In CC NonProfit, a "Contact" is any person or group connected with your organization. A contact could be a member of your organization, a volunteer, or an employee. It could be a person your organization provides services to.
- First click on "Contacts" on the Home screen menu. You will see two columns in the right-hand panel: Contacts and Contact Lists. The first column shows any contacts in a list on the right-hand side that you have already entered. To see the details of one of those contacts, click on the orange triangle next to that name. Or, to add a new contact, click on the Add button below the column.
- The second column, Contact Lists, shows any lists you have created. You can use these Contact Lists to send mailings to particular groups within your organization, or to quickly identify the group of contacts that have attended an event, for instance. To create a new Contact List click on the Add button below the column.
- There are two main sections on this screen: a narrow gray rectangle at the top, called the Status Bar, and a large white area for entering or looking at information. At the top right-hand corner of the main white section, notice there is a button for either Individual or Group. Make sure the button is clicked for the type of contact you want to add. CC NonProfit will always start by assuming you want to add an Individual contact.
- If you are adding an Individual contact, fill in the information about the name of the person. You can quickly move from box to box using the Tab key. The top row of boxes for the "Name" should be the person's formal name.
- The "Familiar Name" is the informal name the person prefers, such as Bob or Kari.
- The "Position" box is for the position that person holds in your organization, if any, such as volunteer, Chair of Building Committee, etc.
- For the "Envelope Name," enter the name of the person as it should appear on a mailing envelope. You can either type it in, or click on the orange button with the down arrow next to the Name to have that name automatically entered into the Envelope Name box. If you will be sending information to a household you may want to edit this Envelope Name to have more than one name, such as "Bob Smith and Judy Jones," or "Dr. and Mrs. Richard Killdare."
- If you have selected the Group button the screen will change to enter the Name and Envelope Name of the group. Again, you can use the orange box with the down arrow to automatically enter the Name into the Envelope Name box. Or, you can type in any name that's appropriate.
- You can also select a Primary Contact for a Group. Click on the Primary Contact text box to see a list of all of the Contacts in the system. Click on the Contact you want to be the Primary Contact for this group. If the person isn't already in the system, you can click on the "Add" button at the bottom of that window to add the name of a new Contact.
- You can also add the Familiar Name of the group's Primary Contact. This can then later be used in correspondence with that group.
- If your computer has access to a picture of the individual or group, you can add it to the upper right-hand corner. Click on the icon of the person. This will bring up an "Insert Picture" dialog box. Navigate to the location of the picture and choose Open to insert the picture into your file.
- Address
- Add an address by clicking on the Add button above the Address box. A window will pop up to enter the address. If it has blank boxes, fill them in and click OK.
- Note that as you enter an address, Google Maps will pinpoint the address on an inset map.
- If the window shows you a list of possible addresses, pick the right one or click the Add button in that window to enter a new address.
- You can list as many addresses for a person as needed. For whichever address is the primary address, click on the gray "address book" icon next to that address to turn it red.
- To revise an address you have already entered, click on the picture of the pencil next to that address. The box will pop up that you saw when you entered the address the first time and you can make any changes you want. To delete an address, click on the picture of the blue trash can next to that address and confirm in the dialog box that you want to delete it.
- Points of Contact
- In this section you list how to contact the person or group (other than by their street address).
- Click on the Add button above the Point of Contact section and fill in the information.
- When you click into the "Contact Method" box it will show you a list of ways to make contact, such as by chat, email, fax, mobile phone, phone, or URL (for a web site address). Pick the one that applies. In the "Value" box put the actual phone number or email address, etc. Enter any notes that you want to, such as "Work phone" or "Call after 7 pm." Click OK when you are done.
- As with addresses, you can enter as many Points of Contact as you wish. Click on the gray picture of the cell phone to mark the person's preferred way to be contacted. The cell phone picture will turn red on that line. You can also edit a line with the pencil icon or delete it by clicking on the blue trash can, just like with addresses.
- Relationships
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Relationships are the connections between the contacts in your system. For instance, you could show that two people are married by making a relationship between them. Or, you could make a relationship between a person and a group affiliated with your organization.
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To add a new relationship, click on the Add button above the Relationships box to open a Relationship window.
- Say you are starting with a Contact named "A." The first box in that window asks, "What contact is related to A?" Click in this box and you will see a list of all of the possible contacts in the system. You can quickly narrow your search by entering as many or few letters as you want in the Search box at the top of this list of Contacts. If you find the one you want click on it and then click OK.
