Contacts Overview 💜

Contacts are the foundation of DonorDock. They store information for Individuals, Households, and Organizations and connect everything you do in DonorDock, including gifts, activities, tasks, asks, notes, documents, badges, and marketing lists.

Each contact is assigned a Stage based on giving history, helping your team understand where each relationship stands. Contacts may be created manually, imported in bulk, or created automatically through online giving, forms, and integrations.

Use this guide to understand what a contact is and how contact records fit into your overall workflow. For step-by-step actions, see the linked articles below.

What a Contact Record Includes

• Contact information and communication preferences

• Gifts, pledges, memberships, and soft credits

• Activities such as emails, calls, meetings, tasks, and Asks

• Notes and documents

• Badges and marketing lists

• Relationships to households and organizations

• Assigned relationship manager (Owner)

Contacts can be created automatically if your organization uses tools such as Online Giving, Signup Forms, or integrations like GoFundMePro or Zapier.

Contact Types and Stages

Contact Types

DonorDock supports three contact types:

• Individual

• Household

• Organization

Each type helps organize how people and organizations relate to your nonprofit.

Contact Stages

Each contact has a stage based on giving history:

• Prospect: No recorded gifts

• Donor: Gave within the last 24 months

• Lapsed: Previously gave, but not in the last 24 months

Stages update automatically and may also be updated manually when needed.

The lapsed timeframe is set to 24 months by default. Administrators may customize this timeframe in Organization Settings

How Contacts Are Created

Contacts can be created in multiple ways:

• Manually from Contacts or Quick Add

• Imported in bulk using the Import tool

• Automatically from Online Giving, Signup Forms, and integrations

Otto Tips

🧭 Keep contact records complete so reports and nudges work as expected
⚓ Assign Owners to help your team manage relationships clearly
🌊 Use stages to prioritize outreach
🛟 Archive contacts instead of deleting whenever possible
🗺️ Store important context in notes and documents