Parent & Child Living at Same Address - Mailing Issue

Michelle Obi
Michelle Obi
Fifth Anniversary
in Organizational Best Practices General Discussions
Hi Everyone - this is my first post, so I hope I am doing this right! (I've looked around, but can't seem to find what I am looking for, so if this has been addressed before, apologies!) 


My organization serves mainly older adults and caregivers in our community, so we focus a lot of sending out mail publications (snail mail). Often times, our constituents live with their adult children/families who are also constituents. Right now, we are planning on sending out our Spring Publication, but I have found that we have multiple copies being sent to the same address; however, not because they are spouses, but because they are parent and child. What would be the best practice for this situation in terms of addressing them/sending it? We are trying to cut down on any "unnecessary" paper printing and sending, but we also don't want to just NOT send it without addressing certain constituents (not sure if they will be offended?). Or is it one of those situations where unless the constituent contacts us to let us know, we should keep as is? It's not A LOT of records, but we want to try to be as green as we can in that aspect since our email solicitations aren't as strong yet. Any help or advice for best practice would be great! Thank you! Stay Safe! 

Comments

  • JoAnn Strommen
    JoAnn Strommen Community All-Star
    Tenth Anniversary Kudos 5 January 2026 Monthly Challenge 2025 bbcon Attendee Badge
    I'd try to reach out and see if they want one copy or multiple. Generational thing that they may want their own. My mom loves her mail.  


    I know one org then used a solicit code to remove family members/duplicates at same address. Was in a forum post you may find by searching. It does require some upkeep when one party moves or is deceased to be sure code to exclude from mail is removed from remaining record.
  • Mandy Elkins
    Mandy Elkins
    Sixth Anniversary Facilitator 1





  • Tina Kelleher
    Tina Kelleher
    Eighth Anniversary Participant Facilitator 1
    Hi, Michelle. At an all-girls high school, I struggle with this same issue having multiple siblings and mothers who are alumnae and living in the same house. It took some work up front, but eventually, I made a Solicitation code called "Household Mailing" and under Additional Addressee tab Type-Household Addressee "The Smith Family" Household Salutation "Smith Family."


    I compiled from a final mailing list I had formatted in Excel, removing duplicate addresses. I imported a mailing action for these records, so I could query them to finally conduct global updates to add Solicitation code and Addressee info.   


    These codes become standard data entry if adding a new constituent, as we want them to receive the "Household Mailing" (even if they are an individual.) Note, the remainder of records, which are single-member households, will pull for these mailings based on the solicitation code "Household Mailing," however I use their primary addressee, "Mrs. Jane Smith," and salutation "Mrs. Smith."


    I am selective about the type of mailing. (i.e., an invitation to a special event still goes to each person in the household, but an Annual Report or school magazine, only send one to the family.)
  • Diana Turner
    Diana Turner
    Ninth Anniversary Kudos 1 Participant Facilitator 1
    Hi Michelle, 

    Generally speaking we only want 1 copy to go to each household. I mark children under the age of 19 with a constituent code of dependent and removed them from the mailing list. All children who are above the age of 19, I mark the address as Parent's address and use that as an elimination tool, when necessary.

    In most cases, it prevents me having to delete multiple addresses on my Excel list. Which is sent to a mail house.
    Tina Kelleher‍, what a great idea on the Additional Addressee/Salutations tab. 

    I have Additional Addressee/Salutations but had not thought of doing household mailing this way. Thank you! 


     
  • Elizabeth Johnson
    Elizabeth Johnson Community All-Star
    Tenth Anniversary Kudos 5 First Reply All-Star Challenge: End of Year Fundraising Toolkit
    Hi Michelle Obi‍! Way to go on asking your first question. I think asking questions is my weakest area of using the community. I'm glad you asked the question as I feel like you got some fresh answers on a long time dilemma.  There have been a few threads on this question in the past. Below are some links, should you want to read those responses too.


    The first one has my approach that I've been looking to overhaul. It does the job, is highly personalized as most of our families have many combinations of last names. I've been tinkering with the idea like Tina Kelleher‍ recommended.  I thought when we were first talking of working remotely for a while I would have all kinds of time to dive into projects. Boy was I wrong.


    I hope you find this helpful and that this finds you healthy and well.


    Best,

    Elizabeth

    https://community.blackbaud.com/forums/viewtopic/158/15350?post_id=48362#p48362

    https://community.blackbaud.com/forums/viewtopic/147/33625?post_id=125750#p125750

    https://community.blackbaud.com/forums/viewtopic/147/13898?post_id=45962#p45962

    https://community.blackbaud.com/forums/viewtopic/158/42098?post_id=161322#p161322

    https://community.blackbaud.com/forums/viewtopic/147/14400?post_id=46819#p46819

    https://community.blackbaud.com/forums/viewtopic/147/33625?post_id=125095#p125095

    https://community.blackbaud.com/forums/viewtopic/158/15350?post_id=48292#p48292


     
  • Jennifer Menon
    Jennifer Menon
    Seventh Anniversary Facilitator 1
    I work at a school and have this problem as well. When we create our mailing list we do a conditional formatting on the list in excel looking for duplicate addresseses, which I then sort by. Then I just change one of the names to The Smith Family and delete the remaining duplicate addresses. When I import the action into RE I keep all of the constituent ids in that import file. This means if there are parents and say two children at the same address they will get one magazine or report but they are each documented in RE as getting the mailing. This is the best solution that I have been able to come up with so far. 

Categories