through which you can see a real-time break-down of all of the relationships of the Constituent.
The most frequent kind of relationship that is likely to exist for an average Constituent is an Individual Relationship. It should be noted that Individual Relationships are not restricted to merely spouses. You can create virtually any kind of relationship that two human beings may possess, from parent – child to business partners to friends, etc. These Constituents, regardless of the relationship, will be linked via the Relationships Tab and will each appear as a Relationship for the other. Be sure to indicate both the “Relationship” and the “Reciprocal” fields to keep the Relationships in order across both linked records.
Another type of relationship that you are likely to frequently draw between your Constituents is an Organizational Relationship. This may be the place of business in which the Constituent is employed, for example. However, just as you are not limited to only having a spouse as an Individual Relationship, you are likewise not limited to only having an employer as an Organizational Relationship. An Organizational Relationship can be any organization that the Constituent has any kind of affiliation with. Perhaps they serve on the board of directors of the local hospital, or are a member of a club or museum. These, too, are relationships that should be identified and tracked via the Relationships Tab.
You can also draw a relationship between a Constituent and a specific bank or financial institution. This is likely to be done much less frequently than establishing Individual and Organizational Relationships. Often this type of Relationship will only exist in Raiser’s Edge if you require the Constituent’s banking information in order to process their giving transactions. For example, if the Constituent chooses to donate through Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT), certain specific banking information needs to be tracked and maintained.
A fourth type of Relationship that you can draw in Raiser’s Edge is an Educational Relationship. In drawing Relationships between your Constituents and their places of education, you are able to track such things as year of graduation, grade point average, major/minor, etc. This feature is used most often by Colleges and Universities that utilize Raiser’s Edge to maintain all of their Alumni information.
Assigned Solicitors is another type of Relationship that can exist between your Constituents. Assigned Solicitors are those Constituents who have a specific role, or function within your organization to raise monies from other Constituents. These solicitors are frequently made up of senior members of your organization, members of your Board of Directors, etc. Once a given Constituent has been assigned a solicitor, that solicitor relationship will be displayed on the Relationships Tab.
The sixth and final type of Relationship that you can draw within Raiser’s Edge is a Fund Relationship. It should be noted that a Constituent can have a relationship with more than just one Fund. Essentially, these are Funds with which the Constituent has a special affiliation. An example may be if a Constituent sets up a Fund in the memory of a deceased family member. In this instance, you would draw the Relationship between the Constituent and that specific Fund in order to quickly and easily identify both through whom the Fund was started and which Funds a Constituent feels are especially important to them. This too will assist you in segmenting your Appeals, as you can direct given Appeals to specific Constituents based on where the monies from those Appeals will be directed, ie. the Fund.
The Relationships Tab is one of the most important features on the Constituent record in Raiser’s Edge, and the importance of drawing these relationships amongst your Constituents should not be understated. It is key that these relationships be identified and tracked in order to maintain integrity and accuracy across your database. Relationships are also fundamental to reaching your fundraising goals. For example, if you have an Organizational Constituent that is willing to match the donations of their employees – a Matching Gift Company – then the employee/employer Relationship MUST be established via the Relationships Tab in order to create a matching gift pledge on the Organization’s Constituent record.
So remember to identify and track those relationships that exist throughout your database and build the Relationship Tree! You will be building your infrastructure for improved fundraising.
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Get The Most Out Of A Training Session
Hello Blog Reader!
Well, the holiday season is upon us, and first and foremost let me offer peace, love and best wishes to you and yours! Stay safe and have fun!
Let’s talk about training and instructional sessions. Have you ever sat in on a training session and then left the room saying to yourself, “Well, there’s 2 hours of my life I’ll never get back….What a waste of time!” Yes, we all have.
What makes for an interesting, informative and comprehensive training session? Here at RESolutionsTECH, we do a lot of training, both in-person, and on-line and our goal is always straightforward and simple: to provide customized, specific training sessions tailored to meet the needs of the individual client.
Unlike some Raiser’s Edge training offered by other organizations where the information presented is very general and generic sample data is utilized, here at RESolutionsTECH we use examples from the client’s actual live database, thus providing relevant and real time examples in the sessions.
