Merging & Eliminating Duplicate Contacts (Version 1.0)

Your organization’s ability to get the most out of its data depends on the “quality” of its data.  One important aspect of data quality is ensuring that there are no duplicate records for the same Contact.  When Contact records are imported from other database systems, or when new Contact records are added, duplicates of the same Contact data can sometimes be created inadvertently. 

This tutorial will guide you through the process of searching for, merging, and eliminating duplicate Contacts in Fundly CRM. Fundly CRM has made it especially easy to do this through its advanced search and merge functions.  The advanced search function enables you to search by a Contact’s nickname (using common U.S. nicknames); by entering just the first three letters of the first or last name (along with the Contact’s exact other name); and, by automatically looking for common names that may have letters accidentally transposed (like Gvain for Gavin).  The advanced data merge function allows you to select which data from which duplicate Contact records you’d like to merge into the Contact’s final data record, and it automatically keeps all recorded activity associated with the Contact’s donations, volunteer activities, events, membership status, and so forth.   Here’s how it works…

Search for Duplicate Contacts

To Search Duplicate Contacts in Fundly CRM you can select from one or all of your Contacts in the Contact Management screen.

1. Hover over Contacts in the Navigation Bar and click on either Individual or Organization, depending on the type of Contact you're trying to find a duplicate entry for. The Contact Management screen will appear.
   
   
2. Select the checkbox next to the Contact(s) you wish to search for in the Contacts listing.  If you want to look for all Duplicates in your entire database, check the box to the left of the Take Action header to select all Contacts (you’ll notice that all of the checkboxes will become checked in this case).
   
   
3. Once you have selected the desired Contacts, select Search Duplicates in the TAKE ACTIONS drop-down menu.
   
   
4. Click the Arrow(to the right of TAKE ACTIONS).  A pop-up screen labeled Duplicate Search will appear.
   
   
5. Select either Exact Match or Fuzzy Match (see below) and click Confirm.
   
   Select Exact Match if you want to search the exact spelling, including upper/lower case.  For example: If you selected john smith (lower case “j” and “s”) and you chose Exact Match it will only find Contacts entered into the system as john smith. In this example, if there is another Contact in Fundly CRM entered as John Smith (with uppercase “J” and “S”) it will not appear in your search results.
   
   Fuzzy Match enables you to:  a) search using common U.S. nicknames; b) search using the first three letters of the first name and exact last name OR the first three letters of the last name and exact first name; or, c) search for instances where letters may have been accidentally transposed or partially misspelled, such as Gvain for Gavin.
   
   A new screen will appear which is divided into two panels, Possible Duplicates (left side) and Duplicate Search (right side). In the Possible Duplicates panel all of the possible duplicates from your search will appear.
   
   
6. Check the box next to each contact name in the Possible Duplicates panel that you would like to merge into a single contact record. These names will now appear in separate columns in the Duplicate Search Results panel on the right of the screen, along with basic data associated with each Contact and selection buttons for each type of data (including Name, Address, Phone, Mobile, Email, Birth Date, Gender, Non-Profit Primary Contact and Contact Source).
   
   
7. Select one Name, Phone Number, Mobile Number, Email address, Birth Date, Gender, Non-Profit Primary Contact and Contact Source that you’d like to keep from among each of the columns.  All of the non-selected data will not be merged into the final Contact record.
   
   You may select and merge as many different addresses as you’d like from the columns, and they’ll all be added to the Contact record.
   
   
8. After you have selected the information you would like to merge, click Merge.

NOTE:  All Contact Type icons, Volunteer Details, Giving Details, Program Recipient Details, Membership Details, Pledge/Grant Details, Communication History, Matching Donation Details, Event History and Program/Campaign Interests will automatically be merged. 

Merge Duplicate Contacts

If you don’t need to conduct a search for duplicates and wish to simply merge known duplicates, you can use the Merge Duplicate Contacts function, as follows:

1. Hover over Contacts in the Navigation Bar and click on either Individual or Organization, depending upon the type of Contact you're trying to find a duplicate entry for. The Contact Management screen will now appear.
2. Select the checkbox next to the specific Contact(s) you wish to merge in the Contacts listing.
   
   
3. Once you have selected the desired Contacts, select Merge Duplicates in the TAKE ACTIONS drop-down menu.
   
   
4. Click Go (to the right of TAKE ACTIONS). A new screen will appear which is divided into two panels. On the left is Possible Duplicates and on the right is Duplicate Search Results. All of the Contacts you have selected and wish to merge will show up in a listing in the Possible Duplicates panel (left). All of the information for the selected Contacts will be available in Duplicate Search Results panel (on the right).
   
   
5. Check the box next to each contact name in the Possible Duplicates panel that you would like to merge into a single contact record. These names will now appear in separate columns in the Duplicate Search Results panel on the right of the screen, along with basic data associated with each Contact and selection buttons for each type of data (including Name, Address, Phone, Mobile, Email, Birth Date, Gender, Non-Profit Primary Contact and Contact Source).
   
   
6. Select  one Name, Phone Number, Mobile Number, Email address, Birth Date, Gender, Non-Profit Primary Contact and Contact Source that you’d like to keep from among each of the columns.  All of the non-selected data will not be merged into the final Contact record.
   
   You may select and merge as many different addresses as you’d like from the columns, and they’ll all be added to the Contact record.
   
   
7. After you have selected the information you would like to merge, click Merge.

NOTE:  All Contact Type icons, Volunteer Details, Giving Details, Program Recipient Details, Membership Details, Pledge/Grant Details, Communication History, Matching Donation Details, Event History and Program/Campaign Interests will automatically be merged.