I've learned over the years to take the following things into consideration when I am doing an email append and load. From mistakes I've made. Hope these help you too!
· Keep track of the garbage emails you get from append vendors with a special "verified garbage" code when you inactivate them. They are impossible to avoid. The next time you do a pull, take those into consideration and suppress.
· Do not include spouses who lack email if the other spouse has an email. Vendor will give you the spouse email you already have.
· Do not load an email if the email exists somewhere else in your database. Sounds like common sense, but be sure you bake into your load. You will get a lot of these! For example, williamwindsor@buckingham.org might be in your system correctly, but a vendor may say this is William's father Bill's email.
· Keep track of the dates in your pulls. For example, if you do a pull every six months, look for entities you've added since those six months only. Do not send the entire database out over-and-over again. You'd be throwing money out the window.
Aaron Forrest CPA
Senior Director Gift and Donor Services
University of Rochester Office of Advancement
585.275.2799 | aaron.forrest@rochester.edu