I am wondering if anyone has any advice for returned mail procedures.

 Here is the scenerio: I have taken over the responsibility of our database which has never been managed properly so there is no procedure/policy manual to refer to (as that will be my job to create also).  If we get returned mail and cannot locate the new contact information for the constituent and they have no gifts on their file should I a) just mark as no valid address or b) delete the profile since it can't be used for anything.  If down the road they decide to donate from their new address, would it just be easier to create a new profile for them then? 

 Thanks

Most of us never delete records (unless they have been found to have a duplicate record).  You never know when the fact that you used to mail to john smith at x address will be useful.  Do you run your data through NCOA (AddressFinder)?  I believe that that type of screening is much better at finding lost people than a simple internet search.  We keep them in there mark them "has no valid address" and hope that AddressFinder finds a new address. 

If anyone with that same name ever comes up with a different address you might be in a position to ask them if they are the same john smith who used to live at x address.  You now have a more complete record on that constituent.

I think a big factor for me in this situation is how current the address is and if they have recently been a prospect that a solicitor requested even if they didn't give. We generally choose your option a.  We don't delete.

If they have no donations or notes that we need to keep I'd consider deleting them if I can not find a current address in phone books or online.  We have run into the potential for duplicate records by keeping them and then not knowing if the donation we got today is from the same 'Bob Smith' entered 3 years ago that we have no connection to and never gave.

Not a very decisive answer, but it can vary a lot I'm sure from organization to organization.  We have a relatively small database and are not in a metropolitan area.  It's easier to keep track of people I think.

I agree with Melissa.  The constituent was put in your data base for a reason. You may not know why but I wouldn't take the chance of deleting the record.  I would mark them no valid address as it does't hurt the database for the constituent to stay in it. 

I also agree with Melissa.  A constituent should only be deleted if the record is a duplicate.  Otherwise mark No Valid Address and in our case we give them the added attribute of No mail -- lost.