Ideas for cleaning up "Family" entries

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Caitlin Gilmore
Caitlin Gilmore ✭
Ninth Anniversary Photogenic First Reply
in Blackbaud Raiser's Edge NXT®: General Discussion
I've inherited a database with very little consistency over a period of almost 10 years. I've come across probably 100+ constituent entries as "Smith Family" or "Doe Family", etc. These entries have been entered as Organizations, which I don't believe is correct. To clarify, these are not estate or trust entries. It seemed to be the case when more than one family member (that was not a spouse) was known to be involved/listed as a gift giver my predecessors would call them them "last name family" and make them an org. Sometimes the information on all the family members is listed in the notes but more often there's nothing there. 


I'd like to switch them to Individual but is it wise when all I'd be able to put into the Last Name field is "Smith Family"? 

I'm looking for any suggestions on cleaning this up, if possible. 


Thanks!
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  • Catherine Burns
    Catherine Burns ✭
    Tenth Anniversary Facilitator 2 Name Dropper Photogenic

     

    Thankfully we don't have anywhere near this number but we do have some like this. We have the all as individuals and use suffix for the family variations of which we have four options for NZ -  Family, and family, Whanau, and whanau.


    If we just have a surname then the Surname= Smith, Suffix=Family  >> Addressee = Smith Family, Salutation = Friends


    If we have a surname and one first name but know it is a family group. First name = John, Surname = Smith Suffix = and family >> Addressee = John Smith and family, Salutation = John and family.


    Sometimes we have multiple names so we have one person as the main consitituent and then squeeze the other names into the spouse fields e.g First name = John, Surname=Smith, Spouse Firstname = Sue & Sally & Tim, Spouse Surname = Smith >> Addressee = John & Sue & Sally & Tim Smith, Salutation = Friends.


    I never put "unknown" into any field for fear it might accidentially end up somewhere on donor mail. If it is a required field and I don't know the value a full stop works. We only have surname, not first name as required.

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