Duplicate contacts can occur when a donor enters a different information with a new transaction, or if their information is imported multiple times with information that doesn't match. Contact matching through our automatic data check is based on matching primary emails or primary phone numbers, regardless of contact names. Secondary contact information is not scanned.
You can merge individual contacts based on duplicates automatically suggested by our system, or you can manually merge contacts of your choice. You can also easily swap primary and secondary information.
You cannot currently merge duplicate company contacts. Please merge duplicates before converting individuals to companies. Otherwise, you must convert them back to individuals to complete a merge.
Detected duplicates 🤖
Our system will automatically scan your logged contacts for duplicates on a daily basis. (If the system detects duplicates, you'll see the below notice appear at the top of your Contacts page.)
Go to the Contacts page located in the left-hand sidebar menu.
Click View Contacts in the notification at the top showing that there are potential duplicates.
If you don't have this notification, our system hasn't detected any duplicates. If you'd still like to merge contacts, you can do so manually.
In the list that populates, compare Contact #1 to Contact #2.
Choose the contact information you want to make primary by clicking the selection button next to the primary contact information.
Click Merge. The contact you selected will become the primary contact information, and any additional information (email, phone, address) will be added as secondary. In this example, the extra address has been added to the primary contact:
If you accidentally select the wrong primary contact, don't worry! You can always swap the primary information afterward. The only information that is deleted entirely is the secondary contact's name.
If you want these contacts to remain separate, click Ignore, and you won't be prompted again for this set of detected duplicates.
Manually merging ✏️
Go to the Contacts page located in the left-hand sidebar menu.
Use the search bar next to the Actions button to search for the secondary contact.
Click on the name of the secondary contact to open up their contact page.
Click on the Actions menu in the upper right corner of the contact, and choose Merge Contact.
In the popup box, search for the name of the primary contact you'd like to merge into. This will remove the name of the secondary contact, and any additional secondary information will be added to the primary contact.
Click Merge Contact. The secondary contact name will be removed, and any additional information (email, phone, address) will be added to the primary contact as secondary information as applicable.
What information is kept? 💾
If you merge two contacts, the following information will be preserved:
Contact information (phone numbers, addresses, emails)
Tags for both contacts
Activity Feed history (donations, calls, events) for both contacts
Notes for both contacts (they will be combined into a single note)
The following information will be removed:
The name of the secondary contact
The birthday of the secondary contact (if differing from the primary contact)
Any contact custom fields entered for the secondary contact
Editing primary info 🔀
If you accidentally select the incorrect primary contact when you are merging two contacts together, you can easily swap primary and secondary information if you make a mistake.
On the contact page, click View All in the Primary Details section. (You can also click the Profile tab across the top of the contact.)
You'll see a list of information associated with this contact. Locate the primary information you would like to change, and click Edit on the right-hand side.
In the sidebar that appears on the right side of the page, click the checkbox for the information you would like to make the primary contact information, then click Update at the bottom of the panel.
FAQ 🤔
I want to import contacts, but I'm afraid it will create duplicates!
Contact matching through our system is based on a combination of matching names (first and last) plus matching primary email or primary phone number. Secondary contact information is not scanned. If you import a contact with the same full name but completely different contact information, a new contact will be created.
If you import a contact with the same full name, and either the primary email or primary phone number matches, no duplicate will be created, and any additional information will be added to the existing contact. If you have Jennifer Smith (with work email), and import Jen Smith (with personal email), this will create two separate contacts, as it doesn't meet the matching criteria.
What is the matching criteria for duplicate contacts?
Contact matching through our automatic data check is based on matching primary emails or primary phone numbers, regardless of the names on either contact.
How often does the system check for duplicates?
Givebutter detects potential duplicates and runs contact validation multiple times a day. Please note that duplicate detection is not instantaneous.
Can I merge duplicate company contacts?
You can merge duplicate individual contacts, but you cannot currently merge duplicate company contacts. Please merge duplicates before converting individual contacts to companies. Otherwise, you must convert them back to individuals to complete a merge. Please add a vote to the feature request for merging duplicate company contacts if this is an option you'd like to see in the future!