Why Timing Matters
Cleaning your donor database three weeks before a major campaign launch is too late to fix everything — but it's the right time to fix the most impactful problems. This guide prioritizes by ROI per hour of cleanup time.
Step 1: Deduplication (Highest ROI)
Run your duplicate detection tool and merge duplicate donor records. For each merged record:
- Keep the record with the most complete information
- Combine giving history from both records
- Keep all contact preferences from both records (if one record has a "no email" flag, the merged record must honor it)
For organizations without built-in deduplication, export your donor list and sort by last name, then first name. Consecutive identical names with different IDs are probable duplicates. Sort a second time by email to find email-based duplicates.
Sohovi automatically finds every duplicate in your dataset — including near-matches — and shows you exactly which rows are affected.
Step 2: Deceased and Invalid Record Removal
Pull your list of donors not contacted in the last 3 years. Run them against:
- Your organization's internal knowledge (ask gift officers — they know)
- SSDI or a commercial deceased screening service
- NCOA for address updates
Mark deceased donors appropriately — don't delete them, as gift history and estate contact information may still be needed.
Step 3: Solicitation Flag Audit
Pull all donors with special solicitation flags:
- Do not mail
- Do not email
- Do not call
- Do not solicit
- Contact limit (e.g., "max 2 per year")
Verify these flags are in your export suppression. For your major campaign, these donors must be excluded before you finalize your send list.
Step 4: Email Validity Check
For email appeals, run your email list through a validation service. Remove hard bounces from prior sends. Flag addresses with obvious typos. For records with no email at all, check if the donor has given an email at any point (sometimes captured differently in different records).
Sohovi lets you set up validation rules for any column and instantly see which rows fall outside them — no code or SQL required.
Step 5: Wealth Screening for Major Gift Identification
Before a major campaign, run your full active donor file through a wealth screening service (DonorSearch, WealthEngine). This identifies donors with major gift capacity you may not have cultivated — often hidden in records where cumulative giving didn't cross your major gift threshold because of duplicate records.
The wealth screen also updates income and asset data that affects your ask amounts.
Final Check: The Test Population
Before your final export, send the appeal to 25 test records you know well. Does each receive exactly one copy at the correct address? If anyone receives it twice, your deduplication is incomplete.
