Best practice for coding records for email distribution lists

Thanks Jill - I suspected attributes would be the best option but just wanted to double check there wasnt something I was missing. Many thanks for your answer.


Jill Freidmutter:

 

Cat Battersby:
Hi there,

We utilise our alumnus constituent code as the means to build querys of recipients for email event invitations (which we send via BBNC).  We then segment the query further as needed. An example of this is a Civil Engineering alumni event where the query segments to alumni who have recieved a degree from the Department of Civil Engineering.

We would now like to diversify our email distribution list to include staff and individuals into the query. However, not all of our staff and individuals need to be invited only those with a connection to that particular Department. Staff could be tracked in relationships under the org record for the Department of Civil Engineering, however an individual (not staff or alum) wouldnt have this option.

What is the best practice to develop a distribution list for scenarios such as this - without manually entering individual ID's to the primary query...


Many thanks

If I understand your question, one way to achieve that is to add an attribute to the individual that describes the department they are associated with. Then you can query on Attribute. 

 

Thanks Karen - you raise a good point about the need to update the attribute when staff come and go. It is definitely something we need to think about - thank you fo ryour advice.


Karen Stuhlfeier:

 

I sometimes hesitate to enter attributes for these things because if their employment status changes will anyone remember to remove the attribute - especially if you have created many different attributes for these sorts of situations. There is probably not one good solution for this, but I might just build a query with these people that I could merge into my list queries and then remember to update them at the beginning of each school year.