Why Do Some Activists Have Duplicate Records In Action Network?
You may have been frustrated to find that some Activists have more than one record in Action Network. There are a few reasons for this, some are by design and others are a results of changes made by admins or actions taken by activists. Here we'll run through some of the reasons, and what you can do when you find duplicate records.
Activists With 'Duplicate' In Their Chargebee and Salesforce ID Fields
When a member changes their email address via the Member's Site two things happen.
- First, the Activist Record associated with their old email address is unsubscribed from all Groups, and any information related to their membership is removed from their record. Their Chargebee_ID and Salesforce_Contact_ID are both given the value 'Duplicate'.
- Next, an Activist Record is created using their new email address. Their membership information is populated and they're subscribed to their local and regional party email lists.
This means that there is only ever one record associated with somebody's membership, and in most cases the old record is removed within 24 hours.
The Digital Support Team are notified when a member changes their email and we go in and merge the old and new records, to ensure all data is stored under one record. In almost all cases it's possible to merge records in this way, but there's one exception. If an Activist has set up an Action Network account using their old email address we're unable to edit this, and only then can do so. This means that we'll leave the old record in place temporarily, albeit in an unsubscribed state with no membership information.
We'll occasionally work through these records and delete them from our network. We'll only do this if they don't have any transaction history.
Members Who Have Joined More Than Once
Occasionally members will rejoin as a new member rather than continuing their existing membership. If they do so using the same email address then only one record will exist in Action Network and should show the most recent membership information. However, if a member signs up using a different email address a new record will be created. If you come across records like this, and have confirmed with the member that both email addresses belong to them we can merge the records. We'll need to be notified of this to ensure the records are merged across all platforms and not just within Action Network. This will ensure the Membership_Join_Date will show the earliest possible join date, and not just their most recent join date.
Activists Who Have Subscribed More Than Once
The leading cause of duplicate records is activists who sign up for updates using more than one email address. This can include both members and supporters. In the case of members only the record containing the email address associated with their membership will contain membership information. You can reach out to activists who appear to have more than one record, and ask us to merge them if you've confirmed both emails belong to the same person.
You can find out more about how activist are added to your Action Network Group in this guide: How Do People Get Added To My Action Network Group?
Important Information When Checking If Multiple Records Belong To The Same Activist
If you're contacting somebody to check if two or more records belong to them, please don't share any information relating to any record other than the one associated with the email address you're contacting them on.
- Bad Message: Hi Joe, It looks like you might have signed up for email updates more than once. We have records in your name for joe.bloggs@greenparty.org.uk, joejoe@gpew.org.uk and joe@gpew.co.uk. Can you confirm these all belong to you, and which email you'd prefer us to use and we can merge your records.
- Good Message: Hi Joe, it looks like you might have signed up for email updates more than once. There's the email address I'm contacting you on today, and two others which we think might belong to you. Can you confirm any other email addresses you might have signed up with, and which email address you'd like us to use and we'll take care of merging the records.
If someone isn't sure it's fine to share the domain of their email address. For example letting them know that we have two email addresses at @gmail.com and @outlook.com, to jog their memory.
How Do Member's Update Their Email Address
Member's can update their email address via the Member's Site. If they're unable to do so then they, or an officer of the party can contact members@greenparty.org.uk with the details that should be updated.
You can find out more in these guides:
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