From: Carrie M Ronnander <From: Carrie M Ronnander <Cronnander@cvmuseum.info> Date: Wed, 2 Dec 2009 16:21:48 -0600 Subject: PastPerfect Membership Records Message-ID: <8A4A3746C20B654583739F7385939C2901BCFDB735@SBS-SRV.cvm.local>
The best way to enter contacts of any sort, even married, is to enter all o
f them individually. This is what PastPerfect recommends and what we've bee
n doing since switching our membership database to PastPerfect a year and a
half ago. You must give married couples the same membership number, which
is diffierent than the ID #. Everybody gets their own unique ID#. Using the
same John and Mary Smith example, John Smith may be Contact ID# 36, Mary S
mith Contact # 37, and they'll both be membership #2. The membership number
shows up in the Membership Tab in the grey box, left of the "Enter or Chan
ge Alternate Billing Address" and is automatically generated. As long as on
ly one person in the membership has "Yes" marked in the field Bill to Membe
r, the family will only get one mailing.
One of the advantages of recording each contact separately is that you can
track different kinds of information for each person in the membership.
For example, one person may be an active volunteer, the other has an employ
er matching donation. It is very important to link the married couples, or
children in some cases, so families don't receive duplicate mailings. Linki
ng is pretty simple. Make sure that both individuals are in the database, t
hen with one of their records open, choose the folder icon next to the spou
se/id# field and the program asks you if you want to choose from the contac
ts field. Say yes, choose the spouse/child and the program links them; if t
hey're member, the program automatically assigns the same membership number
. You'll then need to go to the membership tab. One person in the membershi
p should have the radio button marked Yes to the Bill to Member field; all
others should have the button marked no to this field.
This does sound a bit complicated, but it really does work out.
Carrie Ronnander
Curator
Chippewa Valley Museum
P.O. 1204
Eau Claire, WI 54702
715-834-7871
www.cvmuseum.com
--------------------
Hello,
Does anyone have any ideas as to how to enter married couples in PastPerfec
t membership? Our membership categories include "individual," "family" and
"senior citizen." Some couples join as family, others as 2 senior citizen
members. For example, I'll say our membership consists of 50 married coupl
es, one of whom is John and Mary Smith. I entered both together in "add n
ew contact": Thus, under "first name," there were two names: John and Mary,
and under "salutation," I put in: Mr. and Mrs, rather than an individual s
alutation. The only thing the manual says is "a separate record may be crea
ted for each individual." and that they could be linked. The first way (ent
ering both as one contact) seems like it would throw off the membership cou
nt. Also, if one dies, "stop mail" stops the membership/ mailings for the s
urviving spouse. The second way - entering them individually and linking th
em seems like each household would get 2 of each mailing. I hope you can un
derstand this the way I've written it! Thank you in advance.
Bettsy Terlinden, Clark House Museum, Pewaukee