Here are my top ten suggestions for a successful training experience for you and your staff:
1) Use data examples that the participants recognize and are relevant and meaningful to them.
To this end, whenever feasible, we remotely connect directly to the client’s Raiser’s Edge and present from there, thus showing them their actual data and the information in their specific drop down menus.
2) Encourage conversation, questions and feedback.
By working with just one specific client at a time, we are able to customize each training session to ensure the client’s specific priorities are being met. We also send out a survey before the training to gauge their needs and a second, follow-up survey once the training is completed to ensure the information presented was meaningful and relevant.
3) Ensure the participants can see how the information presented will make the tasks that they need to perform on a daily basis easier and more efficient.
The goal of the training is always to give the participants a deeper appreciation for the capabilities of Raiser’s Edge and to ease their apprehensions regarding the complexity of the database.
4) Divide diverse topics into separate sessions.
Whether the desire is to learn about Mailings, Queries, Security, Record management, or any of the optional Raiser’s Edge modules, we create individualized sessions that focus on the clients’ needs.
5) Keep the sessions manageable and not too lengthy.
Generally, the sessions we offer run no longer than 90 minutes, so the information is parsed in such a way that people have plenty of opportunity for discussions and questions without feeling overwhelmed with too much information.
6) Offer follow-up sessions and encourage open communication to counter any difficulties the client may face moving forward.
Here at RESolutionsTECH we are always accessible and available to directly answer one-on-one questions or concerns your staff may have following the training sessions.
7) Appreciate that different people have different learning needs and not everyone is a computer wizard.
Never assume the participants have an in-depth working knowledge of Windows or related software, such as Excel. Keep the training sessions simple and easy to follow and offer real-world examples whenever possible.
8) Know the participants’ role in their organization.
In this way, the sessions are prioritized and the participants are gaining access to information that is specifically relevant to their daily work needs.
9) Keep the sessions light and stress-free.
People can sometimes be a little nervous if they’re being asked to openly participate in the session and are sometimes afraid to admit what they don’t know. By encouraging active questions and asking for specific examples of where they’ve run into trouble or confusion, the participants feel more comfortable engaging with the presenter and the session will be more interactive.
10) Have fun!
Enthusiasm is contagious!
Thanks for reading my latest blog and have a great holiday season!
Well, the holiday season is upon us, and first and foremost let me offer peace, love and best wishes to you and yours! Stay safe and have fun!
Let’s talk about training and instructional sessions. Have you ever sat in on a training session and then left the room saying to yourself, “Well, there’s 2 hours of my life I’ll never get back….What a waste of time!” Yes, we all have.
What makes for an interesting, informative and comprehensive training session? Here at RESolutionsTECH, we do a lot of training, both in-person, and on-line and our goal is always straightforward and simple: to provide customized, specific training sessions tailored to meet the needs of the individual client.
Unlike some Raiser’s Edge training offered by other organizations where the information presented is very general and generic sample data is utilized, here at RESolutionsTECH we use examples from the client’s actual live database, thus providing relevant and real time examples in the sessions.
Here are my top ten suggestions for a successful training experience for you and your staff:
1) Use data examples that the participants recognize and are relevant and meaningful to them.
To this end, whenever feasible, we remotely connect directly to the client’s Raiser’s Edge and present from there, thus showing them their actual data and the information in their specific drop down menus.
2) Encourage conversation, questions and feedback.
By working with just one specific client at a time, we are able to customize each training session to ensure the client’s specific priorities are being met. We also send out a survey before the training to gauge their needs and a second, follow-up survey once the training is completed to ensure the information presented was meaningful and relevant.
3) Ensure the participants can see how the information presented will make the tasks that they need to perform on a daily basis easier and more efficient.
The goal of the training is always to give the participants a deeper appreciation for the capabilities of Raiser’s Edge and to ease their apprehensions regarding the complexity of the database.
4) Divide diverse topics into separate sessions.
Whether the desire is to learn about Mailings, Queries, Security, Record management, or any of the optional Raiser’s Edge modules, we create individualized sessions that focus on the clients’ needs.
5) Keep the sessions manageable and not too lengthy.
Generally, the sessions we offer run no longer than 90 minutes, so the information is parsed in such a way that people have plenty of opportunity for discussions and questions without feeling overwhelmed with too much information.
