TABLE OF CONTENTS


Our Raiser's Edge Integration Considerations guide includes common scenarios that can cause duplicate memberships to be created, and guidelines on how to minimize the impact. While it's important to minimize the ways and frequency in which duplicate memberships get created, there is no way to fully prevent them, especially when memberships are available for sale online since you can never fully control online purchase behavior.


Once you have isolated which membership records you want to remove, there are two options to consider:


Option 1: Retain and edit the extra record so it's not useable by guests

In this scenario, affected memberships are submitted to Support and datafixed to add a secret prefix before the membership number. Once the membership number is altered, the number that the member received at the time of purchase is no longer in the system and they will be unable to use that number online to verify that membership, preventing them from creating additional transactions with the record. Staff may see that modified record in POS or Backoffice, depending on what they search, and should be trained to not use a record with that prefix.


Pros

  • By retaining the membership, any orders that were placed using that record will be able to be edited later, including rebooks or any refunds / adjustments

Cons

  • The duplicate data is not removed from the system, and it is still possible (though less likely) that staff could continue to use the wrong membership record when placing future orders
  • This is a more complicated process that takes longer to be completed when a request is filed


To proceed with Option 1, provide a list to Support including the fields below for each record to be updated. These fixes can be completed quarterly as needed.

  • Membership Number
  • MembershipExternalImportId
  • First and Last name of the Primary cardholder on the membership

When these requests are submitted, ACME will add XXXX as a prefix to the existing membership number, unless a different prefix is specified when each request is submitted. Any edits to level, start date, end date, etc that need to be made on the remaining record(s) will need to be done in your CRM and imported into ACME as part of your next import.

Option 2: Delete the extra membership record

In this scenario, a list of extra memberships will be sent into Support to be deleted. Once deleted, they will no longer be usable or visible in ACME, to either staff or guests, and that membership number cannot be used on new orders moving forward.


Pros

  • Only the remaining "good" memberships will be in ACME, and no extraneous records will exist
  • This is a less complicated change and can be completed more quickly than the database fix in option 1

Cons

  • Orders placed with the deleted record are locked from any further edits since the associated membership no longer exists; any refunds would need to be done manually outside of ACME


To proceed with Option 2, provide a list to Support including the fields below for each record to be updated. These fixes can be completed weekly as needed.

When these requests are submitted, ACME will delete the membership record listed. After that point, any orders that were placed using that membership will be locked from making any further edits. To search for orders placed with a membership record before submitting it to be deleted, run a transaction report with a filter where "MembershipId" is "like" and list as many membership database IDs (separated only by a comma) as you want to search for. Ensure that your date range for the report is set to transaction date and goes far back enough to include the earliest start date of the memberships being searched on. Any edits to level, start date, end date, etc that need to be made on the remaining record(s) will need to be done in your CRM and imported into ACME as part of your next import.