Merging accounts

Hello Shelly,

You can use the create a list option to pull up a list of contacts.  Then click “duplicates” to search for possible dupes. You’ll select the fields you want to include for comparison (eg First Name, Last Name, Email). Then, it will then bring you to an interface where it puts possible dupes side by side for comparison. It will give you the option to select certain fields you want to keep for the merged record, but I believe whatever the most recent address and email is between the two profiles, will be used as the preferred. 

Depending on how big your list is, it can be a lengthy process so I’d recommend segmenting your list.  For example, we do this monthly for all the donations that came in the previous month. 

There are so many fields to search for dupes, but please try any and all you think are good. I find the most effective are:

First Name, Last Name, Email

First Name, Last Name, Phone number

First Name, Last Name, [All address fields]

First Name, Email (in case someone marries)

Last Name, Email (in case someone transitions)

ok, I understand about the different field combinations to find duplicates.

Here is my dilemma

• I have 2 records that are marked for duplicate
• I select the one that I want to keep
• How do I select what information is merged -- most of the time it’s addresses.

What happens for me, EA puts addresses found on record #1 and record #2 on the combined record, even though it may be the same.  I wish there was a screen that asked me what information from the two records I want to keep.  If there is a way, I don’t know how to perform this task.

Ah I see what you mean.  Unfortunately, I don’t know of a way to clean up addresses through the merge duplicates processes.  I wish there was because it would make for a much tidier donor profile 

I agree that this is an issue that I’ve requested a fix for quite a few times. Since email address is not used as a unique identifier in the system, duplicates happen quite often which is a real headache. For instance, if I sign an alert as John Smith and use the email johnsmith@gmail.com, an account is created. If sign again but misspell my name as Jon Smith and use the same email johnsmith@gmail.com, a new, separate account is created. If I do the same and change some other aspect of my name or address but use the same email, a third separate account is created. De-duping is a useful tool but is there a way to have EA check and return to user “email already exists” or something of the like?