Addressee / Salutations - Policies & Procedures

Jan Ette Oakley

I'm a little rusty and can't find it in the archives, so feel free to direct me to it if it is there, but I'm looking for an example of someone's policies and procedures on How to Enter Addressees and Salutations.  We have our standards and know them, I'm just having a hard time visuallizing how to put that all into writing for others to understand outside of my group.  If you have a file you would like to share, I would be very appreciative (or even just copy and paste it into your email response).  Again, I'm just looking for how to write it out, not really looking for the different ways to format them.



Thanks in advance!

Jan Ette Oakley

Patti Hommes, bCRE-PRO

I am right there with you Jan Ette! I inherited 2 RE databases that were merged when 2 schools merged, and the add/sals are all over the place. I am desperatly working to standardize them and put policies and procedures in place.

Carolyn Moatz

We outline the situation (married, different last name, wife is a doctor) then list a sample, so something like:



Different last names: Mr. John Doe and Mrs. Jane Smith

Different last names, wife is a doctor: Dr. Jane Smith and Mr. John Doe

Same last name, husband is a doctor: Dr. and Mrs. John Doe

Gina Gerhard

To give staff some guidance on which add/sal format to choose, I actually built in an 'aid' right into my table that gives them some guidance as to which values to pick for which addr/sal types.

• Staff really like this as it's more clear to them what formats they need to pick for which addr/sal types.
• They really don't have to refer to any written charts for guidance, since it's right in front of them in the dropdown table.

Here are our addr/sal types:

• Primary Addressee
• Primary Salutation
• First Name (this is actually a salutation we create - we decide if we're going to use the First Name or Nickname field and the decision goes into this sal)
• First Names (joint informal)
• Full Name (generic version of name because we don't always like the system Name field
• Joint Addressee
• Joint Salutation
• Annual Report Name
• Donor Report Name

When staff set these up, here's how the table is set up for them to choose from:

• the headings give them some guidance as to what formats to pick
• even though many of the formats look the same we want to tell them to pick from the appropriate section to make it easier for them

 (the four most common are at the very top with no heading - they'd pick these for the Primary Addr/Sal and most common full first name)

Mr. Harold J. Dummy

Mr. Harold James Dummy

Mr. Dummy

Harold

--JOINT (Bio 1 =Male) (pick from this section for joint versions when male is Bio 1 - that way our formulas work correctly)

Mr. and Mrs. Harold J. Dummy

Mr. and Mrs. Dummy

Mr. Harold J. and Ms. Arlene Dummy

Mr. Harold J. Dummy and Ms. Arlene Smith

Mr. Dummy and Ms. Smith

--JOINT (Bio 1 = Female)

(same formats as above) (pick from this section for joint versions when female is Bio 1 - that way our formulas work correctly)

--PROFESSIONAL-- (if they want a professional version of the name, they pick from this section; pulls the Suffix 2 field)

Harold J. Dummy, MD

Harold James Dummy, MD

Drs. Harold J and Arlene Dummy

Drs. Arlene and Harold J. Dummy

Drs. Dummy

-- FULL NAME -- (pick from this section for the Full Name sal)

Harold J. Dummy

Harold James Dummy

Harold J. Dummy (deceased)

Harold James Dummy (deceased)

-- FIRST/NICKNAMES --  (pick from this section for any First Name formats)

Harry

Arlie

Harold and Arlene

Harold and Arlie

Harry and Arlene

Harry and Arlie

Arlene and Harold

Arlene and Harry

Arlie and Harold

Arlie and Harry

--ANNUAL REPORT-- (pick from this section for Annual Report sal)

Harold J. Dummy

Harold James Dummy

Harold & Arlene Dummy

Arlene & Harold Dummy

Harold Dummy &Arlene Smith

Arlene Smith & Harold Dummy

--DONOR REPORT-- (pick from this section for Donor Report sal)

Harold Dummy

Arlene Smith

Harold and Arlene Dummy

Arlene and Harold Dummy

Harold Dummy and Arlene Smith

Arlene Smith and Harold Dummy

--GENERIC--

Sir or Madam

Harold Dummy 123456

--ANONYMOUS--

Anonymous

Anonymous Donor





Also enclosing our procedure for adding addressee and salutations.

It might make the info above a little easier to understand.







 

Karen Stuhlfeier

I have default sets set up to use when entering a new constituent. There are 3 different sets. One for individuals, one of married couples with the same last name and one for married couples with different last names. Instead of entering the different addressee's and salutations one by one you just have to pick the right default set and it populates all of them at once.  

JoAnn Strommen

I have the same as Karen - default sets for the same scenarios and one for female HOH.  Love their all auto-populated and then I can just give them a quick check just in case.

Jan Ette Oakley

Thanks so much, Gina!  I'm diving into it all now.



Also, what are these "default sets" people are talking about?  I think I need to learn about those also. Sounds like a game changer on saving time with the different add/sals we have to add to each constituent.