6) Offer follow-up sessions and encourage open communication to counter any difficulties the client may face moving forward.
Here at RESolutionsTECH we are always accessible and available to directly answer one-on-one questions or concerns your staff may have following the training sessions.
7) Appreciate that different people have different learning needs and not everyone is a computer wizard.
Never assume the participants have an in-depth working knowledge of Windows or related software, such as Excel. Keep the training sessions simple and easy to follow and offer real-world examples whenever possible.
8) Know the participants’ role in their organization.
In this way, the sessions are prioritized and the participants are gaining access to information that is specifically relevant to their daily work needs.
9) Keep the sessions light and stress-free.
People can sometimes be a little nervous if they’re being asked to openly participate in the session and are sometimes afraid to admit what they don’t know. By encouraging active questions and asking for specific examples of where they’ve run into trouble or confusion, the participants feel more comfortable engaging with the presenter and the session will be more interactive.
10) Have fun!
Enthusiasm is contagious!
Thanks for reading my latest blog and have a great holiday season!
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Solicit Codes
Hello Blog Reader!
Welcome to October! Kids back to school and settled into their daily routines, Canadian Thanksgiving behind us, but when’s the next long weekend??
For those of our clients that live in more temperate zones than us -- Philadelphia, New Jersey, and our newest client in California – YES! California! – trust me when I say these dank, cold, wet October days in Canada are enough to make one yearn for warmer climes! The mornings are dark and cold, and May seems a long time away!
Its also the time of year when germs seem to be at their most virulent, and my daughter and I are taking turns sneezing on each other….
And it’s a busy time of year for all….we’ve got Halloween just around the corner, and then end of the year celebrations rushing towards at supersonic speed….But for now, let’s take a bit of a break, breathe a deep sigh, grab a coffee and spend the next 10 or 15 minutes discussing the most appropriate use of Solicit Codes in Raiser’s Edge.
Solicit Codes are populated on the BIO1 Tab of the Constituent record and are essential in maintaining a healthy relationship with all of your Constituents, most notably your key donors. Solicit Codes are used to identify and track rules of contact that exist between that specific Constituent and your organization. For example, if a Constituent has indicated to you that they do not wish to receive mail, you would populate their Constituent Record with a Solicit Code of “Do Not Mail”.
Like most fields in Raiser’s Edge, Solicit Codes are very powerful, in that the drop down menu is customizable, and thus, unique to your organization. While several Solicit Codes are common across most of the organizations that we work with – for example, “Do Not Mail”, “Do Not Phone” – your organization can customize Solicit Codes for your own unique needs. For example, say your organization is running a weekend-long phonathon, you will want to have a very specific Solicit Code populated that indicates, “Do Not Phone On Weekends”.
Thus, your organization can create very specific and tailored Solicit Codes to meet your Constituents’ needs.
Solicit Codes are very convenient in that they are extremely easy to query upon. What I mean by that is when the time comes to generate lists of Constituents out of Raiser’s Edge, for example, a specific group of Constituents that you have identified to send an Appeal to, it is very easy to identify, through query, those Constituents who have a Solicit Code of “Do Not Mail” or "Do Not Solicit" populated on their record.
The key points to remember about Solicit Codes are:
1) Ensure you are populating your Constituents' contact preferences through the use of Solicit Codes.
2) Ensure you keep the Solicit Codes up to date for each Constituent, as frequently their contact wishes will change over time.
3) Ensure to query on your Solicit Codes before you ever contact a group of Constituents to be certain that you are eliminating from that contact list any Constituent that has requested not be contacted.
Furthermore, make sure that the query is specific enough to not only exclude those with a specific Solicit Code, such as “Do Not Solicit”, but that it also excludes those that have a very specific Solicit Code populated that may be related to the means by which you are contacting this group, such as “Do Not Phone On Weekends”.
One thing to note about Solicit Codes….you will see there is a check-box on the BIO1 Tab that indicates “Do Not Email”. Many organizations choose to use BOTH this check box and a Solicit Code of “Do Not Email”. If your organization chooses to track this in both places, ensure you are being consistent across EVERY record that has the check-box checked off.
