Constituent Code Hierarchy

Kate Brasacchio 2 · May 2016

Good morning,

We are getting ready to clean up our constituency codes and move to a hierarchal system rather than a "randomly added" kind of system.

Our only sticking point is how to handle faculty and staff memebers who are also parents and which code trumps the other.

How are other schools handling this?

Thanks!

Kate

Amy Dana · May 2016

I ususally have Faculty/Staff trump Parent, because we have a tuition waiver for dependents and I figure they wouldn't be a parent without being on staff.

We make sure that Student/Grad Student or Alumnus(a)/Grad Alumnus(a) is the Primary Constituency and then Faculty/Staff and then Parent. Pretty much anything else is "even" - we don't specify Trustee over Parent or vice versa.

Is there a reason you want such a strict hirearchy? I've found it really only makes a difference with Primary vs all other Constituency Codes. But I also like consistency and would be totally down with a hirearchy because it's uniform.

Elizabeth Rich · May 2016

There are rules about this, especially for the VSE report. You can contact them at vse@cae.org and they will tell you what the hierarchy should be.

Carrie Kirtz · May 2016

Our constituency code hierarchy is: Trustee, Parent, Alumni, Grandparent, Employee, Student, Affiliate (former parents, employees, grandparents, etc.), Friends. We have plenty of constituents who are 2-3 of these. We use attributes to distinguish the types of each which makes reporting easier because you can specifically choose which groups you want to include and/or exclude on attribute tab of standard reports.

Jane Owsley · May 2016

Elizabeth Rich:
There are rules about this, especially for the VSE report. You can contact them at vse@cae.org and they will tell you what the hierarchy should be.

Thank you for suggesting this Elizabeth! Here is the feedback I received today from VSE:
The hierarchy is:

With individuals: alumni, parents, faculty/staff, students, all others (i.e.: friends)

Ann E. Kaplan
Director, VSE Survey and Data Miner

Susan Leslie · May 2016

We have primary codes and secondary codes. Primary should always show on the top line on the constituent Code list. We also Capitalize them to stand out.

Our primary hierachy goes: ALUMNI, PARENT, BOARD, FACULTY & STAFF, STUDENT, INDIVIDUAL, ESTATE AND BEQUESTS

Secondary codes: Alumni Board, Alumni Board Emeritus, Foundation Board, Foundation Board Emeritus, Parent, Employee-Current, Employee-Retired, Employee-Former

If a constitituent belongs to more than one group (which is not uncommon) then they get the a primary and then what ever secondaries are necessary. Then when you query for example Parents, you use both primary and secondary and capture them all. Everyone has one primary for Reporting (VSE) but then the secondary allows us to see all categories in one spot.

This was developed with help of a consultant and it follows the Case Mangement and reporting standards book that we use as a reference and rule book.

Christine Cooke 2 · May 2016

You as an insititution have to decide your hierarchy and stick with it. Just as an FYI, every school I have worked in (4) has had the Current Parents as either 1 or 2 in the hierarchy. #2 ususally ends of being the Board. And Current Faculty/Staff ends up being number 4 or 5 down the list after Alumni.

But you need to have a discussion with your Director and how they want info reported in regards to participation by Constit Code. Come to an agreement, document it and make it widely known throughout the department.

Christine Cooke 2 · May 2016

Christine Cooke:

You as an insititution have to decide your hierarchy and stick with it. Just as an FYI, every school I have worked in (4) has had the Current Parents as either 1 or 2 in the hierarchy. #2 ususally ends of being the Board. And Current Faculty/Staff ends up being number 4 or 5 down the list after Alumni.

But you need to have a discussion with your Director and how they want info reported in regards to participation by Constit Code. Come to an agreement, document it and make it widely known throughout the department.

