Can anyone share or direct me to procedures that have been written about split records and the use of Head of Household. What Add/Sals to use on the linked records. Also- how to properly use the options in RE Mail for example so that the correct data is in the output. Thanks Tina Gorski-Strong Director of Alumni Relations The Wheeler School [Email Removed]

Hi Tina,

Our standard procedures are that the head of household is the man, unless the constituent tells us otherwise. Our primary addressee/salutation is the formal, for ex: Mr. and Mrs. John D. Smith. On advice from our RE consultant, the linked spouse record's primary addressee/salutation is the same so it also would be Mr. and Mrs. John D. Smith. We have other addressee types for using individual names on each record.

Our bulk mailings are done using the primary addressee/salutation so in RE Mail under Head of Household Processing I always choose the first one - Mail only to constituents marked 'Head of Household'. That way, the couple will only get one mailing.

If you wanted both spouses to get the same mailing you could choose to send it to both.

The second choice, mail to first constituent found, scares me. I haven't done any testing with it but I think this means that as it's pulling data based on your sort criteria, the first person it finds will get the mailing.

I hope this was helpful. Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.

Hi, in regard to first constituent found, I have not gotten it to work so far. I think it involves using segment, but not luck with it. When I asked the RE folks at a local user group they didn't know anything about it. It would be good to hear if someone HAD had some success with it. Also, I would suggest getting on the phone to RE on a Friday afternoon (a quiet time) and have them help you set up a good template for mailings. They can even get inside your computer and do it for you. When we converted from 6 to 7 RE set up a few mailing templates for me, and it really helped to get a better grasp of how all that works! Much better than spending 6 months figuring it out yourself. Good Luck!!! Cheryl Hardt Donor Relations Saint Joseph's Mercy Foundation Atlanta, GA [Email Removed]

How do you actually mark someone as "head of Household" in RE7? I expected to see a box to check but can't find one. Patricia Laros Kingswood-Oxford School Database Management Gifts & Reporting (860) 233-9631 x 2351 [Email Removed]

From what I have seen the First Constituent Found is alphabetical. Even when using segmentation in RE Mail if you are using First Constituent Found your output will be based on the alphabet, not which segment of your mailing they are in. At least its that way in the Oracle compatible version. This is one of the reasons that I don't use RE Mail for anything except adding the Appeal and Package to records. Then I choose Mail To Both Constituents Separately, and then do an export from RE Export to get the information I need. I also do a lot of data manipulation and sorting of the output before I send anything to our mail house. Roxanne Seilaff
National Outdoor Leadership School
[Email Removed]

There is a checkbox but you only see it if the spouse record is also a unique record in RE. When you click on the spouse button on Bio1 and open the spouse record, the checkbox is in the lower left hand corner. Angie Snyder Operations Manager Wycliffe Bible Translators Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.

Thank you Angie! I knew that I was seeing it but whenever I "tried" to see it I couldn't figure out how. :) Patricia Laros Kingswood-Oxford School Database Management Gifts & Reporting (860) 233-9631 x 2351 [Email Removed]

If the spouse's button is unchecked it means the record you are in is the HOH. If checked, then the Spouse is the HOH. Melissa S. Graves Director of Development Services The Village for Families and Children mgraves @ villageforchildren.org www.villageforchildren.org GET ON THE BUS! Check out what the Blackbaud User Society is talking about today at www.blackbus.org!