Solicit Codes are not the same as the Do Not Contact option available to you for specific phone numbers. Solicit Codes are intended to be slightly more general than that…ie, if the Constituent does not want any phone calls at all, you would use a Solicit Code of “Do Not Phone”. If, on the other hand, a Constituent has several different phone numbers populated on their record – eg, Home, Business, Parent -- and has requested not to be contacted via one specific phone you would use the Do Not Contact feature for that specific phone number only, not an overall Solicit Code.
As discussed, you can create and customize a limitless number of Solicit Codes to identify all possible rules of contact. It is important, however, that Solicit Codes are not duplicated and that you are not tracking the same information by more than one Solicit Code phrased slightly differently. For example, in your Solicit Code drop down menu, you would NOT want to have one Solicit Code that says “Do Not Phone” and another Solicit Code that says “No Phone Calls”. Ensure that any information you are tracking is only tracked in one location. This will ensure your query results are accurate when the time comes to retrieve the information from Raiser’s Edge.
It is also essential that the names given to Solicit Codes are as self-explanatory as possible so as to prevent confusion as to what is actually being tracked.
Two “take aways” to remember about Solicit Codes:
1) They are a short two or three word phrase that specifically describes contact rules between your organization and the given Constituent.
2) They are very easy to query upon, and thus are extremely beneficial to you in maintaining healthy relationships with your Constituents.
If you ever have any questions about Solicit Codes, or any other Raiser’s Edge question or technology issue, please email me at plucas@resolutionstech.com and perhaps your question will become my next Blog!
Thanks for reading my blog, and don’t forget to tour the website and check out Robin’s Blog too!
Welcome to October! Kids back to school and settled into their daily routines, Canadian Thanksgiving behind us, but when’s the next long weekend??
For those of our clients that live in more temperate zones than us -- Philadelphia, New Jersey, and our newest client in California – YES! California! – trust me when I say these dank, cold, wet October days in Canada are enough to make one yearn for warmer climes! The mornings are dark and cold, and May seems a long time away!
Its also the time of year when germs seem to be at their most virulent, and my daughter and I are taking turns sneezing on each other….
And it’s a busy time of year for all….we’ve got Halloween just around the corner, and then end of the year celebrations rushing towards at supersonic speed….But for now, let’s take a bit of a break, breathe a deep sigh, grab a coffee and spend the next 10 or 15 minutes discussing the most appropriate use of Solicit Codes in Raiser’s Edge.
Solicit Codes are populated on the BIO1 Tab of the Constituent record and are essential in maintaining a healthy relationship with all of your Constituents, most notably your key donors. Solicit Codes are used to identify and track rules of contact that exist between that specific Constituent and your organization. For example, if a Constituent has indicated to you that they do not wish to receive mail, you would populate their Constituent Record with a Solicit Code of “Do Not Mail”.
Like most fields in Raiser’s Edge, Solicit Codes are very powerful, in that the drop down menu is customizable, and thus, unique to your organization. While several Solicit Codes are common across most of the organizations that we work with – for example, “Do Not Mail”, “Do Not Phone” – your organization can customize Solicit Codes for your own unique needs. For example, say your organization is running a weekend-long phonathon, you will want to have a very specific Solicit Code populated that indicates, “Do Not Phone On Weekends”.
Thus, your organization can create very specific and tailored Solicit Codes to meet your Constituents’ needs.
Solicit Codes are very convenient in that they are extremely easy to query upon. What I mean by that is when the time comes to generate lists of Constituents out of Raiser’s Edge, for example, a specific group of Constituents that you have identified to send an Appeal to, it is very easy to identify, through query, those Constituents who have a Solicit Code of “Do Not Mail” or "Do Not Solicit" populated on their record.
The key points to remember about Solicit Codes are:
1) Ensure you are populating your Constituents' contact preferences through the use of Solicit Codes.
2) Ensure you keep the Solicit Codes up to date for each Constituent, as frequently their contact wishes will change over time.
3) Ensure to query on your Solicit Codes before you ever contact a group of Constituents to be certain that you are eliminating from that contact list any Constituent that has requested not be contacted.
