Best practices for long names

My thoughts:



1. I will put both given names in the first name IF the person refers to themselves as 'Jim Bob' or otherwise indicates they prefer to have both names used in some way. 

3. When in doubt, I fill out the consituent profile as correctly as I can, and will use the editable checkbox under addressee/salutation to overwrite them with a 'safe' option. When I do this, I also put a pop-up flag on the constituent asking for the name to be clarified. That way I, or whoever deals with them in person next, can try to get that info.



For getting this info, luckily we get many gifts as cheques. If we are really lucky, they will have included a personal note, then we are set. If not, I'll look at the cheque signature line which helps give me a bit more of a clue.

Laurel Quaintance:

Well,

We are in Fundraising - this is a great opportunity to get your Fundraisers involved. ASK. If this is a New donor have your annual giving person call and thank them for their gift and ask or email and ask. We all seem so afraid to create touch points with our donors. Let's use these opportunities to further our mission even if it creates a bit of a time crunch. I say always leave the Last Name field alone for the sort reasons you mentioned.

This is a great discussion! I completely agree that the Fundraisers/Development Staff are a great source for clarifying how donors want to be addressed.



On the database, I think the best you can do is review your needs and set up your addresee/salutation table to reflect your most commonly required formats. I have a format that allows the first and middle name to be used without the last name, because we have many donors who go by names such as Mary Kay, Mary Catherine, Joan Marie. I have a format that allows the Nickname to be used in place of the first name, because Michael Raymond Smith wants to be addressed as Ray Smith. I train my users to add the constituent with every name in the most appropriate field (because, AddresFinder and obituaries do not recognize Michael R. Smith as Ray Smith) and then to select the format that best fits how the donor wants to be addressed.



I use the editable checkbox as little as possible. I feel that if my RE users are making everything editable, then my set up is not meeting their needs. But, for another organization, that editable checkbox is very welcome.



Best wishes on finding your organization's best set up for addressees/salutations!

Great discussion!



I use Default Sets, and the Editable checkbox when necessary.  I know I'm probably the only one, but I don't use the Primary Addressee/Salutation fields at all, so my Primary Salutation field indicates if the Additional Salutations (there are 13 of them) are a Default Set, have been adjusted from a Default Set, or have an Editable box checked.  When something changes, like adding a spouse, I always check the Addr/Sal Tab, and use this indicator to know if I can just wipe out what's there and load a fresh Default Set, or if I need to carefully look at what's there and how it is affected by what data I need to edit on the record.  (I'm currently the sole data entry person at my organization, so no training required...that's about the only plus to being the sole data entry person.)



(When I pull lists, I Export the data to MS Access, where I have a Front End database that includes code written to match the appropriate Additional Salutations with the Address Type that was pulled.  Hence, no use for the Primaries.)



Also, I changed the label (in Config > Fields) for "Maiden Name" to "Other Name(s)" and I put a variety of name-related information there.  Usually duplicated in the Alias window (but handy to have visible on Bio1).  For someone with J. Robert who goes by Rob, the Firstname is J. Robert and the Nickname is Rob, and my Salutation Default Sets accommodate both.  I also put the whole string of names for a couple of constituents who have been married several times (one is at about 6, I think) and any given names that they don't ever use (like John Robert who prefers J. Robert and Rob...and never uses John at all).  Now that I think about it, I kind of wish the Alias window would appear like the Phones grid on Bio1.



For the original question, an un-hyphenated two name Lastname (Jane Smith Jones), I typically put both names (separately) as Aliases so either is always searchable (no matter what another well-meaning User might do to "fix" things on Bio1).  Then I put the first surname as the Middlename and the second as the Lastname (Firstname: Jane, Middlename: Smith, Lastname: Jones) and adjust the Salutations.



You can (I just tested it in my database) use the \\ in the Lastname field, so you can do Firstname: Jane, Lastname: Smith\\Jones.  RE will pull that as "Smith Jones" for Exports, Letters, etc. but will alphabetize as J instead of S, just like with Org names.  But if you Export to Excel and sort there, Excel will put it under S.