1. Slate Knowledge Base
  2. Advancement
  3. Donor Management

Automating the Donor Status

Updated
Expand-All  Collapse-All

Person Status allows for a high-level classification of a person record. This singular status leverages underlying rules to categorize records based on attributes about the person. It is a mechanism to sum up qualities about an individual into a single data point that can be then used for efficient querying and reporting. 

Donor_Status_Example.png

In general, these donor statuses are configured to be mutually exclusive - a person can only meet the criteria for one of the statuses. We recommend configuring the automation of the following donor statuses:

Rule Name Exclusivity Group Type Priority
Person Status - Current Donor Person Status Person Status 5
Person Status - LYBUNT Person Status Person Status 10
Person Status - SYBUNT Person Status Person Status 15
Person Status - Prospect Person Status Person Status 20

Using exclusivity groups, all of the records within a given database can be appropriately categorized into one of these statuses. Follow the steps below to create donor statuses within your institution's database. 

Step 1 - Create Person Status Prompts

Custom donor statuses may be created utilizing the "person_status" prompt key. To create the four donor statuses outlined above: 

  1. Click Database in the top navigation bar and select Prompts.
  2. Click Insert.
  3. Enter the following configurations in the popup window:
    • Key - person_status
    • Value - Current Donor
  4. Click Save.
  5. Repeat steps three and four to create the remaining person statuses of LYBUNT, SYBUNT, and Prospect.

Click the Slate Scholar Lightbulb    in the top left corner for a complete listing of all setting descriptions.

Step 2 - Create Current Donor Rule
Create the first rule in the series of person status rules - setting the record as "Current Donor." This rule can be created by following the steps outlined below:
  1. Click Database in the top navigation bar and select Rules Editor.
  2. Click Insert.
  3. Enter the following configurations in the popup window:

    • Name - Person Status - Current Donor

    • Base - Configurable Joins Library (Preview) - Person

    • Type - Person Status

    • Folder - Person Status

    • Exclusivity Group - Person Status (defaulted)

    • Non-deterministic - Rule is deterministic and has an exclusive priority

    • Priority - 5

    • Status - Preview

  4. Click Save.

Click the Slate Scholar Lightbulb    in the top left corner for a complete listing of all setting descriptions.

The next step is to configure the appropriate filters to find records that meet the criteria of being a current donor. The example below identifies people who have made at least one gift within the previous 365 days as a "Current Donor":

  1. Add a subquery filter and configure the settings as follows:
    • Status - Active
    • Name - Provide an easy to read name, such as "Gifts Made in the Past 365 days"
    • Type - Dependent subquery
    • Aggregate - Exists
    • Exports - N/A
    • Filters - Add a Join to the Gifts table. Once added, add a filter for a gift's date of ">= today - 365"
  2. Click Save.
  3. In the Action section of the rule, select Current Donor as the Status. 
  4. Click Save.

Current_Donor_Rule.PNG

Step 3 - Create LYBUNT Rule

The next rule to create in the series of person status rules is the "LYBUNT" rule. This rule can be created by following the steps outlined below:

  1. Click Database in the top navigation bar and select Rules Editor.
  2. Click Insert.
  3. Enter the following configurations in the popup window:
    • Name - Person Status - LYBUNT
    • Base - Configurable Joins Library (Preview) - Person
    • Type - Person Status
    • Folder - Person Status
    • Exclusivity Group - Person Status (defaulted)
    • Non-deterministic - Rule is deterministic and has an exclusive priority
    • Priority - 10
    • Status - Preview
  4. Click Save.

Click the Slate Scholar Lightbulb    in the top left corner for a complete listing of all setting descriptions.

