There may be times when you want to combine two records but keep all supporter information from both. This can be the case if a supporter accidentally creates a new account with a different email address, or if you would like to combine spouses, or a business record with an individual record.

Note: Merging duplicates is available in our Essentials and Pro plans using Full Donor Management. Read more here about our Basic vs. Full Donor Management.

In REACH, an admin can merge two records from within a supporter record. Here’s how:

• From the Supporter record you would like to KEEP (Supporter A), click Actions > then Merge
• You will see Supporter A’s name at the top of the merge screen
• In the Supporter field, type in the supporter (Supporter B) you would like to bring into the current record
• Once selected, Supporter B will appear in the field
  • If you accidentally select the name of the record you are in, the Merge button will not be clickable
• This merge action will bring Supporter B into -> Supporter A
• Click Merge. The records are now combined.
• NOTE: A merge CANNOT be undone.

Note: When merging records with payment information, all payment methods will be included in the merged supporter record. Any recurring donations will continue to use the payment method already associated to the donation.

If there is information entered in a custom field, the information in the original record will be retained, and the information in the merged record will be lost.

Once you have merged records, the final step is to clean up Contact Methods:

• From the Supporter record click the Contact Methods tab
• Locate and remove any duplicated Phone, Email, or Address information
• This will help prevent system errors when trying to update other Supporter information

Merging a supporter record is what we recommend should a Support become deceased. If the deceased Supporter has a spouse that is also listed as a Supporter, we recommend following the steps above to merge the deceased Supporter’s record into their spouse’s record. You can also choose to Delete the record; however, if the Supporter has any donation or sponsorship history, the record cannot be deleted. For more on this, view our Deleting a Supporter or Sponsorship Record article.

Please also see the article on Resolving Duplicates.