Furthermore, make sure that the query is specific enough to not only exclude those with a specific Solicit Code, such as “Do Not Solicit”, but that it also excludes those that have a very specific Solicit Code populated that may be related to the means by which you are contacting this group, such as “Do Not Phone On Weekends”.
One thing to note about Solicit Codes….you will see there is a check-box on the BIO1 Tab that indicates “Do Not Email”. Many organizations choose to use BOTH this check box and a Solicit Code of “Do Not Email”. If your organization chooses to track this in both places, ensure you are being consistent across EVERY record that has the check-box checked off.
Solicit Codes are not the same as the Do Not Contact option available to you for specific phone numbers. Solicit Codes are intended to be slightly more general than that…ie, if the Constituent does not want any phone calls at all, you would use a Solicit Code of “Do Not Phone”. If, on the other hand, a Constituent has several different phone numbers populated on their record – eg, Home, Business, Parent -- and has requested not to be contacted via one specific phone you would use the Do Not Contact feature for that specific phone number only, not an overall Solicit Code.
As discussed, you can create and customize a limitless number of Solicit Codes to identify all possible rules of contact. It is important, however, that Solicit Codes are not duplicated and that you are not tracking the same information by more than one Solicit Code phrased slightly differently. For example, in your Solicit Code drop down menu, you would NOT want to have one Solicit Code that says “Do Not Phone” and another Solicit Code that says “No Phone Calls”. Ensure that any information you are tracking is only tracked in one location. This will ensure your query results are accurate when the time comes to retrieve the information from Raiser’s Edge.
It is also essential that the names given to Solicit Codes are as self-explanatory as possible so as to prevent confusion as to what is actually being tracked.
Two “take aways” to remember about Solicit Codes:
1) They are a short two or three word phrase that specifically describes contact rules between your organization and the given Constituent.
2) They are very easy to query upon, and thus are extremely beneficial to you in maintaining healthy relationships with your Constituents.
If you ever have any questions about Solicit Codes, or any other Raiser’s Edge question or technology issue, please email me at plucas@resolutionstech.com and perhaps your question will become my next Blog!
Thanks for reading my blog, and don’t forget to tour the website and check out Robin’s Blog too!
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Peter's 2nd Blog -- Constituent Codes
Welcome to Peter’s 2nd Blog!
Today we’ll be talking about Constituent Codes in the Raiser’s Edge® database system.
It is common for organizations that use Raiser’s Edge® to misuse several of the tables / data entry fields throughout the Constituent Record, and we will discuss more of those in future blogs.
It is crucial, when tracking information in your database, that you follow two simple and fundamental policies:
1) Always track specific information in the pre-specified fields within Raiser’s Edge®
2) Never track the same information in more than one location
This is important, as when it comes time to both query and report on the data, you will pull specific information from specific fields.
Constituent Codes are one of those tables in Raiser’s Edge® that are frequently misunderstood and misused. Also, an organization may also have far too many Constituent Codes populated in the table.
First off, what is a Constituent Code?
A Constituent Code defines the relationship a given Constituent has with your specific organization.
In other words, a Constituent Code tells you why the Constituent is in your database in the first place and how their relationship with your organization has changed over time.
The Constituent Code should be a one or two word, very specific, self-explanatory description of how this particular individual or organization is related to your organization.
Examples of Constituent Codes may include Alumni, Board Member, Donor, Employee, Friend, Prospect, Supplier, & Volunteer.
It is important to note that Constituent Codes are very organization / industry specific and differ depending on the type of organization and the type of Constituents.
For example, a university or college may have a Constituent Code of Alumni or Student, whereas neither one of these would be appropriate for, say, a Hospital Foundation.
The number of Constituent Codes that you have populated in the Constituent Code drop down menu can vary however in most circumstances they should not exceed 20.
With the additional optional Raiser’s Edge® modules that your organization may have installed, it is very easy to track the information you need to without having an abundance of Constituent Codes. For example, you can have one, rather generic Constituent Code of “Prospect” and then further define the type of prospect via the optional Prospect Tab.
In a similar way, you can have a single Constituent Code of “Volunteer” and further define the type of Volunteer and their tasks via the optional Volunteer Tab.
Each Constituent record in your database should have at least one Constituent Code listed, while some may have several. For example, if you have a Constituent that is both a Volunteer and a Donor, then that Constituent should have two codes populated.
