When a donation arrives, Raise More tries to match it to a contact you already have. If no existing contact matches, Raise More creates a new contact for that donor and links the donation to it. You do not have to create the contact yourself.
This applies to donations that flow in automatically from ActBlue and to donations added through a spreadsheet import.
How a donation gets matched to a contact
Before creating anything new, Raise More checks the donor details against your existing contacts. The checks run in this order:
Email address.
First and last name combined with address ZIP, when one is available.
Phone number matched together with the donor name.
For spreadsheet imports that include an external ID field (LALID, Calltime ID, Numero ID, or NGP VAN ID), those IDs are also used to find a match.
As a last resort, the name alone, but only when the record has no email, no phone, and no ZIP.
If any of these finds a match, the donation is attached to that existing contact. The donor information on the donation can fill in blanks on the contact (for example an email or phone the contact was missing), but it does not overwrite details the contact already has.
What happens when there is no match
If none of the checks above find a contact, the donor is treated as unknown. Raise More then:
Creates a new contact using the donor name, email, phone, address, employer, and occupation that came in on the donation.
Links the donation to that new contact.
Adds the donor email, phone, and address to the new contact as their contact details.
The new contact appears in your contact list right away, and the donation appears on that contact's profile and in the Donations report.
Where to see these donations
Open Donations from the main menu to see every donation, including ones that created a new contact. You can filter and search this table the same way as other tables in the app. Each donation row is tied to a contact, so you can click through to that contact's profile to see the full donor record.
ActBlue donations specifically
ActBlue donations come in automatically through your connected ActBlue webhook. Each donation is matched or creates a contact using the same rules above. ActBlue donations usually appear within a short time of the donation being made.
If the exact same ActBlue donation is sent to Raise More twice, the duplicate is dropped and is not added a second time. This protects you from double-counting when ActBlue retries a delivery.
Recurring ActBlue donations come in as separate donations, one per charge. Each recurring charge is matched to the same donor and added as its own donation.
What if Raise More created a duplicate contact
Matching is conservative. If a new donation does not clearly match an existing contact (for example the donor used a different email or a nickname), Raise More creates a new contact rather than guessing. That can leave you with two contacts for the same person.
When that happens, use Merge Duplicates in the main menu to combine the two records. Merging moves the donations, pledges, notes, tags, and history from both records onto the one you keep.
What you can edit on a donation
Open a donation and choose Edit Donation to change its details. The donation edit form lets you set the Contact it is attached to, the Amount (USD), the Date, and fields including Receipt ID, Reference Code, Fundraising Page, Line Item ID, Donor Email, and Donor Phone, plus tags. If a donation landed on the wrong contact, you can reassign it here by searching for the correct contact in the Contact field.
To add a donation by hand, use Add Donation. You must pick a contact before saving; the form will not save a donation without a contact selected.