Person Merge - Merging Duplicate Person Records

Prior to merging person records, be sure to understand what data will merge and what will not. These details are provided below.

Gnosis provides two approaches/tools for merging two or more records:

1. Bulk merging using the Batch Person Deduplication Tool
2. Select individual records (2 or more at a time) to merge for a single person at one time.

Merge Duplicates using the Batch Person Deduplication Tool

For bulk merging larger numbers of duplicate records, please see the video instruction on Batch Person Deduplication:

Merge Duplicate Records for a Single Person

1.  Review the individual records to determine which PID/record to merge to.

See What Data Merges and What Doesn't below. This is a very important step to prevent lost data.

2.  Identify and select the records to merge.

Both records must be displayed in the search results window in order to proceed so it may be necessary to edit the name data in one record to allow both records to show in the same search criteria.

Once both records are displayed in the window,

Single-click the first name, hold the Ctrl key and click the additional name(s) to be merged. Press Enter or click Select to proceed.

In the popup, click Yes to open the Merge Manager. 

The Person Merge Manager previews general record data for review.

3. To choose the destination record on the Merge Manager screen.

Right-click on the column which contains the most appropriate/greatest amount of information that is applicable to the person and select "Set as destination record".  If that option is greyed-out, then that record is already selected as the destination record.

4. Click Merge to proceed with the merge.

A warning will appear noting that the process of merging is not reversible. Click yes to continue the merge.

The new merged person record will then appear on the screen.

5. Review all multiple-list fields to delete incorrect or duplicate items.

Multiple-list fields include email addresses, phone numbers, addresses, and households.

NOTES:

If you have added three or more records on the Merge Manager screen, you can exclude or remove a record you don't want to merge.

1. Hover your mouse to the column you want to exclude or remove.

2. Right-click on your mouse then click "Exlude From Merge".

*This only applies if you have three or more records on the Merge Manager Screen. The option is greyed out if you only have two records.

What Data Merges?

The following cumulative data will be collected from multiple records and merged:

• Gift history
• Contact Management notes
• Event registration and attendance histories
• Household addresses
• Multiple email addresses
• Multiple phone numbers
• Organization links
• Person Relationship links

What Data Does Not Merge?

The following single data points will be populated by data from the Destination Record only and should be reviewed before merging. If you must maintain some of the data from the other record(s) you must make note of the data separately and update the final record after merging.

• Name, Title and Suffix
• Gender
• Date of Birth
• Record Type
• Member Number
• Record Status
• Period from and to dates
• Communications Preferences (Opt-In/Out tab) - The preferences will be carried over in a merge unless the target record also has preferences set, in which case the the merged record would inherit the preferences of the target record and a manual update would be required if necessary.
• Any attribute data (General, Member, Volunteer, Donor, etc.) that is present in the destination record will not be overwritten by the same data existing in the other records, however, if the attribute only exists in other records, it will be moved to the destination.
• Username and password (especially important when using the peer-to-peer fundraising site, see more information below)

IMPORTANT NOTE: If the one record has a PUser Name and/or the Has Password Set checkbox is checked (see below), make sure that it is set as the destination record, or, that the destination record has the correct values or no values for that person. IF the fields are blank in the destination record, the value will be copied from the record being merged, however, if the destination record has a different value, the value in the destination record will be persisted. If you fail to take this precaution, you may be deleting the person's access to and history of any online fundraising event participation.

 Also see Merging Duplicate Organization Records.