Understanding Constituents
Constituents are the heart of OnTrack. Almost every type of record will link back to a constituent. They are the center point of all data interactions.
Types, Subtypes and Personas
In your database, every person will be classified as an "Individual" with a default subtype of "General."
Furthermore, individuals can be assigned "Personas" that reflect their roles, affiliations, or attributes within the system. Personas provide additional context and information about an individual's involvement, interests, or responsibilities. It allows for more targeted communication and tailored interactions based on their specific personas. Additionally, it also defines what Portals constituents can access.
Keep in mind that individuals can have none, one, or multiple personas associated with them, depending on their involvement and participation in different aspects of your organization. For example, a Parent can also be a Volunteer.
Personas
Personas, at a low level, are Tags on a constituent record, treated as a primary field.
These personas are used to identify and categorize constituents based on their involvement. The following personas have been defined to help classify constituents:
Participant: The primary persona, "Participant" is assigned to individuals who actively participate in programs, events, or activities organized by your organization.
Parent: The "Parent" persona is used broadly to describe individuals who have a parental or guardianship role, including parents, step-parents, grandparents, or guardians of participants.
Volunteer: The "Volunteer" persona is assigned to individuals who offer their services and time voluntarily to support your organization's initiatives.
Staff: The "Staff" persona is attributed to individuals who are employed by your organization and have specific roles and responsibilities within the staff team.
Instructor: The "Instructor" persona is given to individuals who provide instruction, teaching, or expertise in certain programs or areas of your organization.
By assigning these personas to constituents, you can easily identify and manage their roles, track their involvement, and customize communication and engagement strategies accordingly.
Matching Process
When constituents are added to your database through an external process, like a parent registration form, a new constituent record will be created. However, there may be instances where the constituent already exists in your database. In such cases, it's important to match the new record with the existing constituent.
The matching process is handled automatically behind the scenes, utilizing various data points such as address or name to identify potential matches. For online parent registrations, a mobile phone number is typically required. If a parent attempts to sign up using a phone number that is already associated with an existing account, they will receive a notification indicating that an account already exists for that number. They will be advised to log in instead of creating a new account.
Further details on this matching process and related features will be covered in the Parent Portal section, providing you with a comprehensive understanding of how the system handles matching and existing constituent accounts for parents who register online.
Duplicates
Constituents are a vital part of your data structure, keeping their data clean is essential to maintaining a healthy database. Most commonly, you’ll come across duplicate constituents, because their records can enter the database through outside input; i.e. a Parent signing up their Participant for a membership. Misspellings, imports and address changes can create multiple records if there is an error during the matching process.
While clean-up tools are available within C360, it relies on you and your team to act upon them. Additionally, setting best practices and SOP’s within your organization is crucial to keep a well maintained database.
Last updated