Shaugn,
Let me take a stab at answering your question. First, there is the issue of
helping ebase properly format the name and address -- in fact all databases,
not just ebase, have some similar field. This way it knows, in the case of a
non-individual, to place the company name in the top line, followed by the
position, the contact, etc.
But there are other, even more compelling reason for you to use this
information. Although the basis of your relationships with all supporters
and clients is personal relationships with individuals, the essential nature
of the relationship may differ depending on whom the individual represents.
For instance, a private individual donor is making decisions regarding how
to donate their own private finances. That's a VERY personal relationship
you have with them. An individual who is working for a foundation or
corporation, on the other hand, is not. Foundation officers come and go, as
do corporate community affairs people. In this case, the relationship is
between YOUR institution and THEIR institution. Not to minimize the fact
that some individuals at those places may develop a personally warm and
caring relationship with you and your organization's work, but the funding
decisions they make are about their institution's money, not their own
personal money. Hopefully, you will continue to have a good relationship
with that institution long after the contact with whom you have been working
is long gone.
As an aside -- and I will assume here that tax laws in Canada are similar to
tax law in The States, in this regard at least -- you are legally required
to record a gift with the entity who actually writes the check.* Thus the
gift from the VeryImportant Foundation must be recorded under their record,
not under a record you might have for Amy Doesgoode, their Vice President
For Smart Decisions. (Actually, Amy's might be the name you have on the
VeryImportant Foundation's record, so she'll get the acknowledgment letter
in any event.)
For that matter, a donor-advised gift (and here I may only be speaking to an
American audience, I don't know) initiated by Robert Q. LargeWallet, but
made through the Vancouver Community Foundation, will be recorded as a gift
from the Vancouver Community Foundation. You will want to "soft-credit" (a
feature not currently available in ebase, so you're on your own there) Mr.
LargeWallet, but that's all.
Finally, in order to assess the diversity of your fundraising program, you
need the record-type field so that you can analyze your giving by type of
donor. Is most of your income from foundations? Do you have a potentially
large constituency of individual donors who remain untapped? Such reports
will tell you this.
Also, if you do much in the way of solicitation mailings, those mailings
will usually go to individuals. For reasons of cost-effectiveness, you want
to be able to select only individuals for such mailings.
Actually, there are a whole range of uses for this field. You may, in
addition to "householding" contacts with their organization, even wish to
add a checkbox to the names/contacts file to indicate if a person is a
contact at an organization. As for whether their record type should be ind
or org/cor/fnd, that's a personal decision. What would be useful, actually,
is a "con" field type.
I've concentrated on the fundraising utility of this field because that's
the area I work in. I'm sure others out there will have compelling uses for
this field in the area of advocacy and so on.
Hope this helps.
*Just to confuse matters, e-giving programs, for instance, don't count. It's
not THEIR money, they're just passing it through -- with a cut, of course.
The gifts are recorded under the respective donors whose names are provided
by the e-giving firm, including that favorite of every fundraiser, Anonymous
(grrr!). Same for check-writing services. The point is: Who legally controls
the money?
Ric M�llamo
Resource Development
Tanglewood Camp and Learning Center
RR 4 Box 670
Lincolnville ME 04849
(207) 789-5807
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
-----Original Message-----
From: Shaugn Schwartz [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
Sent: July 19, 2001 5:35 PM
To: TechRocks Support
Subject: [support] Record Type Field
I'm trying to understand how to correctly use the record type field and want
to share my thinking with the ebase community to see if I'm on the right
track.
I've reviewed archive support list material and the manual and have come to
the understanding that this field was designed primarily for output purposes
(label, letters etc). At Evergreen, we have been using the field as a
relationship identification tools: a record of a person who works for a
corporation is being identify as "bus", a person who works for an engo would
have an "org" rec type and so on. The result is that when we produce a
mailing list half of the contacts aren't address to anyone.
Seems like the only time one would use the "org, bus, fdn" record type is
when 1) you don't know anyone who is affiliated with the org, bus, fdn
2)when entering a grant, donation, or sponsorship payment (we might have 10
contacts from one corporation and we wouldn't be able to get an accurate
picture of our financial relationship if payments were spread over several
different contacts. In addition, staff turnover is high - org. contact info
changes less frequently) and 3) if the contact is a supplier i.e. department
store, telephone co. etc.
Am I on the right track?
--
Shaugn Schwartz
Regional Director, Western Canada
Evergreen
#404 - 134 Abbott St.
Vancouver BC V6B 2K4
ph. 604.689.0766 * fax 604.669.6222
www.evergreen.ca
Bringing Nature Back to Our Cities
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