Focus On: Codes

 

Welcome to our Focus On series. In this series of e-mail tutorials, we will show you a few overlooked features in our system. We encourage you to print this document to follow along through the lesson.

 

Tutorial: Codes

 

In this tutorial, you will learn:

Lesson 1: What Codes Are

Lesson 2: How to Create Codes

Lesson 3: The Difference between a Code and a Code Type

Lesson 4: How to Apply Codes

Lesson 5: How to Maintain your Codes

 

Lesson 1: What are Codes?

 

Codes are unique identifiers that, once created and applied, allow you to track a specific group of people.  These flags make the people in your database unique, consequently allowing you to track them in unique ways. We may, for example wonder, Why is John Smith in our database; what about him do we want to know and track?  Maybe John wants to volunteer, attended a fundraising event, has a yard sign, and strongly supports our candidate.  To keep track of this, we can set up codes for each of these items, and apply them to John’s record.

 

Lesson 2: How to Create Codes

 

Once your staff has decided which codes you would like to use, you will need to create them in your database in order to be able to use them.  Go to Management > Codes:

 

 

This will take you to your Code Manager, which allows for the storing and modification of all your codes.  Once you create something here, it will be available database-wide.

 

To create a code:

  1. Click on Add Code (NOT Add Code Type).  The code itself can be a maximum of four characters, which includes the usage of symbol, numbers, and letters. 

  2. Enter the four-character code into the Code box.

  3. Enter a more thorough description into the Description box

  4. Please note that Code Type is not required.

 

 

  1. When you are finished, click Add. 

  2. Wait for the success message that will read ”Add new code successful” before clicking the Close button. 

  3. After you have clicked Close, the Code Manager will refresh so you can see your new codes.

 

Lesson 3: The Difference between a Code and a Code Type

 

What about that Code Type drop-down menu you saw when you were creating codes?  And what is that Code Type area in the Code Manager, anyway? 

 

Code Types are ways of grouping lots of codes by a common association.  Essentially, Code Types are a way of linking similar codes.  Using Code Types helps you to organize your codes when your code list gets "out of control."  We do not typically recommend using this tool until you have at least 40 codes.  You can think of Code Types like a bucket, or file folder, that holds several codes.

 

For example, perhaps you have a variety of codes:

 

 

$                      Potential Small Donor

$$                     Potential Average Donor

$$$                   Potential Large Donor

EDUC               Education

ENVR               Environment

LABR                Labor

WMN                Women’s Issues

VOL                  Volunteer

 

If you wanted to organize your codes, you would need to find which codes are similar. Above, we see that there are three codes that relate to potential donors and three codes that relate to issues. You could create a Code Type for Potential Donors and a Code Type for Issues.

 

You could then use Code Types to group your codes, like this:

 

Code Type: Potential Donors

$                      Potential Small Donor

$$                     Potential Average Donor

$$$                   Potential Large Donor

 

Code Type: Issue

WMN                Women’s Issues

EDUC               Education

LABR                Labor

ENVR               Environment

 

No Code Type

VOL                  Volunteer

 

You’ll notice that you can have codes with no code type. In fact, one of the biggest pitfalls with using Code Types is that campaigns want to group all codes. Not every code will fit into a group. It is better to leave those codes without Code Types.

 

With Code Types in place, running reports can become easier.  For example, if you run a report on all potential donors, you don’t need to include every individual potential donor code; rather, you can simply request the Code Type called ”Potential Donors.”

 

Lesson 3: How to Apply Codes

 

Okay, now you that have set up all your codes, it’s time to apply them to an individual or organization.

 

Adding a code to a record:

  1. Go to the Individual or Organization record.

  2. Locate the Codes area and click Add Code. 

 

 

  1. Select your code from the Code drop-down menu.  (NOTE: If the code you are applying is associated with a particular Code Type, you will have to select that from the Code Type menu before the code will appear in the Code menu.)

  2. Select the user you would like to associate with the code from the User menu (by default the user will be you).

  3. Type in the date you would like to associate with this code into the Date box (by default, the date will be today).

 

 

  1. If you have any additional information specific to this person’s code, you may type it into the Memo field.  For example, if you wanted to keep track of the hours an individual said he or she could volunteer, you could type those hours into the Code Memo.

  2. Click Add

  3. Wait for the success message, ”The addition was successful,” then click Close to refresh the screen.

 

There are other ways to add codes to records. See our HotTip on adding Quick Codes.

 

 

Lesson 5: How to Maintain Your Codes

 

The codes you create are not set in stone.  Maybe someone typed in an inaccurate description for a code, or maybe there’s simply a typo.  If you would like to change the name of a code, you may do so from the Code Manager:

 

  1. Go to Management > Codes

  2. Switch to Edit Mode

 

 

  1. Find the Code or Code Type you would like to change, simply put your cursor in that area, and type in your changes.

  2. Click Save Changes.

 

You may also want to see how many times a code has been applied in the database.  This will help you see which codes are not being used, so that you may delete old, unused codes .  To do this, check the Show Codes Counts box, located in the Codes box.

 

 

Your screen will refresh, and display the number of times a code has been applied next to each Code Description.  We recommend deleting codes that have a zero count, unless you’re planning on adding them in the future.

 

You should now understand what a code is, be able to create and apply codes, and be able to properly maintain them. Hopefully, this tutorial gives you a better understanding of the true functionality of codes, which will allow you to better track the people in your database.

 

What’s Next?

 

Do you have an idea for our next Focus On? Is there something you would like to know more about? Simply email us at: support@completecampaigns.com. We would love to hear from you!