Attributes/Affiliations User Defined Field

Daniel Zagorski

Hi! 


I recently joined a Department that has been using eTapestry for around two years, however, it was never implemented properly so the database is not very well organised. I am in charge of tidying it up and ensuring that it aids our work and not hinders it. 


When initially implementing eTapestry, someone had set up a user defined field (that is now required) called 'Attributes'. I have seen a version of this in a sample training database called Affiliations which had tick boxes for the following options: Volunteer, Member, Staff, Former Staff, Former Volunteer, Prospect, Donor, Former Member, Board Member, Major Gift.


From that it appears to me that the purpose is simply to identify the nature of the relationship of the individual/business to our organisation, HOWEVER, our UDF called Attributes becomes a lot more unclear.


The Attribute UDF lists the following tick boxes: 

Academic

Artist (Visual)

Arts Org/Individual

Benefactor

Board Member

Collection Donor

Commercial Art

Corporate Partner

Corporate Prospect

Corporate Sponsor

Cultural Institution (International)

Cultural Institution (ROI & NI)

Development

Donor

Donor Prospect

Ex-Board

Ex-Staff

Friend

Government

Lender

Marketing

Patron

Personal

Press (International)

Press (ROI & NI)

Public Figure

Staff

Supplier

Tourism

Trust/Foundations

Volunteer

Legacy Pledge

Legacy Gift

And having this in the system means that certain information is noted on accounts twice (for example, we have a separate UDF to note board members). In other instances, it seems that the information could be noted elsewhere on the account. 


So, my question was: does your organisation use a similar user defined field? And if so, what is the definitive purpose of it and what options do you have/would you suggest having as an answer?