It is also important to note that the Date To and Date From fields should be utilized along with the Constituent Code, thus making it very easy to see the transition that your Constituents make with their relationship to your organization over time. For example, if a Constituent becomes a volunteer, you would populate their record with a Constituent Code of Volunteer, use the Date From field to indicate the date they first volunteered and then, if/when they cease their volunteering activities with your organization, you can use the Date To field to indicate the date they ceased being a Volunteer.
Using the Date To field provides the additional benefit of not needing additional Constituent Codes to indicate former relationships, eg Ex-Board Member, Ex-Employee, Ex-Volunteer. These can be identified simply by having the Date To field populated.
It is essential that the names given to Constituent Codes are as self-explanatory as possible so as to prevent confusion as to what is actually being tracked.
A tremendous benefit of Constituent Codes is that they are extremely easy to query upon. For example if you want a very easy way to count or to list, for example, all of your donors who are also volunteers, this becomes a very simple query to run if you are using Constituent Codes to track that information.
Note that the Constituent Code is populated via the BIO2 tab of the Constituent record, and the code that you select for a given Constituent is displayed in red at the bottom on the BIO1 Tab.
Two “take aways” to remember about Constituent Codes:
1) They are a one or two word, very specific explanation of how the Constituent relates to YOUR organization.
2) Every Constituent should have at least 1, some Constituents may have several.
If you ever have any questions about Constituent Codes, or any other technology issue, please email me at plucas@resolutionstech.com and perhaps your question will become my next Blog!
Thanks for reading my 2nd Blog, and don’t forget to tour the website and check out Robin’s Blog too!
Today we’ll be talking about Constituent Codes in the Raiser’s Edge® database system.
It is common for organizations that use Raiser’s Edge® to misuse several of the tables / data entry fields throughout the Constituent Record, and we will discuss more of those in future blogs.
It is crucial, when tracking information in your database, that you follow two simple and fundamental policies:
1) Always track specific information in the pre-specified fields within Raiser’s Edge®
2) Never track the same information in more than one location
This is important, as when it comes time to both query and report on the data, you will pull specific information from specific fields.
Constituent Codes are one of those tables in Raiser’s Edge® that are frequently misunderstood and misused. Also, an organization may also have far too many Constituent Codes populated in the table.
First off, what is a Constituent Code?
A Constituent Code defines the relationship a given Constituent has with your specific organization.
In other words, a Constituent Code tells you why the Constituent is in your database in the first place and how their relationship with your organization has changed over time.
The Constituent Code should be a one or two word, very specific, self-explanatory description of how this particular individual or organization is related to your organization.
Examples of Constituent Codes may include Alumni, Board Member, Donor, Employee, Friend, Prospect, Supplier, & Volunteer.
It is important to note that Constituent Codes are very organization / industry specific and differ depending on the type of organization and the type of Constituents.
For example, a university or college may have a Constituent Code of Alumni or Student, whereas neither one of these would be appropriate for, say, a Hospital Foundation.
The number of Constituent Codes that you have populated in the Constituent Code drop down menu can vary however in most circumstances they should not exceed 20.
With the additional optional Raiser’s Edge® modules that your organization may have installed, it is very easy to track the information you need to without having an abundance of Constituent Codes. For example, you can have one, rather generic Constituent Code of “Prospect” and then further define the type of prospect via the optional Prospect Tab.
In a similar way, you can have a single Constituent Code of “Volunteer” and further define the type of Volunteer and their tasks via the optional Volunteer Tab.
Each Constituent record in your database should have at least one Constituent Code listed, while some may have several. For example, if you have a Constituent that is both a Volunteer and a Donor, then that Constituent should have two codes populated.
It is also important to note that the Date To and Date From fields should be utilized along with the Constituent Code, thus making it very easy to see the transition that your Constituents make with their relationship to your organization over time. For example, if a Constituent becomes a volunteer, you would populate their record with a Constituent Code of Volunteer, use the Date From field to indicate the date they first volunteered and then, if/when they cease their volunteering activities with your organization, you can use the Date To field to indicate the date they ceased being a Volunteer.
