Duplicate records

Hi Colleagues!  


I am new to eTap and have a question.  My organization recently sent an email to alumni with a DIY Update your Information form.   When the form was sent back it created a duplicate record.  Is this supposed to happen.  Do we need to manually merge the existing record and the updated information?  It seems a bit cumbersome.  Thank you for your insight!!!!


Nancy

Comments

  • Tara Dustrude
    Tara Dustrude Blackbaud Employee
    Ninth Anniversary Kudos 2 Name Dropper Participant
    Hello Nancy,


    That's a great question! eTapestry does check for duplicates and will automatically merge them but it has to be able to recognize it as a duplicate. So, if someone is updating to a new email and a new address the system may not recognize it as the same person. There's information here about what fields are checked here: https://kb.blackbaud.com/articles/Article/107438. However, it should be noted that if it recognizes the duplicate it will keep the information you have already in eTapestry, it will not change the information on the account. It does add a note on the account with the information they entered so it could be updated by one of your users later.


    There is also a Standard Report that can help you check for duplicates and merge them. But, if it doesn't show up on that report then yes, they will need to be merged manually. Here are the steps to find and use that report: https://kb.blackbaud.com/articles/Article/104732.


    I hope that clears this up for you! It's certainly very important to keep your data up-to-date and clear of duplicate accounts. Let me know if you have any follow-up questions on this.


    Best,

    Tara
  • Hi Nancy!  We started an Alumni Program about a year ago and tried to figure out how to make this happen with eTap.  We ultimately sent them a googledoc form to collect their info.  From there we will do an import into eTap.  Would love to connect with you on your Alumni Program successes and I'm happy to share mine.  My email is sryan@classicalacademy.com.

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