Parent-Current
Trustee-Current
Trustee-Emeritus
Trustee-Former
Alumni
Faculty/Staff-Current
Parent of Alum
Parent-Summer School
Grandparent
“Friends” – Faculty/Staff-Former or Foundation or Family Fund/Family Trust or
Foundation
Family Fund/Family Trust
Business/Corporation or Other Organization or Schools or Vendors
Matching Gift Companies

Jane Kenny · May 2016

Susan Leslie:

We have primary codes and secondary codes. Primary should always show on the top line on the constituent Code list. We also Capitalize them to stand out.

Our primary hierachy goes: ALUMNI, PARENT, BOARD, FACULTY & STAFF, STUDENT, INDIVIDUAL, ESTATE AND BEQUESTS

Secondary codes: Alumni Board, Alumni Board Emeritus, Foundation Board, Foundation Board Emeritus, Parent, Employee-Current, Employee-Retired, Employee-Former

If a constitituent belongs to more than one group (which is not uncommon) then they get the a primary and then what ever secondaries are necessary. Then when you query for example Parents, you use both primary and secondary and capture them all. Everyone has one primary for Reporting (VSE) but then the secondary allows us to see all categories in one spot.

This was developed with help of a consultant and it follows the Case Mangement and reporting standards book that we use as a reference and rule book.

may I ask how you update revisions to the constituent code and make the highest on your hierachy be on the top row? I have not been able to located a way to import when I update our alumni from student to alumni on constituency other than manually moving the alumni to appear on the top row. Any suggestions are appreciated.

thanks - Jane

Gina Gerhard · May 2016

You can also avoid some of this conflict by making the relationships for your organization's staff and boards NOT using constituency codes.

Instead for staff, you can create a relationship between the staff and your organization's main org record (or you can even create one specifically just to record staff) -- and then add the staff members as relationships.
Likewise for boards, you can create an organization record for the board, and then create relationships between the board record and the board members.

Susan Leslie · May 2016

Jane Kenny:

Susan Leslie:

We have primary codes and secondary codes. Primary should always show on the top line on the constituent Code list. We also Capitalize them to stand out.

Our primary hierachy goes: ALUMNI, PARENT, BOARD, FACULTY & STAFF, STUDENT, INDIVIDUAL, ESTATE AND BEQUESTS

Secondary codes: Alumni Board, Alumni Board Emeritus, Foundation Board, Foundation Board Emeritus, Parent, Employee-Current, Employee-Retired, Employee-Former

If a constitituent belongs to more than one group (which is not uncommon) then they get the a primary and then what ever secondaries are necessary. Then when you query for example Parents, you use both primary and secondary and capture them all. Everyone has one primary for Reporting (VSE) but then the secondary allows us to see all categories in one spot.

This was developed with help of a consultant and it follows the Case Mangement and reporting standards book that we use as a reference and rule book.

may I ask how you update revisions to the constituent code and make the highest on your hierachy be on the top row? I have not been able to located a way to import when I update our alumni from student to alumni on constituency other than manually moving the alumni to appear on the top row. Any suggestions are appreciated.

thanks - Jane

I have not tried doing it by import or globally changing. I always manually do it as I update their record with the new alumni information. Sorry, I'm no help there!

Elizabeth Rich · May 2016

Glad to help!

JAN COOPER · May 2016

Elizabeth Rich:

Glad to help!

Can any one give me a hierarchy for hospitals?

Jill Freidmutter · May 2016

On a related note, if anyone has a hierarchy for hospice and is willing to share ...

One place I get stuck is, how would I differ/prioritize between:

-- Someone who is a long-time donor, their loved one goes on hospice service, and then they become a family member bereaved (their loved one dies).

-- Someone is a family member bereaved, loves our organization, and becomes a donor.

Which Constituent Code should be primary? The one that gave them their first touch to us?

A family member may get more involved with us, and become a committee member or board member. Which code takes precedence?

I've been using RE for 3+ years, and am now getting hooked on these forums. Thank you all so much for sharing your wisdom and experience.

Constituent Code Hierarchy

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