Using the Date To field provides the additional benefit of not needing additional Constituent Codes to indicate former relationships, eg Ex-Board Member, Ex-Employee, Ex-Volunteer. These can be identified simply by having the Date To field populated.
It is essential that the names given to Constituent Codes are as self-explanatory as possible so as to prevent confusion as to what is actually being tracked.
A tremendous benefit of Constituent Codes is that they are extremely easy to query upon. For example if you want a very easy way to count or to list, for example, all of your donors who are also volunteers, this becomes a very simple query to run if you are using Constituent Codes to track that information.
Note that the Constituent Code is populated via the BIO2 tab of the Constituent record, and the code that you select for a given Constituent is displayed in red at the bottom on the BIO1 Tab.
Two “take aways” to remember about Constituent Codes:
1) They are a one or two word, very specific explanation of how the Constituent relates to YOUR organization.
2) Every Constituent should have at least 1, some Constituents may have several.
If you ever have any questions about Constituent Codes, or any other technology issue, please email me at plucas@resolutionstech.com and perhaps your question will become my next Blog!
Thanks for reading my 2nd Blog, and don’t forget to tour the website and check out Robin’s Blog too!
Monday, July 13, 2009
Peter's 1st Blog
Hello Blog Reader!
Welcome to Peter’s first blog! There’s a good chance you’ve either met me in person or spoken to me on the phone at one time or another if you are a client of Resolutionstech…if you’re not, you should be! If you take a look on the “Company” page on the website, you’ll see a goofy picture of me --- of all of us here, actually --- Trust me, I’m not nearly as bald as I appear!
So what’s this blog all about? Plenty of excitement, a little humour, hopefully impart some wisdom here and there….There will be regular postings on a wide range of subjects, though I imagine I will focus primarily on questions, issues, and commentaries related to Donor Database Management and on-line fundraising tools. As we go forward, please email me any questions, comments or suggestions and I could turn your question into my next blog: PLucas@RESolutionstech.com
So, since this is my blog after all, a little bit about me…My name is Peter Lucas and my role here at RESolutionstech is a varied one. As some of you will know, I work a lot one-on-one with our clients to assist them in using both Raiser’s Edge and the Artez on-line system more effectively and comprehensively. We all wear many hats around here, and that is what makes each day both challenging and rewarding.
In my next blog I shall be talking about Constituent Codes in Raiser’s Edge….what are they and how are they best used? Future blogs will look at things such as how to best use User Defined Fields in Artez and why posting gifts by batch in Raiser’s Edge is a better method than inputting them manually.
Any issue or problem or question that you think others could benefit from and would make a good blog, well, I want to hear from YOU!
Thanks for taking the time to read my first blog and watch this space for more to come soon.
Tour the website, and don’t forget to check out Robin’s blog too!
Welcome to Peter’s first blog! There’s a good chance you’ve either met me in person or spoken to me on the phone at one time or another if you are a client of Resolutionstech…if you’re not, you should be! If you take a look on the “Company” page on the website, you’ll see a goofy picture of me --- of all of us here, actually --- Trust me, I’m not nearly as bald as I appear!
So what’s this blog all about? Plenty of excitement, a little humour, hopefully impart some wisdom here and there….There will be regular postings on a wide range of subjects, though I imagine I will focus primarily on questions, issues, and commentaries related to Donor Database Management and on-line fundraising tools. As we go forward, please email me any questions, comments or suggestions and I could turn your question into my next blog: PLucas@RESolutionstech.com
So, since this is my blog after all, a little bit about me…My name is Peter Lucas and my role here at RESolutionstech is a varied one. As some of you will know, I work a lot one-on-one with our clients to assist them in using both Raiser’s Edge and the Artez on-line system more effectively and comprehensively. We all wear many hats around here, and that is what makes each day both challenging and rewarding.
In my next blog I shall be talking about Constituent Codes in Raiser’s Edge….what are they and how are they best used? Future blogs will look at things such as how to best use User Defined Fields in Artez and why posting gifts by batch in Raiser’s Edge is a better method than inputting them manually.
Any issue or problem or question that you think others could benefit from and would make a good blog, well, I want to hear from YOU!
Thanks for taking the time to read my first blog and watch this space for more to come soon.
Tour the website, and don’t forget to check out Robin’s blog too!
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