Hi there, This is a problem I've been struggling with for a while and it's about to drive me over the edge! Wanted to write the forum and see if anyone else has a solution. Here's the scenario: There is one constituent (Mr. & Mrs. Smith -- Mr. Smith is the main contact) Mrs. Smith decides she is attending an event...and Mr. Smith is not. I want to be able to add her as a participant, but I also want the event participation to register on their record. If I simply go to the event and create a new participant record without linking, this would not happen. However, if I link the event, Mr. Smith is listed as the participant, which isn't correct. Anyone else come across this issue???? Thanks in advance for any input! Tiffany

We basically use the solution described in Knowledgebase solution BB18104. We add the constituent as a non-attending participant, and then add the spouse as a guest of the constituent. I thought that somewhere it had been filed as a suggestion to be able to directly link the spouse, but I can't find it in the Knowledgebase to suggest that you add your name to the list. Karen Warr Development Associate LifeWorks NW 14600 NW Cornell Road Portland, OR 97229 (503) 645-3581, x2385 [Email Removed]

Another way to handle this if only one of them is participating is through the nametags field - I will link the constituent account but put the spouse on the nametag. Laurel Quaintance
Friends of Bassett
Manager,Fund Development Services
Cooperstown, NY 13326
[Email Removed]
'please forgive my typing mistakes!'

Everyone with the event module has this issue and it can't be easily solved but some places have been pretty creative in managing this. Some simply state that the spouse then gets their own record but I haven't adopted this philosophy because if the impact it has on soft credit gifts and reporting. Some simply register the main constituent and make a new addressee (under additional addressee) called event addressee and use that addressee on all reports. If you have a lot of events you will be continually updating it and if some overlap where 1 person is coming to 1 event and someone else is coming to another it won't work. If you do just a few events a year and none of them huge and all users can remember to use that addressee this is a good option. Some simply give him a registrant record but mark him as declined and not registered and make her a guest (non-constituent) under his registration and mark her as accepted and registered. The problem with this is that if you ever need to create a separate record for her her event attendance does not come with her. May or may not be an issue. All of this would be solved if having spouse records and spousal soft credits was treated differently in RE. I would be more apt to create a spouse record and register just the spouse if doing so did not cause soft credit hell. *** I can spell, I just can't type. Where is spell check? Melissa S. Graves [Email Removed]

I did forget about nametags. It is great to use the name tags field but then you can't (unfortunately) use the name tag field in event reports - the primary constituent will show on the registration list for example. *** I can spell, I just can't type. Where is spell check?

Melissa S. Graves
[Email Removed]

We use the "participation" field on the participant record. Here we indicate Individual, spouse attendee, couple, or family to indicate who will attend the event. This isn't ideal since it doesn't help with the total counts on any of the reports. Heather Heather D. Rodriguez Assistant Director of Development Information Systems San Francisco Museum of Modern Art [Email Removed]

All of the different methods have merit. In our case, we try to stick to the rule that if a person has a direct relationship with the organization, they should be a constituent. If I wanted the event to show on the spouse record, I'd make the spouse a constituent. We try really hard not to use fields as make-do fields - mostly because I can't remember when we change things. :) Nora Isaac Manager, Information Technology The ALS Association, Greater Phila. Chapter [Email Removed]

How do you handle spouse soft credits, though? I have a nightmare here at my new job where so many spouse records have been created and soft credited but coding did not follow. So we just did a data pull for a mailing to everyone who gave in the past 3 years (soft credit to recipient so we can get 3rd party giving like through Donor Advised Funds) but everyone with a Current Board constituent code was to be excluded (sounds easy enough) but their spouses have a constituent code of friend and because they were soft credited they got included with a couple salutation whcih included the board member. UGH I am thinking that the spouses need a code that I can use to exclude them as well - what do each of you do? Melissa S. Graves Director of Development Services The Village for Families and Children mgraves @ villageforchildren.org

My former organization worked that way - most of our couples had two records (since both were intimately involved with the organization) and we soft-credited spouses. Both here and at my previous organization, I've always had a standard query set up that I use to exclude Trustees; that query would exclude constituent code = trustee AND spouse constituent code = trustee. That should solve your Trustee spouse problem. We also have to do this for other groups since we have tons of VIP/special-interest groups. So for some mailings it seems like we have more exclusions that inclusions! And, I'm sure you know this but, Head of Household processing is now your best friend! Still, it's going to be problematic for you every time you want to pull the non-spousal soft credits (i.e. family foundations).

Good luck! Heather D. Rodriguez
Assistant Director of Development Information Systems
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
[Email Removed]