How to Archive a Deceased, Out of Business, or Inactive Relationship
Unfortunately, there are times when the relationship with our supporters changes—someone has passed away, a business has closed, or there is some other reason why they're no longer actively involved with your organization. These relationships likely still have a history with your organization though, so you don't want to delete them and erase their record. Instead, you can archive the relationship so that it is still available to you, but will not be included in outreach efforts.
What does it mean to archive a relationship?
There are a number of things that happen automatically when you choose to archive a relationship. The relationship is:
- Unsubscribed from all email lists.
- Flagged with "Do Not Email" so it cannot be included in future email campaigns.
- Excluded from results when inputting data, like when selecting a relationship for a transaction.
- Excluded from relationship search results by default. An option to include archived relationships is available.
- If the relationship is the primary household member, you will be prompted to choose a new primary member. (See "What if the head of the household passes away?" below.)
Archived donors still appear in reports (like Top Donors) when applicable, and their transactions and interactions are all preserved.
How do I archive a relationship?
To archive a relationship, simply choose Archive relationship from the action menu in the top left of the relationship page.
You'll be prompted to select a reason for archiving the relationship (Deceased, Lost Contact, No Longer in business, or other) make that selection and then choose "Archive Relationship".
If you're archiving the primary household member, you'll see additional options to choose a new primary household member. Please review the section below, "What if the head of the household passes away?" for important details.
An interaction is automatically created for the relationship to document the date and reason for archiving the relationship.
What if the head of a household passes away?
Often, all donations for a family are aggregated under a primary household member. Similarly, the contact information for the household might exist only in that primary household member's relationship record. Before archiving the primary household member's record, we recommend that you take a look at how the household is configured in your MonkeyPod to be sure that important information is retained with the surviving household members, as needed.
Check out our article about householding in MonkeyPod, if this is new to you!
When viewing a relationship record, all household relationships are listed immediately below the name at the top of the page—so it's easy to see if a relationship is the primary household member.
Make a note of the current household members before you start. Then go through the following steps.
Archive the primary household member and choose a new primary member
From the relationship page for the deceased (or inactive) head of the household, chose Archive relationship from the action menu in the top left. In the archive dialog, choose the the reason for the relationship being archived ("Deceased" in this example). Then select another household member as the new "parent" record for these relationships. Click "Archive Relationship" to save the changes. This will result in all other household members (including the archived/deceased relationship) to remain in the household under the new primary relationship.
If no relationship is selected, then the household is essentially disbanded—no household connections will remain for any of the relationship records.
Verifying household contact information and public name
Next, verify that you have the contact information in the new primary record since the archived relationship will no longer be used in email campaigns, or appear (by default) in search results.
Edit the relationship details for the surviving household member who will be the new primary household member, and check the following fields:
- Under the "Householding" section, verify the household name.
- Under the "Contact Info" section, verify address, email, phone. Check the "How to Credit Publicly" option to make sure it accurately reflects the new household. (You can choose from the individual name, alias, or the household name.)
- Click "Save" at the bottom of the page.
Crediting the surviving household member(s) with past activity
If there are past financial transactions on the deceased family members record that you would like to be credited to the household, edit the relationship record for the deceased and change the option to "Credit <surviving household member> with aggregate activity?" This will make sure past donations tied to the deceased household member will be reflected for the surviving household member. Click "Save" at the bottom of the page to save your changes.
Note that this option doesn't actually move the transactions to the new primary household record. Instead, the totals for sales, contributions, and pledges are attributed to the new primary household member in reports and on relationship cards. It can take a few minutes before the transaction totals are updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I reactivate an archived relationship?
Sure! Archived relationships can be reactivated by choosing Reactivate relationship from the action menu in the top left of the relationship record. Note that reactivating the relationship will not re-subscribe them to any email lists or reinstate them as the primary household member.
How can I search for an archived relationship?
By default, archived relationships will not be included in search results. If you'd like to have them included though, just check the option to "include archived" when you're configuring your search.
The advanced relationship search includes the option in the "Basics" tab:
All archived relationships will be marked in the search results:
