Constituent identity
Generated ID, preferred name, constituent type, household or organization, location, contact channels, language, and source.
A stable person or organization record that can connect to many activities.Donor database design
A clean donor database that drives the next action
Move beyond a contact spreadsheet by governing identity, household and organization links, consent, roles, gift context, segments, interactions, ownership, and duplicate review.
The Jodoo example pairs a populated constituent queue with gift and acknowledgement records so segments open real relationship work—not static mailing lists.
- Stable constituent IDs are generated automatically
- Duplicates and consent exceptions enter review queues
- Segments connect to owners, actions, and outcomes
Separate identity from activity and giving history
Putting every fact in one wide donor table makes duplicates harder to resolve and history harder to trust.
Consent and contact rules
Channel-specific consent, do-not-contact status, source, effective date, and review note.
Safer filtering and fewer conflicting lists.Roles and relationships
Donor, volunteer, member, board, partner, program, employer, family, and relationship dates.
One identity with several mission relationships.Gift and commitment history
Transaction reference, date, type, amount, fund, restriction, pledge, acknowledgement, and reconciliation state.
Stewardship context without storing payment credentials.Interactions and work
Contact date, channel, purpose, outcome, owner, next action, due date, priority, and follow-up result.
A database that supports coordinated action instead of passive storage.Review exceptions before they become campaign mistakes
Automated flags should start a controlled review, not silently overwrite constituent history.
Name, email, address, or household collision
Why it matters
The records may represent the same person—or different people sharing details.
Next responseCompare roles, gifts, consent, interactions, and identifiers before merging.
Unknown or conflicting consent
Why it matters
The team cannot prove a safe communication choice.
Next responseRestrict the affected channel and assign a verification action.
Unassigned high-value or high-engagement record
Why it matters
Important follow-up has no accountable owner.
Next responseRoute the record by segment, location, program, or relationship type.
Stale relationship record
Why it matters
The profile is open but no meaningful action or verification occurred.
Next responseReview contactability, role, engagement, and next step before outreach.
Measure whether the database is usable—not merely large
Each measure should open the underlying records someone can improve.
Possible duplicate rate
The share of constituent records awaiting identity review.
Assign comparison and merge decisions to the data steward.Consent completeness
Records with a known communication state and evidence source.
Prioritize active relationships with missing or conflicting consent.Owner coverage
Active and priority constituents with a named relationship owner.
Reassign orphaned records after staffing or territory changes.Next-action coverage
Active relationships with a relevant future action and due date.
Remove empty tasks and resolve stale follow-up.Stale-record queue
Profiles that have not been verified within the organization’s chosen interval.
Review before using the data for segmentation or outreach.Change fields and controls together
A field is useful only when it appears in the right form, view, permission, filter, and quality check.
Change requestSpreadsheet or fixed processIn Jodoo
Add a board-member and employer relationship
Add columns to several exports and reconcile them later.
Add related role choices, dates, visibility rules, filters, and follow-up views.Create a new stewardship segment
Maintain formulas and send the filtered list to owners.
Update the segment rule, owner view, reminders, and dashboard measure.Tighten duplicate review
Rely on ad hoc sorting and manual merge notes.
Add candidate signals, a review status, evidence, decision, and audit history.Do not turn the donor database into a copy of every system
Store the relationship context needed to act and link to authoritative systems for the rest.
Coordinate in JodooUse specialist systems forConnect the work
Constituent identity, roles, consent state, segments, interactions, actions, and references
Payment credentials, bank details, card data, and settlement operations
Use secure transaction IDs and minimum necessary status.Gift and pledge context for acknowledgement and stewardship
Fund accounting, general ledger, tax treatment, and official financial reporting
Retain the finance reference and reconciliation outcome.Known preferences and relationship outcomes
Purchased enrichment, wealth screening, and high-volume marketing execution
Apply purpose, consent, governance, and retention rules before importing data.Design for data quality and daily use
A reliable database is an operating practice, not a one-time migration.
What fields belong in a donor database?
Use stable identity, household or organization, contact details, consent, roles, relationship owner, gifts and pledges, funds and restrictions, acknowledgement, interaction history, segment, next action, due date, and data-quality state. Add only fields with a clear purpose and owner.
How should duplicate donors be handled?
Flag likely matches, compare identity, household, consent, giving, and interaction history, then record a reviewed merge or keep-separate decision. Do not automatically merge on one shared email or address.
Is a donor database the same as donor management software?
The database is the connected record foundation. Donor management software adds the workflows around gifts, acknowledgements, stewardship, promises, segments, reminders, permissions, and management review.
Can Jodoo import an existing spreadsheet?
Yes. Clean identifiers, duplicates, dates, controlled choices, consent states, and relationships before import, then test the result with a representative segment before migrating everything.
Start with the records people must trust this month
Import a representative segment, resolve duplicates and consent exceptions, then prove that every active relationship has an owner and useful next action.