Auto-populate default info when adding new constituent?

Elisabeth Condon
Elisabeth Condon
Second Anniversary Name Dropper Facilitator 1 Blackbaud Pro Certified
in Blackbaud Raiser's Edge NXT®: General Discussions

Hello!

I'm trying to figure out if there is a way to auto-populate default values when adding new constituents. For example, when we add a new constituent record, I want it to auto-populate with someone's first name in the nickname field, then we can override the nickname field later. The goal here is to make it easier for our addr/sals table to just use nickname in the place of first name for all constituents.

Thanks!

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Comments

  • JoAnn Strommen
    JoAnn Strommen Community All-Star
    Tenth Anniversary Kudos 5 March 2026 Challenge: Answered Questions January 2026 Monthly Challenge

    @Elisabeth Condon I'm going thru similar work of getting nickname on relationships so add/sal formats work correctly (wish that was better programmed).
    My experience, nickname is a required field for records. Not possible to make required for relationships. Using F3 will auto fill nickname from first name when you are on the field and doing clean up.

    And yes you can set defaults (Tools > Organize/Create Defaults) which you can use for any new records. You have to select to use default so if that's only thing in the default it's just as easy to hit F3. Maybe there's a way to auto run default but I know if it runs twice on the same record it will add duplicate data if more than 1 entry is allowed.

  • JoAnn Strommen
    JoAnn Strommen Community All-Star
    Tenth Anniversary Kudos 5 March 2026 Challenge: Answered Questions January 2026 Monthly Challenge

    @Elisabeth Condon

    KB article on how to create defaults


  • Elisabeth Condon
    Elisabeth Condon
    Second Anniversary Name Dropper Facilitator 1 Blackbaud Pro Certified

    @JoAnn Strommen The addr/sals stuff is a mess and works so poorly. I wish it was easier to make a global change. We used to have a ton (40+) of different addressee/salutation options and I'm consolidating it down to 4. I just wish it was easier to eliminate the ones we're never using again. (And if anyone has tips on how to do that, please let me know! Trying to remove the old addr/sals from thousands of constituent records and I can't just delete them.)

    We use the F3 method currently, so we'll keep down that path, though defaults might be helpful for other things. Thank ya!

  • Austen Brown
    Austen Brown Community All-Star
    Tenth Anniversary Kudos 5 PowerUp Challenge: Product Update Briefing Feedback Task 3 bbcon 2025 Attendee Badge

    @Elisabeth Condon - If you're wanting defaults for constituents added via Web View, that's not currently possible. The defaults JoAnn shared are, unfortunately, only available in Database View.

    Alternatively, you can set up a flow through Power Automate that looks for new constituents added and checks automatically that the nickname/preferred name is <not blank>, and if it is the flow can update that field for you with the constituent's first name. Here's more info on this option:


  • Elisabeth Condon
    Elisabeth Condon
    Second Anniversary Name Dropper Facilitator 1 Blackbaud Pro Certified

    @Austen Brown Thank you so much for this, that will help greatly with our business case for trying to get Power Automate set up. I work in both DB and Webview, so all good there, and all of our constituents get added in DB.

  • Beverly Porzelt
    Beverly Porzelt
    Tenth Anniversary Kudos 2 Name Dropper Participant

    @Austen Brown Do you know when they plan to have a similar set up for loading defaults in webview? We use it for every new member, and populate a number of attributes/custom fields for them in addition to addressee fields, and constituent codes. Membership is key for us. Thank you!

    This is yet another reason we wait to use webview for actual processing.

  • Austen Brown
    Austen Brown Community All-Star
    Tenth Anniversary Kudos 5 PowerUp Challenge: Product Update Briefing Feedback Task 3 bbcon 2025 Attendee Badge

    @Beverly Porzelt - I haven't heard of any mention to bring defaults to Web View. However, you can build your own through Power Automate; a flow can be initiated via an add-in button in web view or run automatically overnight to check new constituent records against your standard.

  • Beverly Porzelt
    Beverly Porzelt
    Tenth Anniversary Kudos 2 Name Dropper Participant

    @Austen Brown
    Thank you. Does Power Automate cost extra (my assumption)? We don't want to add to our costs.

  • Austen Brown
    Austen Brown Community All-Star
    Tenth Anniversary Kudos 5 PowerUp Challenge: Product Update Briefing Feedback Task 3 bbcon 2025 Attendee Badge

    @Beverly Porzelt - If your org has Microsoft Office 365 you already have access to Power Automate. There is no cost to use the RE NXT connectors, but you do need an elevated Power Automate user license to access premium connectors; that cost can be as little as $4 per month per user.

    It is a platform that will take time to learn, but there are lots of resources that can help including a free on-demand course, user groups, and a BB community forum. If you don't have the time to learn Power Automate, you can work with Blackbaud Partners who can create flows for you (e.g. AutomateGenius).

  • Alex Wong
    Alex Wong Community All-Star
    Tenth Anniversary Kudos 5 Facilitator 4 bbcon 2025 Attendee Badge

    @Beverly Porzelt
    Just so it is clear, as there are others who asked this before, it is $X per user as in the creator of the flow. So if you org has 1 person delicated to creating flow in power automate, that's only 1 license needed for that 1 user

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