The next step is to configure the appropriate filters to find records that meet the criteria of being a LYBUNT donor. The example below identifies people who have made at least one gift within the previous year, but not yet within the past 365 days: 

  1. Add a subquery filter and configure the settings as follows:
    • Status - Active
    • Name - Provide an easy to read name, such as "Gift Exists Last Year"
    • Type - Dependent subquery
    • Aggregate - Exists
    • Exports - N/A
    • Filters - Add a Join to the Gifts table. Once added, add at least the following two filters
      • Gift Date >= today - 730
      • Gift Date <= today - 365
  2. Click Save.
  3. Add a second subquery filter and configure the settings as follows:
    • Status - Active
    • Name - Provide an easy to read name, such as "But Not This Year"
    • Type - Dependent subquery
    • Aggregate - Not Exists
    • Exports - N/A
    • Filters - Add a Join to the Gifts table. Once added, add the following filter
      • Gift Date >= today - 365
  4. Click Save.
  5. In the Action section of the rule, select LYBUNT as the Status. 
  6. Click Save.

LYBUNT_Rule.PNG

Step 4 - Create SYBUNT Rule

The next rule to create in the series of person status rules is the "SYBUNT" rule. This rule can be created by following the steps outlined below:

  1. Click Database in the top navigation bar and select Rules Editor.
  2. Click Insert.
  3. Enter the following configurations in the popup window:
    • Name - Person Status - SYBUNT
    • Base - Configurable Joins Library (Preview) - Person
    • Type - Person Status
    • Folder - Person Status
    • Exclusivity Group - Person Status (defaulted)
    • Non-deterministic - Rule is deterministic and has an exclusive priority
    • Priority - 15
    • Status - Preview
  4. Click Save.

Click the Slate Scholar Lightbulb    in the top left corner for a complete listing of all setting descriptions.

The next step is to configure the appropriate filters to find records that meet the criteria of being a SYBUNT donor. The example below identifies people who have made at least one gift within the previous 5 year, but not yet within the past 365 days: 

  1. Add a subquery filter and configure the settings as follows:
    • Status - Active
    • Name - Provide an easy to read name, such as "Gift Exists Last 5 Years"
    • Type - Dependent subquery
    • Aggregate - Exists
    • Exports - N/A
    • Filters - Add a Join to the Gifts table. Once added, add at least the following two filters
      • Gift Date >= today - 1825
      • Gift Date <= today - 365
  2. Click Save.
  3. Add a second subquery filter and configure the settings as follows:
    • Status - Active
    • Name - Provide an easy to read name, such as "But Not This Year"
    • Type - Dependent subquery
    • Aggregate - Not Exists
    • Exports - N/A
    • Filters - Add a Join to the Gifts table. Once added, add the following filter
      • Gift Date >= today - 365
  4. Click Save.
  5. In the Action section of the rule, select SYBUNT as the Status. 
  6. Click Save.

SYBUNT_Rule.PNG

Step 5 - Create Prospect Rule

The final rule in the series of person status rules is the "Prospect" rule. Individuals who do not meet any of the previous rule criteria will default to this person status. This rule can be created by following the steps outlined below:

  1. Click Database in the top navigation bar and select Rules Editor.
  2. Click Insert.
  3. Enter the following configurations in the popup window:
    • Name - Person Status - Prospect
    • Base - Configurable Joins Library (Preview) - Person
    • Type - Person Status
    • Folder - Person Status
    • Exclusivity Group - Person Status (defaulted)
    • Non-deterministic - Rule is deterministic and has an exclusive priority
    • Priority - 20
    • Status - Preview
  4. Click Save.

Click the Slate Scholar Lightbulb    in the top left corner for a complete listing of all setting descriptions.

No filters need to be added as this rule comes last within the exclusivity group. The only additional configuration is to set the rule's action. In this example, the status should be set to Prospect.

Prospect_Rule.PNG

Step 6 - Activate the Rules

Once the rules have been created, the final step is to activate them. To set the rules' statuses as active:

  1. Navigate to each individual rule and select Edit.
  2. While editing the details of the rule, change the status from "Preview" to Active.
  3. Click Save.
  4. Click Save, again, on the rule itself. 

Once all of the rules are active, we recommend running a retroactive refresh on all of the records within the database. This will trigger the records to be evaluated by all of the rules, including the newly active Donor Status rules.

Was this article helpful?
1 out of 1 found this helpful