Default Contacts
Everything you need to know about how Default Contacts affect the quality of your data in MinistryPlatform.
We recommend you keep the number of records using Default Contacts to a minimum. Where do Default Contacts come from? Essentially, when someone anonymously submits information that the system can't match to an existing Contact record, MinistryPlatform assigns that information to the Default Contact. This can include donation information, registration information, form responses, and more.
- Individuals can submit data anonymously through a widget on your website.
- The system does not assign individuals who log in to submit their information to the Default Contact.
- Individuals who don't log in to submit their information are anonymous.
- Anonymous individuals match to an existing Contact record if the system can match the details they submitted to that Contact record.
- Anonymous individuals match to the Default Contact record if the system can't match the details they submitted to a Contact record.
- To match a contact, the following must be true:
- The First Name or Nickname must match.
- The Last Name must match.
- The Email or Phone must match - only one is required to match. Note: Only one, either the Email or the Phone number, must match. When considering a Phone match, the system analyzes all of the Contact's phone numbers, including Mobile, Company, and Home Phone.
Use this table to determine which record an anonymous individual's data assigns to based on which information matches or mismatches.
| Name Mismatch | Name Mismatch | Email Mismatch | Phone Mismatch | Email/Phone Mismatch | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First Name | Mismatch | Match | Match | Match | Match |
| Last Name | Match | Mismatch | Match | Match | Match |
| Match | Match | Mismatch | Match | Mismatch | |
| Phone | Match | Match | Match | Mismatch | Mismatch |
| Assigned To: | Default Contact | Default Contact | Matched Contact | Matched Contact | Default Contact |
- The First Name and Last Name must match.
- The Email and Phone Number don't have to match because this information likely isn't on the child's Contact record.
- If the Date of Birth matches, the information assigns to the matching contact.
- If the Date of Birth is a mismatch, the information assigns to the Default Contact.
Data Health Report Card
All the data quality categories that affect the quality of your data for the Customer Portal Report Card.
The Customer Portal Report Card looks at the following categories:
Default Donations
Update Donation records associated with the Default Contact to an actual Contact. For more information about how these get created in your system, see Default Contacts.
- The Customer Portal Report Card gives an A grade when less than 2% of your Donations are associated with Default Contact compared to the number of Contacts with Activity in the last year (or none). Activity is based on the Activity Log for the last 365 days.
- Use the Assign Donor Tool to fix Donations, automatically create Households, and create a Participant for a Donation assigned to Default Contact.
- See Fix Views.
Default Pledges
Assign Pledges associated with the Default Contact to an actual Donor. For more information about how these get created in your system, see Default Contacts.
- The Customer Portal Report Card gives an A grade when less than 2% of your Pledges are associated with Default Contact compared to the number of Contacts with Activity in the last year (or none). Activity is based on the Activity Log for the last 365 days.
- See Fix Views.
Default Form Responses
Update Form Response records associated with the Default Contact to an actual Contact. For more information about how these get created in your system, see Default Contacts.
- The Customer Portal Report Card gives an A grade when you have a decrease of at least 5% from previous month (or none). The number counted is the number of Form Response records associated with Default Contact.
- Use the Assign Donor Tool to assign a Contact with the Form Response associated with an Event.
- You must edit the default Form Responses to the appropriate Contact for the following types of Forms. If needed, you may need to create a Contact record with the Add/Edit Family tool.
- Standalone Custom Form
- Mission Trip Registration (you must also update the Pledge record)
- Opportunity Response (you must also update the Opportunity Response record)
- To keep the response anonymous, assign the default Form Responses to the Unassigned Contact.
- See Views and View Notifications.
Default Event Participants
Assign Event Participant records associated with the Default Contact to an actual Participant. For more information about how these get created in your system, see Default Contacts.
- The Customer Portal Report Card gives an A grade when you have a decrease of at least 5% from previous month (or none). The number counted is the number of Event Participant records associated with the Default Contact.
- To resolve Default Event Participant records, use the Assign Participant Tool to review registrations and assign a Participant.
- See Views.
Default Group Participants
Update Group Participant records associated with Default Contact to an actual Contact. For more information about how these get created in your system, see Default Contacts.
- The Customer Portal Report Card gives an A grade when you have a decrease of at least 5% from previous month (or none). The number counted is the number of Group Participant records associated with the Default Contact.
- Use the Assign Participant Tool to assign a Contact with the Group Participant associated with an Event.
- See Views.
Default Opportunity Responses
Edit and update Opportunity Response records associated with the Default Contact to an actual Contact. For more information about how these get created in your system, see Default Contacts.
- The Customer Portal Report Card gives an A grade when you have a decrease of at least 5% from previous month (or none). The number counted is the number of Opportunity Response records associated with the Default Contact.
- You must assign Default Contact Opportunity Responses. We recommend:
- Create a View on the Responses page that displays all Default Contact responses. Include First Name, Last Name, and Phone columns from the Response record fields.
- Use the Add/Edit Family Tool to create Contact and Participant records for individuals who aren't in the database. This is more efficient if you set up the View as mentioned above so you can reference the columns for the values you need in the Tool.
- Change the Participant field on the Response record to the correct Participant record.
- See Views and View Notifications.
Group Inquiries
Update Group Inquiry records associated with the Default Contact to an actual Contact.For more information about how these get created in your system, see Default Contacts.
- The Customer Portal Report Card gives an A grade when you have a decrease of at least 5% from previous month (or none). The number counted is the number of Group Inquiry records associated with the Default Contact.
- See Views and View Notifications.