Gina Gerhard:

To give staff some guidance on which add/sal format to choose, I actually built in an 'aid' right into my table that gives them some guidance as to which values to pick for which addr/sal types.

• Staff really like this as it's more clear to them what formats they need to pick for which addr/sal types.
• They really don't have to refer to any written charts for guidance, since it's right in front of them in the dropdown table.

Here are our addr/sal types:

• Primary Addressee
• Primary Salutation
• First Name (this is actually a salutation we create - we decide if we're going to use the First Name or Nickname field and the decision goes into this sal)
• First Names (joint informal)
• Full Name (generic version of name because we don't always like the system Name field
• Joint Addressee
• Joint Salutation
• Annual Report Name
• Donor Report Name

When staff set these up, here's how the table is set up for them to choose from:

• the headings give them some guidance as to what formats to pick
• even though many of the formats look the same we want to tell them to pick from the appropriate section to make it easier for them

 (the four most common are at the very top with no heading - they'd pick these for the Primary Addr/Sal and most common full first name)

Mr. Harold J. Dummy

Mr. Harold James Dummy

Mr. Dummy

Harold

--JOINT (Bio 1 =Male) (pick from this section for joint versions when male is Bio 1 - that way our formulas work correctly)

Mr. and Mrs. Harold J. Dummy

Mr. and Mrs. Dummy

Mr. Harold J. and Ms. Arlene Dummy

Mr. Harold J. Dummy and Ms. Arlene Smith

Mr. Dummy and Ms. Smith

--JOINT (Bio 1 = Female)

(same formats as above) (pick from this section for joint versions when female is Bio 1 - that way our formulas work correctly)

--PROFESSIONAL-- (if they want a professional version of the name, they pick from this section; pulls the Suffix 2 field)

Harold J. Dummy, MD

Harold James Dummy, MD

Drs. Harold J and Arlene Dummy

Drs. Arlene and Harold J. Dummy

Drs. Dummy

-- FULL NAME -- (pick from this section for the Full Name sal)

Harold J. Dummy

Harold James Dummy

Harold J. Dummy (deceased)

Harold James Dummy (deceased)

-- FIRST/NICKNAMES --  (pick from this section for any First Name formats)

Harry

Arlie

Harold and Arlene

Harold and Arlie

Harry and Arlene

Harry and Arlie

Arlene and Harold

Arlene and Harry

Arlie and Harold

Arlie and Harry

--ANNUAL REPORT-- (pick from this section for Annual Report sal)

Harold J. Dummy

Harold James Dummy

Harold & Arlene Dummy

Arlene & Harold Dummy

Harold Dummy &Arlene Smith

Arlene Smith & Harold Dummy

--DONOR REPORT-- (pick from this section for Donor Report sal)

Harold Dummy

Arlene Smith

Harold and Arlene Dummy

Arlene and Harold Dummy

Harold Dummy and Arlene Smith

Arlene Smith and Harold Dummy

--GENERIC--

Sir or Madam

Harold Dummy 123456

--ANONYMOUS--

Anonymous

Anonymous Donor





Also enclosing our procedure for adding addressee and salutations.

It might make the info above a little easier to understand.







 

 

 

Karen Stuhlfeier

Look at Knowledgebase Solution ID: BB44749 on blackbaud.com. It tells you how to create and use default sets.

Gina Gerhard

Enclosed is a powerpoint presentation I did recently on Default Sets - we love them dearly and use them all the time!

 

Patti Hommes, bCRE-PRO

This is great!! Thank you so much!

Christine Cooke 2

I have a whole structure I have constructed after having to clean up 5 databases Addressee/Salutation that were all over the map.

Please see the attached.



 

Jan Ette Oakley

Thank you so much, Christine, and everyone else for that matter.  Man, it's great to be back to the forums.  Everyone is so helpful!

Gail Nickerson 2

The following are the instructions I have created for the organization:



Addressee/Salutation Tab

For consistency, the “&” is prohibited.  A couple should always be addressed as “Mr. and Mrs.”

• Primary addressee (Mr. and Mrs. John A. Smith)
  • Drop down
• Line 1 – Couple (Mr. and Mrs. John Doe)
• Line 3 – Individual (Mr. John Doe)
• Line 5 – Spouse (Mrs. Joanne Doe)
• Line 12 – Married Couple with different last names (Mr. John Doe and Ms. Joanne Dane)
  • Primary salutation (Mr. and Mrs. Smith)
    • Drop down
      • Line 2 – Couple (Mr. and Mrs. John Doe)
      • Line 4 – Individual (Mr. Doe)
      • Line 6 – Spouse (Mrs. Doe)
      • Line 13 – Married Couple with different last names (Mr. Doe and Ms. Dane)
• If the gender is unknown, primary addressee would be full name and salutation would be first name.
  • Primary addressee (Chris Smith)
  • Primary salutation (Chris)
• If there are only initials for first name, primary addressee would be full name and salutation would be Friend