[lmischel]

When a constituent record is marked as "has no valid addresses", is there a way to make sure that the person viewing the constituent's record online notices that the address is not valid? In the past, the data entry person has been erasing the address rather than marking it as not valid with the indicator. We lose the address history that way. Any thoughts would be appreciated as we do not have a documented policy or procedure for this and I want to develop one. Thank you!

[Melissa Siobhan]

I use a custom constituent business rule which pops up and says:

"This record is marked has no valid address. If you know the current address for this constituent please report it to the Development Associate for data entry."

The query is simple - just has no valid address = yes.

[sagespot]

I love Melissa's idea for the business rule. I'm seriously considering adding that to our database this week.

Our current policy is when the address is first "lost" we "copy preferred to alternate address" and then change the preferred to a type of "none." Then we delete all lines from the address screen and mark the "has no valid address." That way when the gift officer looks at the record, they see blank lines for the address and know right away that we're missing some information.

[Nina Williams]

We use a similar system. We copy the "Bad address to previous and write LOST in the address1 box. Delete city,state and zip. Check the No Valid Address" box which does have a business rule so the pop up is there upon opening. Now here is the triple make sure, we have a mail attribute of No Mail - Lost. When a record is marked this way the data entry person (me) enters a Note on the record as to why.-- i.e. mail returned from USPS, unable to find new address on internet. We haven't sent out to have a NCOA since I have been here so I don't know how this sytem will effect that. I guess I am hoping that NCOA will look at the previous address (s). Howeverm, if the record is an Alumni we keep looking for a new address, ask via email and relationships in the hopes that we will find the person.

[SandyWilder]

You will find this rule (and several others) available from Tools on the menu bar, under Install Samples. You may want to go one step further and add a Solicit Code to that affect, although it's a little redundant since the No Valid field is available in all mail, etc.