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Archive donors/contacts

Forum|Forum|5 months ago
March 19, 2026
7 replies
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It would be nice if NFG had an archive feature that could archive donors/contacts. Currently, we just remove addresses so they never show up in any mailings,. but if would be great to have some kind of an ‘inactive’ feature. How do others deal with this?

Best answer by Charles Case

Hi @Suzanne Hoban - I think that’s a good use case for a Custom Field. You could set up a contact custom field called “Inactive Contact” or “Do Not Mail” and have a single Yes answer. Then you can pull that into a Filter for future communications.

Here’s how the Custom Field could be set up in Settings:

Here’s an example of how the Filter may look:

Charles CaseAnswer

Community Manager

Hi @Suzanne Hoban - I think that’s a good use case for a Custom Field. You could set up a contact custom field called “Inactive Contact” or “Do Not Mail” and have a single Yes answer. Then you can pull that into a Filter for future communications.

Here’s how the Custom Field could be set up in Settings:

Here’s an example of how the Filter may look:

Charles Case (they/he)

Lori Yeager

First Timer

We added the custom field for Do not contact and filter out those with the do not contact = Y. We also remove the address and place it in a note on the record with why the contact was marked as do not contact.

Cheryl Noori

First Timer

Will they still be considered a contact and included in the number of contacts we are charged for at year end?

Charles Case

Community Manager

Hi @Cheryl Noori - you are correct. Any person with a Contact record counts toward your subscription tier.

If that raises a concern for you, I’m sure there are some Filters we could run to identify contacts in your software that would be worth deleting to free up space! I recommend checking out the Managing Your Data webinar: https://academy.bonterratech.com/managing-your-data-in-network-for-good or you can come to one of our upcoming weekly Office Hours sessions and we’ll walk you through it: https://community.bonterratech.com/events?tab=upcoming&type=Network%20for%20Good%20Office%20Hours%20

Charles Case (they/he)

Jenny Floria

First Timer

FYI if anyone has ever given to your org, I highly recommend NOT deleting their record altogether. Try putting together a donor recognition system recognizing “lifetime giving” when part of your giving records are missing. It is worth the extra money to pay the higher tier to retain as much information as possible about your donors.

Jenny Floria

First Timer

We added the custom field for Do not contact and filter out those with the do not contact = Y. We also remove the address and place it in a note on the record with why the contact was marked as do not contact.

Seems strange...all these nonprofits are creating a custom field of “do not mail,” wouldn’t it seem that it shouldn’t be custom and should be added to the software?

Charles Case

Community Manager

@Jenny Floria I think a “Suppressions” field in NFG makes so much sense. You’re welcome to drop this into the Ideas portal (found in the ? bubble in the bottom right of your software under Share your feedback… but I’ve also shared this feedback directly with our Product Manager!

Charles Case (they/he)

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