A Constituent is any individual, household, or organization affiliated with your nonprofit. Board members, clients, donors, grantors, grant applicants, leads, members, partners, parents, participants, recipients, staff members, vendors, and volunteers are all created as constituents, then given one or more roles based on how they interact with your organization. This article covers how to add an Individual constituent.
Getting started
From the left-hand menu, choose Constituents (CRM), then Constituent List. This opens your active constituents list.
At the top of the list, click the Add A New Constituent button. This opens the "What type of Constituent would you like to create?" screen, where you can choose An Individual, An Organization, or A Household.
Click An Individual. Argenta creates the new record and opens it in the Constituent Workspace, ready for you to fill in.
The Constituent Workspace
The workspace has a Workspace Menu running across the top of the record. Each item in that menu is a section of the constituent's record. Click a section name to open it, fill in the details you need, and save before moving to the next one. You do not have to fill in every section, only the ones that are relevant to your organization. The only fields you must complete are the ones marked with an asterisk; on an Individual, those are First Name and Last Name.
To save your work, use the Save All Changes (disk) icon in the workspace title bar, or the Save & Continue button. When you move from one section to another, Argenta saves your changes automatically.
Constituent Details
This is the first section, and where you enter the core information about your constituent. At the top of the card you will find a set of toggle switches:
Active marks the record as an active constituent. View Only restricts the record so that only master admins, the user who created it, and users you specifically grant access to (on the Record Permissions section) can edit it. Locked goes a step further so only those same users can even view it. VIP, Ambassador, and Minor are information and filter flags you can turn on as needed.
Below the switches you can enter:
First Name (required), Middle Name, and Last Name (required); a Prefix and Suffix from their drop-down lists; and a Nickname.
Salutation, Formal Salutation, and Envelope Salutation are used for mailings and emails so you can address an item the way you prefer (for example, "J. White", "Mr. John White", or "John White").
Chapter, Division, and Department let you tie this constituent to a part of your organization for reporting and tracking. Acquisition Source records how you came to know this constituent.
Referred By lets you link the constituent who referred this person: start typing the referring constituent's name and select them from the list. You can clear or change the selection with the clear icon.
Description is a free-text box for any general notes about the constituent.
When you are done, save your changes before moving on.
The other sections
For an Individual, the Workspace Menu also includes these sections, which you can fill in as needed:
Addresses & Location for mailing, billing, shipping, and alternative addresses, plus county, district, and precinct. Contact Info for email addresses, phone numbers, contact preferences, and the Do Not Email / Do Not Call / Do Not Text settings. Personal Info for demographics such as date of birth, marital status, and languages. Other Misc Info for additional details. Health Info for allergies, medical details, and emergency contacts. Household Info for housing details. Military Info, Voter Info, and Assets & Resources.
Employment, Education, Skills & Experience, Volunteerism Interests, and Constituent Bio capture work, schooling, skills, and background.
Affiliated Organizations, Household Constituents, Clubs & Community, and Recognitions track the constituent's relationships and awards.
Communication (websites and social media), Engagement, Follow-Up, and Notifications track outreach and activity.
Contact Log and Email Log show contacts you have logged and system emails that have been sent. All Related Files and All Related Notes let you attach files and add notes to the record.
Record Permissions
The last section, Record Permissions, controls who can see and edit this record. It has two panels:
View Only Access is for records you have set to View Only. Master admins and the users listed here can edit the record; everyone else can only view it. To grant a user edit access, start typing their name in the Add User box, select them, and click Add.
Locked Record Access is for records you have locked. Only master admins and the users listed here can view or edit the record. To grant a user access, start typing their name in the Add User box, select them, and click Add.