Link Records in Online Data Review

Use Online data review to match transactions to the correct records before they move forward. Depending on the source and the role in the transaction, you can link to a full constituent or a relationship (non-constituent) record.

For an overview of Online data review settings and review options, see Online Data Review.

To link transactions correctly, understand the available record types.

Record Types

Choose the correct record type when linking. The record types available depend on the transaction's source and the role of the person or organization in it. For details, see Form Types below.

• Constituent — A full profile for an individual or organization managed in detail (for example, donors, volunteers, or staff). Use when the person should be actively managed as part of your database. For details, see Constituent Records.

• Relationship (non-constituent) — A lighter profile for someone referenced through a transaction or association but not managed as a full constituent (for example, spouse or employer). Include relationship records in searches to find matches that do not appear in constituent-only results. For details, see Relationships and Related Individuals and Organizations.

Constituents are fully managed records. Relationship records are supporting entries used for context or associations.

Best Practices

Keep the following guidelines in mind to help maintain accurate constituent data when you review and link transactions.

• Review the available record types for the different types of roles in the transaction before you search for a match. Depending on the source and the role in the transaction, such as an event form's hosts and guests, you may be able to link only to specific record types.

• Confirm the constituent's identity before you link a transaction.

• Compare available contact information, such as names, email addresses, and mailing addresses.

• Review any warnings or differences in constituent information.

• Verify that proposed updates should be added to the selected record.

• Create a new constituent record if you're uncertain a suggested match is correct.

After you link a transaction, review the resulting record to confirm the information was applied as expected.

Warning: Do not delete constituent records to resolve matching or linking issues in Online data review. For more information, see Delete records safely in Online Data Review.

Form Types

Online data review behavior varies by form type. The sections below summarize how each form behaves.

• Donation forms — Used for Online Giving. Transactions include donors or organizations, and both must link to constituent records. For details, see Online Giving Overview.

• Tributes donation forms — Donation forms that support tribute giving. Transactions include donors, organizations, honorees, and acknowledgees. Donors, organizations, and honorees are linked to constituent records. Acknowledgees can be either linked to a constituent or a relationship record. For details, see Tributes and Automatic Tribute Matching.

• Constituent forms — Collect constituent information. Transactions only include constituents and must link to constituent records. For details, see Get Started with Constituent Forms and Automatic Constituent Matching.

• Event registration forms — Capture event registration and payments. Hosts and primary contact are linked to constituent records; guests can be linked either to a constituent or a relationship record. For details, see Hosts and Guests.

• Membership forms — Purchase a membership online or gift membership to someone else. Transactions include donors and members, and both must link to constituent records. For details, see Membership Forms.

  When a transaction includes a membership, Online data review adds a step to match the membership after you link the constituent record:

  • If the matched constituent doesn't have an existing membership, the transaction is added as a new membership.

  • If the matched constituent has an existing membership, choose whether to add the transaction as a new membership or update the existing one. If your organization only allows one membership per constituent, you can't add the transaction as a new membership.

  • If you update an existing membership, choose Renew, Rejoin, Upgrade, or Downgrade. Rejoin is only available when the membership's standing is dropped; otherwise, Renew is available instead. When a recommended option is available, it's selected by default.

  • If the program, category, and dues amount of the transaction match an existing membership, that membership is selected automatically. If any of these are different, Online data review flags the membership as conflicting data for you to review.

  Whatever you choose is saved to the membership record's history so you can track renewals, upgrades, and downgrades over time.