Contacts: Regions in CharityEngine – Where to find them and how to use them

Authored by:
on 12/18/2024 2:35:00 PM

Introduction

CharityEngine allows users to create and use regions as a way of grouping data. This data can then be used to send communications to a specific group that resides within a region or be used to analyze events, transactions, and form submissions. Use cases for regions include geographical locations (Northeast, Southwest), chapters, lodges, etc.

Introduction
Prerequisites
Instructions
FAQs & Further Reading

Prerequisites

Prior to using regions, consider your organizational structure and needs.
Regions can be nested with a "Parent".
Regions can also be assigned a solicitor in mass.

Instructions

How to create a region

Before you can use regions within CharityEngine, you must first create the regions.

Step 1: Navigate to the Configuration App > Regions & Chapters > Regions. Any regions already created will be displayed here.

Step 2: Click on Create New in the top right hand corner to create a new region.

Step 3: The only field required is the Name of the field, however you do have the ability to select a parent region if applicable. For example, the below new region is CE Affiliate East, but this is a sub region of the CharityEngine Foundation region. Creating parent/child regions allows users to analyze data within a larger region and then focus in on data of a smaller region within the larger.

Step 4: Users also can add a location to the region by using the location buttons. The location would be an organization that resides or is responsible for that region, such as a field office for an organization. If the organization already exists, click on Search Contact, otherwise click New Location to create a new organization record.

1. 1. Note: If you require a Parent, create the parent region first.
2. Click SAVE

Step 5: On the Contacts tab, you can assign contacts to a region. These contacts would be responsible for that region, for example the contact could be the Director of Fundraising of the organization assigned on the general tab. Use the search box to search for a pre-existing contact and click ADD or click Create to create a new contact.

Step 6: Once you have configured the region, click SAVE.

How to Assign Regions in CharityEngine

Once your regions have been configured and saved, you will be able to use them within CharityEngine to collect data.

1. How to Assign Regions within a Contact Record

One area that regions can be used in is Contacts. Contacts can be assigned to a region allowing them to be grouped with others in that region. Users can then send communications to contacts within a region and also analyze specific data of contacts within a region.

Step 1: Navigate to the Contacts App > Organizations & People > locate your contact record for update.

Step 2: On the contact record summary, users will be able to view a contacts region by leveraging Go to in the top right hand corner.

Step 3: Click on the + sign to expose the region drop down. Locate the region and click ADD

Step 4:

1. Note: Contacts can have more than one region assigned to them.

2. How to Assign Regions While Creating a Transaction Record in CharityEngine

Regions can also be captured in a transaction when the transaction is created or by managing the transactions after creation. By capturing the region on a transaction, users will be able to analyze the profitability of a region. This data can also be used to learn what regions solicitors should focus their energy on to continue gaining from a region or to promote more giving in a failing region.

Step 1: To attribute a region to a transaction during a manual creation of a transaction, navigate to the Advanced tab and click Additional Settings

Step 2: Use the Region drop-down to select the region.

Step 3: If the transaction has already been created, navigate to the Donations App > Transactions > Search & Manage > locate your transactions and manage > navigate to the Detail tab > Attribution tab > General tab and use the drop-down to select the region > SAVE.

Note: Transactions can only have one region attributed to them.

Step 4: Users can also filter transactions by region using the Donations App > Transactions > Search & Manage > Advanced Filters > General > Region > Apply

3. How to Automatically Assign Regions on Web Forms (All transactions to one region)

Regions can be set on Web Forms as a way of data collection. Depending on the type of form, the data is collected in different ways. For example, if the form is a donation form, when the form is submitted, the region will automatically be attributed to the transaction.

Step 1: To configure a region on a web form, navigate to the Online App > Web Form > Search & Manage > locate your web form and manage > navigate to the Advanced tab > web form > Advanced tab > Regions and use the drop-down to select the region.

Note: Web forms can only have one region through this method.

