The Raiser's Edge 7 for Beginners: Attributes

Where the more casual style of The Raiser's Edge 7 for Beginners user guide becomes clear is when it is compared to The Raiser’s Edge Help file.

The Raiser's Edge Help file defines attributes as follows:

To add flexibility to your record keeping, use attributes to define and store special information about a wide variety of record types. You can identify a category for the attribute and then store an entry specific to that category.

There's nothing wrong with this definition, it's just a little dry. Here's what The Raiser's Edge 7 for Beginners has to say:

You probably think of the color of someone’s eyes or hair, whether he is tall or short, or if he is athletic. Typically, we associate attributes with a person’s physical appearance, like an inherited gene. When keeping track of your constituents in The Raiser’s Edge, you want to record similar things about people associated with your organization, but you may want to be a little more specific. For example, you may want to associate a person with a specific sport or club. Perhaps one of your volunteers is in college and plays on the soccer team. You may find this a valuable point to know about this particular volunteer.

Attributes, aptly enough, live on the Attributes tab on constituent records. The idea is to create broad categories such as Interests or Dietary Preference, and then define them with a specific description for each constituent. You can also add comments to further explain the attributes. Adding an attribute is just a matter of going to the Attributes tab, and selecting the appropriate fields. For example:

Read more about attributes in The Raiser's Edge 7 for Beginners and in Knowledgebase solution BB515, which features a video demonstration.