When Nothing Can Be Helpful

When I was in college, many years ago, I was taking a computer science programing course for fun (we've established before that I'm a big nerd, yes?). On one of our tests the professor asked if " ;" was a complete line of code. Now in the language I was taking, this was considered a null or blank line. I answered yes, it was a null statement. I was the only one in the whole class who got the answer right. The entire rest of the class answered no, forgetting that a blank value is just as valid as a non-blank value when it comes to coding.

The same blank value is also important when we consider how we use engagement factors in Luminate Online. If a constituent has never met the criteria for the engagement factor, their score for that engagement factor will be blank.

For example, let's say you set up an engagement factor that adds a weight of one each time a constituent has clicked on a link in an email in the past 90 days. If you have a constituent who has never clicked on a link in any of your emails, then the engagement factor for that constituent would be blank. However, if you had a constituent who had clicked on a link in one of your emails 95 days ago, but not since, the engagement factor would be 0. Therefore, when creating a query to find all constituents who have not clicked on a link in any of your emails in the last 90 days, it you must include those who have an engagement factor score of 0 and those who have a blank or null engagement factor score.

To learn more about how to use engagement factors, with a focus on finding and reaching out to disengaged constituents, register today for Luminate Online Best Practices: Cultivating an Engaged Email List, the newest offering from Blackbaud University.

This course is included with your Blackbaud University Learn More and Learn Everything training subscriptions. Not a subscriber? Chat with us now!