4. How to Automatically Assign Regions on Web Forms (Allowing Donors to Select a Region)

Regions can be set and mapped on Web Forms as a way of data collection. Depending on the type of form, the data is collected in different ways. For example, if the form is a donation form, this use case demonstrates how to allow a user to select the region and once the form is submitted, the region will automatically be attributed to the transaction.

Step 1: To configure a region on a web form, navigate to the Online App > Web Form > Search & Manage > locate your web form and manage > navigate to the Layout tab > create a "Region" field

Step 2: Manage the "Region" by click on the Pencil icon

Step 3: From the General tab, select Type: Drop Down and Data Type: Integer Id

Step 4: Navigate to the Mapping tab > Transaction > Region: Yes

Step 5: Navigate to the Display tab > Advanced > Add New > add region values

Note: The Label will be reflected on the donor facing web form while the Value field should contain the Region ID value as located within the Configuration App > Regions & Chapters > Regions (in this example 136 and 137)

Step 6: Click SAVE to secure changes

User Experience on Web Form:

CharityEngine User Experience - Transaction Attribution: Region attributed via the Attribution > General > Region field

5. How to Automatically Assign Regions on Events

When creating an event, users can attribute a region to that event. This will allow users to filter the event by region and analyze the event by region.

Step 1: To attribute a region to an event, navigate to the Events & Volunteers App > Events > Search & Manage > locate your event and manage > navigate to the event > General tab and use the drop-down to select the region. Click SAVE.

Step 2: For reporting, on the events listing screen, use the Advanced Filters to filter for a region.

6. How to Automatically Assign Regions to Contact Records Using Triggers

For data governance needs, users can leverage the Triggers feature to ensure regions are assigned and maintained automatically.

In this example, we will establish a quarterly job that will locate new contacts created in the last previous quarter, with a primary state address of Ohio, and any contact that has not already been assigned a region.

Step 1: To begin, establish a query that can be used to collect the contacts that require an update/add of a region. Navigate to Automation & Workflow > General > Queries > Create New > Filter: Contacts > Select: Contacts.

Step 2: Construct your query. For the trigger, please ensure the Contact Id is included within the SELECT location. This will be the primary driver for the job to identify the contact for region assignment.

For demonstration purposes, this query will run quarterly locating any new contact record assigned in the Previous Quarter, AND the Primary Address State equals Ohio, AND the region Names is not already assigned a CharityEngine Foundation or child regions of CEF - Affiliate East nor CEF - Affiliate West.

Step 3: SAVE and name your query.

Step 4: Create your trigger for the update by navigating to the Automation & Workflow App > Workflow > Triggers > Create New > Type: Assign Contact Regions > Next

Step 5:

1. 1. Data Source: select the query created in step 3
  2. Contact: select the Contact.Id - this identifying the field within the query used to locate the record
  3. Region Source: manual
  4. Region: select the region to be assigned to the contacts
  5. NEXT: click here to proceed

Step 6: Set the details for your trigger

1. 1. Name (required): Name your query
  2. Start: optional date assignment to begin your trigger
  3. Description: optional
  4. Send Notification: default to owner, add additional emails with use of comma
  5. Clear Existing: default to No - do not clear previously assigned region attribution; toggle to Yes if you wish to override; note, contacts can have 1 or more regions
  6. NEXT to proceed with trigger set up

Step 7: On the confirmation screen, click FINISH

Step 8: Here, the trigger completed an update of 13 records. To schedule this for automatic and repetitive update, select Schedule under ACTIONS

Step 9: Create your schedule details

1. 1. Name: required
  2. Active: default to yes
  3. Dates: select start/end dates; in this example, the next job will be scheduled to begin the first calendar day of the 2nd quarter
  4. Data Job: defaults to your job created in step 6
  5. Description: optional for details/notations
  6. SAVE: click here to secure your schedule details

Step 10: Navigate to the Triggers tab and Select to identify your preferred frequency. Use each drop down to determine time frequency and time of day. Click ADD to assign the trigger. And complete by clicking SAVE.

