Hi Daisey, thanks I've added it to the thread!

Hi Jen, great catch, and this is a real gap that's different from just linking a guest to a constituent. Once a guest becomes a relationship/non-constituent record, there's currently no way to see from that record who they're related to. That's being tracked at RENXT-I-10108 ("Matching event guests to the relationship record of the host"), which already has a good amount of votes behind it. Would you add this context there? It'll help make the case for prioritizing it.

Hi Kimberly, this one's a real problem and separate from simple linking. When Online data review matches a guest to an existing constituent, the new contact info they gave on the registration form doesn't get applied or flagged for review, so the older info on the record just stays and the new info basically gets lost. Other ideas where this is similarly being tracked is on RENXT-I-9859 ("Event RSVPs Duplicate Merge Contact Info Loss") and RENXT-I-8926 ("No Auto update feature in NXT Event registrations"). Mind adding this example and voting on both? Or, if you still feel like your idea is unique enough, feel free to create a new idea for review. That'll get it the right eyes.

Hi Paige, this is actually a different issue than what's covered above. When a guest is entered with just a name and no contact info, they won't show up as a match candidate in Online data review right now, which explains why the husband in your example turned into a new non-constituent record. That gap is being tracked at RENXT-I-9886, "Show named guests in Online Data Review for event guests." Would you mind adding your example there and voting? That's the right spot to help this move forward.

Hi all, thanks so much for the detailed discussion here! Good news: linking event guests to constituent or relationship (non-constituent) records in Online data review is already possible today, as long as the guest's registration included a name and at least one piece of contact info (email or phone). Check out Hosts and Guests and Link Records in Online Data Review for the full breakdown. Because of that, I'm marking this idea as Already Exists.

That said, a few of you raised some real gaps in the comments below that this feature doesn't cover yet. I replied to each of you individually with the idea where that specific issue is actually being tracked, so your feedback doesn't get lost when this one closes. Really appreciate you all taking the time to write this up, it's genuinely helpful stuff.

Not all guests are able to be matched with Online Data Review. I just had one where the wife added her husband as the guest. She didn't add his contact info, since it's the same as hers. They both have constituent records that are linked. However, since the husband is a guest with no contact info, Online Data Review wasn't an option and a non-constituent record was created for him. In the non-constituent record, there is no way to match it to the correct constituent record other than making the non-constituent record a constituent record and then merging it into the correct record. It would be helpful to be able to match all guests to their constituent record through Online Data Review, even if no contact info is included in the registration.

This would be helpful to add the guest as a relationship record and have them show up as participants in the event to add them in the seating chart nxt app. That would make check in more efficient in case a group comes separately, we can see if all the guests actually attended.

When we connect a guest/nonconstituent to their actual constituent record, we lose the information that was used to register them (address/phone/email). It automatically fills in the information that was preexisting on the constituent record. The event may be the first thing they've done with us in years and their constituent record needs to be updated with the information they provided on the event registration. We have to screen shot the event info to then enter it into the constituent account - unfortunately the address they provided for the event is on a different screen than the other event info so that means opening a couple screens to get all the data we need.

Hi Daisy,

Thanks for sending along the info. I will tell you what I experienced. This
summer we have had a few in-person events. I am the person who matches
constituents in Online Data Review and generates name tags as well. This
summer I noticed that some spouses were missing nametags and after I did
some research it seemed that guests, such as spouses, were not showing up
in Online Data Review and I wasn't given the opportunity to match them.
Maybe I missed something? I don't know but I did research before I added
the idea to the idea bank. We don't have any current events coming up and I
don't have the capacity right now to test again.

Thanks,
Susan

*Susan Bosco, Development Assistant*
*she/her/hers*

*Friends of Casco Bay*
*75 West Commercial Street, Suite 301*
*Portland, ME 04101*
*Office: (207) 799-8574*
*sbosco@cascobay.org*

I think there is an important piece missing here. For example, if an alum brings a guest to an event, the guest may be given a non-constituent record, but there is currently nothing on that non-constituent record that identifies the alum who brought them, unless you happen to look at the event participation record.

This becomes even more of an issue when there is no event participation to reference. For example, if a relationship is linked to a non-constituent, there is no way to see from the non-constituent's record who they are related to. This can result in multiple non-constituent records being created for the same person because there is no clear connection back to the existing record.

Being able to link the guest to an existing constituent record and/or establish the appropriate relationship from the guest's record would give us a much more complete picture and help prevent duplicate non-constituent records.

Hi Susan Bosco, can you provide a bit more information, with an example of where this is not working as expected? Online data review for Event registrations will allow you to review and match both host and guest participants, as long as the guests entered at least name and one piece of contact information. Here's the help file that explains linking a bit better: https://webfiles-sc1.blackbaud.com/files/support/helpfiles/rex/content/on-data-review-link-records.html.

It would be great to add them as a relationship record on the constituent record without creating a new constituent record.

This would be super helpful for our reunion events. Many of our alumni are bringing the same person/people every year, so their guests are likely already constituents, but I can only link the host in ODR.

This is a great idea. We have events where people like to register as a group. For example, a professor wants to bring their students and pay for their students to attend. It would be a good way to track who the professor has paid to attend the event.