- If the Contact you want isn't already in the system you can add the Contact by clicking on the Add button at the bottom of this window with the list of Contacts. You can then enter the name of the new contact and click OK. (For simplicity, let's call this contact "B.")
- Once you have chosen a contact to relate to "A" you will be back in your original Relationship window with "B" listed in the first box. The second box asks, "How is A related to B?" When you click in this box you will see a list of possibilities. Choose the best one. For instance, if you are starting from a contact, A, that is a church, and you are relating this to a church member, you might pick "Organization" as the way the church is related to the member.
- The next box asks, "How is B related to A?" Again, select from the list that pops up when you click into the box. In our example you might say that B is a "Member."
- Add any notes you want in the Notes box, and click OK.
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As with Addresses and Points of Contact you can have as many relationships as you want. You can revise an entry by clicking on the pencil icon or delete it by clicking on the blue trash can.
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A new feature in the Relationship box is the orange triangle next to each relationship. Clicking on that triangle will take you to that Contact. This would be especially important if you added a new Contact from the Relationship window, since you will have only entered that Contact's name. On that new Contact's screen you can fill in other information. (Use the Back arrow in the Status Bar to return to your original Contact.)
- Tabs
- At the bottom of the Contacts screen are a set of tabs you can use to track many of the interactions you may have with individuals or groups. Here you can record pledges, donations, events attended, publications sent to this Contact, Calls to this person, Tasks, general Notes, and Other.
- Note: The tab labels are determined by the names in the Settings section under "Custom Labels and Graphics." They are arranged on the tabs by a field in the Settings table called "contact_tabs_c." This field is currently set to use global storage, in order to display properly when you go into Find mode on this layout. However, set as global storage, the field will not update the name of the label if you change the name in the Settings section. To force it to change, you need to change the field to a standard field, and then change it back again to global storage. To do this go to File > Manage. Choose "Database" from the sub menu. Go to the Fields tab and change the table to Settings. Select the "contact_tabs_c" field, and choose the Options button. In the lower right hand corner select the "Storage Options" button. In the Storage Options dialog box, note that the box for Global Storage is checked. Click on the box for "Do not store calculation results -- recalculate when needed." Click the OK button three times to accept this change and exit the Manage Database window. The label should now have changed to your new name in Settings. Then repeat this process, only changing the field back to global storage, to again make it available in Find mode.
- Pledges and Donations (Donations only in Free version)
- You can Add a Pledge or Donation by clicking on the appropriate tab and then clicking on the Add button. You will be taken to the screen to fill in a pledge or donation. For help filling out these screens see the Pledges or Donations Help pages.
- Events Attended
- You can mark that this contact attended a particular event from the "Events Attended" tab. Click on the Add button to see a list of all events in the system. Click on the event the person attended.
- If the event is not in the list you can add it by clicking on the Add button at the bottom of the Events popup window. Enter the name of the new event in the next window that comes up and click OK.
- Publications Sent (Standard version only)
- Publications, such as letters or other documents, that have been sent to this contact will be listed in the "Publications Sent" tab.
- Calls and Tasks
- To make a record of a phone call with a Contact, or a planned phone call, click on the Add button above the Calls column. This will bring up a "Call" window.
- The Contact you intend to call will automatically be listed in the Contact box.
- The "Call Planning Setup" section lets you make notes of your planned call.
- It automatically enters your name as the "Caller." (The name it uses is your "Account Name" in the CC NonProfit system.)
- You can record your purpose for the call in the "Purpose" box. Select the date you plan to call this person in the box next to the Purpose. The system will automatically enter today's date. You can choose another date by typing it manually or clicking on the right side of the box and choosing a date from the popup calendar.
- If you click OK at this point you will see a line in the "Calls" list saying "Call planned for [Your Name] on [The date you chose] with purpose ..."
- If you are making a record of a call you have made, use the lower half of the "Call" window, labeled "Call Actual Information."
- Type into the "Caller" box who actually made the call. (CC NonProfit does not assume that the person who planned the call is necessarily the person who will make the call.)
- Enter the "Actual Date" of the call, either manually or from the popup calendar. The box next to the date is for entering the Time of the call.
- Enter your notes about the call in the "Notes" section at the bottom of the window. Your organization may want to discuss any policies you want to put in place for what is recorded in the Notes section. Depending on how you set up the security in CC NonProfit these call notes may be accessible to anyone who has access to CC NonProfit. This might have implications for the privacy or confidentiality protections you may want to put in place.
