Import Fields for Phones/Emails

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Hi, everyone. I've been doing some research on how to globally flag specific constituent email addresses in Raiser's Edge with a "Do Not Call" flag, which looks like is intentionally impossible. So instead, I'm thinking about using Import to change the "phone type" on them to a custom table entry like "Do Not Email." I'd also like to mark them as Inactive, but looking through the Blackbaud User Guide on Import fields, I don't see "Inactive" offered at all. I'm wondering if the posted User Guide has not been updated to include the new phone and email functionality implemented in RE 7.96?

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Does anyone have some guidance on how to configure an Import file to change email Phone Types and add the Inactive flag?

Comments

  • Hi Rob-


    I would approach this by first exporting all email addresses with Constituent Ids and Phone (Email) Import Ids since you'll need those fields for the import. Then use VLOOKUP to find the email addresses you are interested in . Add your PhoneType (and Comments if you so desire) into the import file and use a Constituent Phone Import.


    This is precisely how I update our Unsubscribes. Whether we are using Emma or Constant Contact, I provide our marketing person with email addresses along with Constituent Ids and Email Import Ids and I ask her to map and include those fields when she uploads the list to Constant Contact. When I export the unsubscribes from Emma or Constant Contact, I already have all the Ids I need embedded in the Opt Out file (and the Hard Bounce file). I simply need to change the Phone Type and add a Phone Comment.


    Personally, I do not to mark the email addresses as Inactive since they are still active/valid addresses, but as you've pointed out, you can't check the DNC field with an Import. Instead, I've created a new email type of Unsubscribed from Mass Emails and when I export my email list to send out an appeal, I'll export Phone Type = Email and I won't see those Unsubscribed from Mass Email addresses.


    If you are an NXT shop, the other thing to consider is that checking the Inactive checkbox will remove that email address from the view of gift officers in NXT. We find it more helpful for the gift officers to be able to see the address and know it's still active and that the gift officer can send email to that address. The constituent simply does not want to be included in our mass mailings.

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  • Thanks, Aaron. This is all really helpful. The documentation for this on Blackbaud's support sites is really inconsistent and a lot of it seems needlessly convoluted, so I was beginning to depair any of it was really possible. But this seems totally manageable. And great point about the use of the Inactive flag, as well.

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