When we receive multiple (could be over a period of years) gifts from the same organization, and the Donor Acknowledgement contact can vary from gift to gift. Are there any suggestions on handling identification of "Gift Specific" donor contact information? Campaign & Major Gifts Coordinator Community Hospice of NE Florida Foundation 4114 Sunbeam Road, Suite 101 Jacksonville, FL 32257 [Email Removed] (904) 886-3883

We're wrestling with the same issue at Stony Brook. We've considered using an attribute on the gift record that consists of a constituent lookup field. We have not implemented this option becuase it would mean that all contacts associated with gifts would have to be constituents themselves, creating more data entry and record maintenance. Thanks for posting this topic--I'd be interested to hear how other RE users are handling this problem.

We've tried to play with different "contact types" for the different types of gifts/asks. A foursome in a golf tournament can be sponsored by a bank branch manager, but an endowment needs to come from closer to the top. Our frustration comes when dealing with a smaller company and they are both the same person. There doesn't seem to be any if/then/else logic possible when exporting contacts (eg if golf contact/export/else export main contact)

Most organizations wrestle with similar issues. When the gifts come into the appropriate person, we make sure to let those who run the gift acknowledgement know who needs to be thanked, at the same time as we code the gift. Another option is to assign that person as the gift's solicitor. The first is easier, but the second leaves a history in the gift record in case the acknowledgement is never received. One problem with this solution, however, is that the person marked as the solicitor needs to have an individual record in Raiser's Edge and be marked as a solicitor on Bio1. We've tried the different contact types as well, but it often ends up getting confusing as there become too many types and too many people who could need multiple types - something that's not permitted by Raiser's Edge. [i]--- Edited at 8/14/2006 4:12:32 PM by Jonathan Ettinger[/i]

I put the name of the contact who should be thanked as part of the gift reference, so that it is written on the gift record, and then make sure to send the acknowledgement to that person.

I rarely deal with this dilema. What I have done is to create an additional addressee/salutation, name it for it's function then choose it when exporting in Donor Acknowledgements. Donor Records Citrus Valley Health Foundation [Email Removed]

I like this solution, but how does it work for organization records that don't have an addressee/salutation field? Faith Danforth Development Database Manager The Library Foundation Portland, Oregon

We've considered using the addressee/salutation option ourselves. This is a ajor headache for us, and I suspect for many associations and other who get a large number of corporate gifts with multiple contacts. I consider this a significant failing in RE and one that we have raised numerous times. Perhaps Blackbaud should suggest the appropriate solution or address it in a future upgrade. it's a biug enough issue that we should not be scxrambling for work arounds in my opinion. Eileen Murray, CFRE, CAE Director, FORE Foundation

Sort of along the same lines, I am interested to know what other RE users do when certain administration desire different salutations for their letter drafting purposes. For instance, Manager John Doe desires to address constituent Rick Brown as "Rick" in the salutation while assistant manager Shirley desires to address the constituent as "Mr. Brown." While I realize there can be multiple salutations setup, not every constituent will have a Manager or Assistant Manager's salutation on their record. This is complex since a record may have a Manager's Salutation, a Marriage salutation and primary salutation. So, in a word merge, if I select Manager salutation and if not present use Marriage salutation then a single person (who has a primary salutation) ends up with a blank salutation. Suggestions?

We have a policy stating that the primary salutation is Formal. So for us when the assistant wants her letters we would use that. We then on a case by case basis will create additional addressee/salutations for specific staff. We have one for our President/CEO and some for a few our key volunteer solicitors. We only add one for their contacts if they prefer something other than the formal for that individual. You would need to be sure you have a strict policy on when to add an addressee salutation for a staff or volunteer. I would limit it to specific criteria only. If this manager sends letters throughout the year to over X number of people then he may qualify for his own add/sal. Whenever we do a letter for our CEO (which includes all of our direct mail and major donor solicitation letters and acknowledgements) We use the CEO salutation and if blank use the primary. We do not have marriage salutation which may be why it works for us. Our primary sal would be Mr. & Mrs. Smith if they give together and just Mr. (or Mrs.) if they give by themselves. Your post did not include a signature with the organization you are from but if it is a school or university I would understand why you may need the marriage salutation. I have to use export in this case when I have too many options for add/sal and export them all and then set up the if... then... statement in mail merge. I know this stinks not to be able to use mail but sometimes it is your only option. In this case be sure to add yourself to the suggestion on the KB which I'm sure exists that Mail add more options to the add/sal section. If we don't tell them how many of us need it they will never change it. *** my spelling is fine, it's my typing that stinks. Where is spell check? Melissa S. Graves Manager, Development Database & Direct Mail Planned Parenthood of Connecticut [Email Removed] 203-752-2804

I found the suggestion to enter the contact name in the gift reference field very helpful. The problem with Contact types is that we are limited with 1 choice - or enter the contact names as many times as the contact types we want to use. Here at the Fondation de Polytechnique, we use 1 contact type but many contact attributes according to the gift to be acknowledged: matching gift, major gift, scolarship, etc. These filters can then be used in Mail (Quick letters, labels, etc.).
Hope this helps!
Richard Coveney

Thanks Melissa Your post is very helpful! I believe we will move to a formal, non formal model! Have a great week... Travis Trawick Raiser's Edge Coordinator Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary Fort Worth, Texas

We do almost the same thing here. We either put the name of the contact in the reference or notes section. This info then merges out to Word and we can format with the correct name. -pam

Sorry, I know this topic was visited in August, but recently figured out a system that works well for our organization and in fact, we used a variant for mailing out holiday cards.

I created a Contact Type of "Donor Acknowledgement" in addition to all our other standard contact types. Then, on the relationship record, on the More button of the address, there is an attributes tab where I've linked the Contact Types. From here I select Contact Type and Descritpion of Donor Acknowledgement. For our holiday cards, if only a few people in the company are to recieve the card, I selected Contact Type, description of Holiday Card. A person could have both descriptions, or more as I add them.

It is a little bit cumbersome to add these attributes because they are buried, but in the Mail Function, there is the nifty feature to select contacts with only the attributes specified. So once you've selected which contacts are Donor Acknowlement, or Holiday Card, or whatever, and you've set up you mail merge letter to pull contacts with that attribute first, you don't have to remember it in the future and don't have to look up the reference on the check, etc.

Hope this might help someone.

Elizabeth Elizabeth Brokaw
Database Coordinator
Performing Arts Center Eastside (PACE)
Bellevue, WA
[Email Removed]