A Constituent is any individual, household, or organization affiliated with your nonprofit. Board Members, Clients, Donors, Grant Applicants, Grantors, Leads, Material Recipients, Members, Partners, Parents, Participants, Staff Members, Vendors, and Volunteers are all created as constituents, then take on roles based on their relationship with your organization. This article walks through adding a Household.
Start a new Household
From the left-hand menu, choose Constituents (CRM) > Constituent List. This opens your Constituent List. Click the Add A New Constituent button at the top of the list.
You will see the screen titled What type of Constituent would you like to create? with three choices: An Individual, An Organization, and A Household. Click A Household. Argenta creates the new household and opens the Constituent Workspace for it.
Getting around the Constituent Workspace
Across the top of the workspace is the Workspace Menu, a row of icons you click to move between the different sections of the household record. For a Household, the sections are: Constituent Details, Addresses, Contact Info, Delivery, Personal Info, Other Info, Associated Household, Family, Recognitions, Communication, Engagement, Follow-Up, Notifications, Contact Log, Email Log, Constituent Files, Constituent Notes, and Permissions.
Only fields marked with a small orange asterisk are required. Everything else is optional, so fill in what makes sense for your organization. When you are ready to save, use the Save & Continue button to save and stay on the section, or Save & Exit to save and return to the Constituent List. Exit Record leaves without saving.
Constituent Details
This is the workspace home and the first section you land on. At the top you will find a set of on/off switches:
- VIP, Ambassador, and Minor – turn these on to flag the household. They are used for filtering and reporting.
- Active – on means the household is active; turn it off to make the record inactive.
- View Only – turn this on to restrict the record to view-only access. Only the user who created the record, a master admin, or a user you grant access to on the Permissions section can edit it.
- Locked – turn this on to lock the record so it cannot be viewed or edited except by the user who created it, a master admin, or a user you grant access to on the Permissions section.
The fields on this section include:
- Household Name – the name of the household (required).
- Salutation, Formal Salutation, and Envelope Salutation – how the household is addressed on mailings and emails (for example, Williams Family / The Williams Family / The Williams).
- Chapter, Division, and Department – tie the household to a part of your organization for tracking and reporting.
- Acquisition Source – how you came to know this household.
- Referred By – start typing a name to link the constituent who referred this household.
- Description – any notes you want to keep about the household.
Addresses
Enter the household’s mailing, billing, shipping, and alternative addresses here, along with options such as Do Not Send Mail, County, District, Precinct, Country of Residence, and which address is the physical address. The billing and shipping areas include shortcuts to mark them the same as another address you have already entered.
Contact Info
Enter the household’s email addresses, phone numbers, fax, preferred method and time of contact, and the Do Not Email, Do Not Call, and Do Not Text preferences. This is also where you can send the household a text message when texting is set up for your account.
Other Info
Use this section for additional details such as denomination, parking instructions, relocation information, FEMA number, and assistance received.
Family (Family Members List)
Here you can build a list of the people in the household for reference. Adding a family member here does not create a separate constituent record. Click Add New, fill in details such as first and last name, relationship, date of birth, sex, race, marital status, education, and employment, and turn on the US Citizen, Veteran, or Special Needs switches as needed. Click Add to save the family member. Each saved member can later be edited or removed using the icons next to it.
Associated Household
This section links existing constituents in your system to this household. The person must already exist as a constituent. In the Add Household Member box, start typing the constituent’s name, select them, and click Add to associate them with the household.
Recognitions
Track the household’s awards and recognitions here. Use the add control to choose a date and select the award or recognition to assign.
Communication
Record the household’s websites, the types of communication they would like to receive, and their social media accounts.
Logs and related records
The remaining sections keep a history for the household: Engagement, Follow-Up, and Notifications, plus the Contact Log (contacts you have logged), Email Log (system emails sent to the household), Constituent Files (related files you upload), and Constituent Notes (related notes). For a brand-new household these will be empty until activity is recorded. For step-by-step help, see the related articles Add Contact to Contact Log, Add A Note To The Notes Section, and Add Related Files.
Permissions (Record Permissions)
This section controls who can see and edit the household record. It has two panels:
- View Only Access – when the record is set to View Only, the users you list here can still edit it. In the Add User box, start typing a user’s name, select them, and click Add.
- Locked Record Access – when the record is Locked, the users you list here can still access it. Add users the same way: type the name in Add User, select, and click Add.
Permissions also work alongside any chapter, division, district, precinct, or department restrictions you have set for your users.