Donor Name Change

Can anyone tell me how names are updated in the donor database.

I had a sister get married and her last name has changed. In the membership section of MLS the name is now updated to reflect the name change.

When entering donations yesterday I tried to update the last name and I could not figure out how to do it. I tried adding a new donor and got a message to the effect the membership record number already exists under another donor. I then highlighted the last name and tried to change it, that did not work either.

How does one update a last name in the donor records?

Thanks in advance for the help.

thesmith7 wrote:Can anyone tell me how names are updated in the donor database.

I had a sister get married and her last name has changed. In the membership section of MLS the name is now updated to reflect the name change.

When entering donations yesterday I tried to update the last name and I could not figure out how to do it. I tried adding a new donor and got a message to the effect the membership record number already exists under another donor. I then highlighted the last name and tried to change it, that did not work either.

How does one update a last name in the donor records?

Thanks in advance for the help.

In MLS under Finances, choose Add/Update Donors (it's in the Donations panel). Find the donor, and click on the name. You'll see a screen where you can change the donor name, type, and address. Make your changes, and click Save.

The important thing is to make sure you are editing the existing donor record, not trying to add a new one.

Also, as you noticed, donor records are distinct from membership records. This is nice in the sense that when a member record is moved out, the donor record remains. But many of us wish that address changes were synchronized automatically. Name changes are a bit trickier, since some people are particular about having the name on their tax statements done a particular way that may not match their membership record exactly. But for now, just be aware that donor records are distinct from membership records and update both.

Alan_Brown wrote:But many of us wish that address changes were synchronized automatically.

Along with current addresses being synchronized, it would be nice if the address was updated when a member moves out of the ward (at least when it is initiated by the former ward). This way, financial clerks automatically have an address to mail the tax statement to.