- If you click OK at this point you will be returned to the Calls and Tasks tab, with the notation that "[Caller] called on [Actual Date]. [The first few words of the Notes.]"
- To indicate that the Call is Complete, click on the white check mark inside the gray circle in the phone list. The text and the circle will turn green.
- To add a task for this contact, click on the Add button above the Tasks column. This will bring up a Task window, with this Contact already entered in the Contact list at the bottom left of the window. Give the task a name, a due date, and any notes, if necessary. If the task is connected to an event, select that event from the list in the lower right side of the window. Click OK when you have finished. For additional help with tasks see the Tasks Help page.
- Notes
- On the "Notes" tab, you can enter notes about this contact simply by clicking into the box and typing your note.
- Other
- Currently, the "Other" tab contains a sample of the kinds of things you could add to this tab. It has the date the person joined your organization, whether or not you can call them, and whether they are a senior.
- As with all other date boxes in CC NonProfit, for the "Date Joined" you can type in a date manually. Or, you can pick a date from a popup calendar. To get this calendar, click in the right side of the "Date Joined" box. Navigate to the date you want and click on that date to select it.
- When you are finished for the moment with filling out the information for this contact, and want to add another contact, you can click on the "New Contact" button in the gray Status Bar at the top of the screen. This will give you a new, blank Contact screen.
- From the Home screen, click on "Contacts" in the menu on the left side of the window. The right-hand panel of the window will show your list of Contacts and your Contact Lists.
- Notice the "Show Active Only" box at the bottom of the Contacts column. If the box is checked you will only see the Active contacts. If the box is unchecked you will see all contacts. The names of inactive contacts will shown in light gray.
- Search for the Contact you want to review or update. Scroll through the list, use the Search oval above the Contacts list, or use the Search button at the bottom of the Contacts list.
- When you have found the Contact you want, click on the orange arrow next to the name. This will bring you back to the Contact's detail screen.
- Review, or update any information which has changed.
- Note that if you need to travel to one of the addresses of this contact, by clicking the pencil icon next to that address, the Address popup window will display a map pinpointing the location of that address.
- If the Contact has become inactive in your organization, you can indicate this by unchecking the "Active" check box located under the picture (or the place the picture could go).
- For many boxes on this page you can just click into the box and type the changes.
- If you want to update a line which has a pencil icon after it, you need to click on that pencil icon to make your updates.
- If you want to add new information, and there is an Add button above the list you are interested in, click on that Add button to provide a new entry.
- If you want to delete information that is on a line with a blue trash can icon at the end, click on that icon. A dialog box will pop up asking you to confirm that you want to delete this information. If you click "Delete" the information will be deleted.
- From the Home screen, click on "Contacts" in the menu on the left side of the window. The right-hand panel of the window will show your list of Contacts and your Contact Lists.
- Search for the Contact you want to delete. Scroll through the list, use the Search oval above the Contacts list, or use the Search button at the bottom of the Contacts list.
- When you have found the Contact you want, click on the orange arrow next to the name. This will bring you back to the Contact's detail screen.
- You can only delete a contact if that contact has no donations or pledges in your system, doesn't have a relationship to another contact, and isn't listed as attending any event.
- If you really want to delete this contact, go to each of these four sections of the Contacts screen and delete these other links. Use the blue trash can icon to delete these links.
- Once you have eliminated all connections between this contact and the rest of your system, click on the "Delete Contact" button in the gray Status Bar at the top of the screen. In the dialog box that will pop up confirm that you want to delete this contact by clicking the "Delete" button. The contact will be permanently removed from your system.
- The "Add to Contact List" button allows you to add a found set of Contacts to a new or existing Contact List.
- Before selecting this button, do a Find to gather a list of Contact records that you want to add to a Contact List (creating a "found set").
- After you have a your found set of Contacts, select the "Add to Contact List" button. A list of your existing Contact Lists will be presented in a small window.
- If you want to add your found set of Contacts to an existing list, click on the name of that list. The found records will be added to the list, without adding any Contacts to the Contact List that are already present.
- If you want to create a new Contact List with this found set of Contacts, click on the Add button at the bottom of the "Select Contact List" window. A new window will open allowing you to give your new list a name.
- When you click "OK" your new Contact List will be created and your found set of Contacts will be added to it.