Now, your automated job will run and update your identified contacts with the region. No additional action is needed by the end user. Regions will be assigned and can be located on the contact record.

7. How to Append Regions to Transactions Records

For data governance needs, users can leverage the Import/Export feature to ensure regions are assigned to transactional records.

In this example, we will establish a query designed to capture transactions created this month, with a primary state address of Vermont or Mississippi, and the transaction region is currently null.

Step 1: To begin, establish a query that can be used to collect the transactions that require an update/add of a region. Navigate to Automation & Workflow > General > Queries > Create New > Filter: Donations > Select: Transactions.

Step 2: Construct your query. For the data append, please ensure the Contact Id is included within the SELECT location. This will be the primary driver for the job to identify the contact for region assignment.

For demonstration purposes, this query example this query will locate any new transaction record assigned in the Current Month, AND the Primary Address State equals Vermont or Mississippi, AND the Region Name is null.

Step 3: SAVE & EXPORT and name your query.

Step 4: Download your transactions and save to your local drive. In this example, we will delete the column Transactions.Address State as this will not be required for the appending activity. Add the Region ID to be assigned to the transaction in a column header named Transactions.Region. This will become your import file for the data append.

To locate your Region ID, navigate to the Configuration App > Regions & Chapters > Regions. And from the listing screen, locate the region id (in this example we will use 133 for CEF - Affiliate West)

Step 5: Next navigate to the Automation & Workflow App > General > Import & Export > Create New: Import> Import To: Transactions > NEXT

Step 6: Upload our file

Step 7: Use the dropdowns to map your file fields to CharityEngine fields.

Step 8: Update your additional job setting details and proceed to NEXT for confirmation.

Step 9: Review your confirmation page and click FINISH to initiate your data append job. Click on View Job Status if you wish you immediately monitor.

Once your data job has finished, review for any errors. A successful transaction record will present your Region assignment as displayed on the Detail > Attribution > General tabs.

How to use the Data

The data collected by using regions can be used in a few different ways. As shown above, attributing regions to contacts, transactions, and events can allow for easy filtering on the listing screens, but additional actions such as building a query and viewing reports can also be preformed if regions are assigned.

1. Query builder

Regions can be used as a filter in the Query Builder tool to compile a list. The most common use for filtering for regions in queries is to create a list of contacts to send an email blast to.

Step 1: To filter for regions in queries, navigate to Automation & Workflows > General > Queries > Create New > Contacts > Contacts (or Donations > Transactions) add Regions Names to the filter section of a query, as shown below.

Step 2: Once saves, this list can then be used as the data source when sending an email blast.

2. Reports & Analytics

Navigate to Reports & Analytics App > Regions & Chapters. There are several reports that focus on Regions that can be found, such as Revenue by Region and Events by Region. These reports will analyze data captured by using regions throughout CharityEngine.

Below is an example of the Region Revenue Summary report.

The Revenue by Region is also available for period over period comparison.

These pre-configured reports will allow you to take a deeper look on how productive a region is and help to focus energy and resources on regions that either need help to promote giving or continue promoting in regions that are successful.

3. Basic Search/Reporting Options for Contacts (from listing screen)

By navigating to the People App > Organization & People > Search & Manage > Advanced Filter > General tab > Region, you can also leverage the advanced search feature to locate contacts by region. Leverage the export and/or the reporting feature to capture few fields.

4. Basic Search/Reporting Options for Transactions (from listing screen)

By navigating to the Donations App > Transactions > Search & Manage > Advanced Filter > General tab > Region, you can also leverage the advanced search feature to locate transactions by region. Leverage the export and/or the reporting feature to capture few fields.

FAQs & Further Reading

Q. What fields are available for region within the Query tool?
A. When querying from the Contacts database, the following region fields are available

These are the following fields available for transactions when leveraging the Donations database and reviewing transactions: Region Id and Region Name

Q. Can regions also be attributed to email campaigns?
A. Yes - as you create your email blast, under Settings > Additional Settings > Regions - you can assign your region for the assigned email blast.