How do I add constituents?

In this article:

Introduction

You can add new constituents to LGL from the Home or Constituents tab. You can also add new constituents during the gift entry process if you are logging a donation from a new constituent.

Safeguarding against creating duplicates

To avoid creating duplicates, after you enter a constituent's first and last name LGL will display a notification below the name field when there are records containing possible duplicate/s:

If you see this notification, you have the option to see the listing by clicking the Show results button to open it in the constituent entry form:

Or you can click the View in new tab button to see the results in a separate web browser tab.

Another option for avoiding duplicate creation would be to search for a constituent before you add any new records to LGL. Searching by name fragments is also a good idea (*nic bick* instead of "nick bicknell") because that is a more foolproof way to catch possible variations in spelling.

Adding a new constituent

To add one new constituent, click on the Add constituent button and choose the appropriate option (individual versus organization):

The required fields change depending on which type of constituent you want to add. Organizations/institutions require only an organization name, while the individuals require only a last name.

You can add constituent data using a short form or long form. Just select the one you prefer and type the data into the fields.

Using the short constituent form

The short constituent form is useful when you only need to add basic information about a person to get them in the system, for instance, while entering gifts, or when you have a lot of names to enter (but not so many that it makes sense to import them).

Using the full constituent form

With the full form, you can add a lot more name information, multiple pieces of contact information, as well as all other primary types of constituent information (categories, relationships, memberships, class years, education info, etc.), all in a single form.

Within the full form, you can open and close sections by clicking on the Click to Open link for the section you want to open. To close a section, hover your cursor over the section and click the Click to Close link.

Opening a section

Closing a section