Reviewing and merging donor-submitted updates¶

In short: Donor submissions are held for you to review before they change any record. Save them from the donor's profile (the "Donor update information received" banner) or from the Donor Responses list (Responses to Process → Save Selected). New captures can be auto-matched to an existing donor when Merge Duplicate Donor Captures? is on.

Overview¶

When a donor submits their details — through a personal update request or the public capture form — the submission is held for you to review before it changes any donor record. You decide whether to save the changes onto the existing donor, merge them with an existing donor, or create a new donor. This is also where you find people who filled in your public capture form: they appear here as submissions, not in donor search, until you save them.

📌 Note: Submissions come from two places: a personal update request sent for an existing donor (see Requesting updated information from a donor), and the public capture form used by brand-new donors (see Configuring donor settings and capture forms).

Before you start¶

You'll need:

The Manage Donors permission.

Submissions never overwrite a donor automatically — you always review and save them.

Reviewing a single submission from the donor's profile¶

Step 1: Open the donor¶

Open the donor's profile.

Step 2: Open the submission¶

If the donor has submitted, you'll see a banner reading "Donor update information received on ..." with a Save button. (The Manage menu also shows Save Info in place of Request Info.) Click Save.

Step 3: Compare and save¶

A window opens showing the donor's current details next to the submitted details so you can compare them. Confirm to apply the submission — the donor record is updated with the new name, contact details, address and tax information, and a note is added recording who saved the update.

Reviewing submissions in the Donor Responses list¶

The Donor Responses page lists submissions across two tabs:

Responses to Process — submissions waiting to be saved. Filter them with Response Types: All, only New (brand-new donors from the public form), or Updates (existing donors who updated their details). Tick the ones you want and click Save Selected to save several at once.
Outstanding Requests — info requests you've sent that the donor hasn't completed yet. Each shows when it was requested, its expiry date, and whether it is Active or Expired; you can filter by status.

A side panel, Duplicate Handling, shows whether new captures are set to Merge by Default or save as a New Record by Default, with a link to the donor settings to change it.

The Donor Responses page with the Responses to Process and Outstanding Requests tabs, the Response Types filter (All / New / Updates), the Save Selected button, and the Duplicate Handling panel.

New donors and duplicate matching¶

A submission from the public capture form is for a brand-new donor (no existing donor is attached). When you save it, ActiveDonor checks for an existing donor that matches on email or phone number:

If Merge Duplicate Donor Captures? is switched on in your donor settings, a matching submission is automatically merged into the existing donor instead of creating a duplicate.
If there's no match, a new donor is created from the submission.

When you save several submissions at once, the result message tells you how many were merged with existing donors and how many new donors were created.

What this does not do¶

It does not change any donor automatically. Every submission waits for you to save it.
It does not match duplicates on name or address — only on email or phone number. A slightly different email or phone still creates a separate donor (you can merge donors manually afterwards — see Merging duplicate donors).
It does not let a donor submit twice — a second attempt shows "This profile has already been updated."

Common issues & solutions¶

What you see	What it means	How to fix it
"This profile has already been updated."	The submission has already been applied, or the donor tried to submit twice.	No action needed.
"Please select at least one donor update to save."	You clicked Save Selected without ticking any responses.	Tick one or more responses in the list first, then save.
A duplicate donor was created from a capture	Matching only happens when Merge Duplicate Donor Captures? is on, and only by email or phone.	Switch on Merge Duplicate Donor Captures? in donor settings. A different email/phone still creates a separate donor — merge them manually (see Merging duplicate donors).
A request shows as Expired	The donor didn't complete it within 7 days.	Send a fresh request from the donor's profile — see Requesting updated information from a donor.

FAQ¶

Where do I see who filled in my donor form? On the Donor Responses page, under Responses to Process. Filter by New to see only brand-new capture-form submissions.

Why isn't a person who filled in the form showing in donor search? Capture-form submissions are held for review and don't become donors until you save them — see A donor filled in my form but I can't find them — where do they go? for the steps.

How do I save several submissions at once? On Responses to Process, tick the ones you want and click Save Selected.

Why was a duplicate donor created from the form? Either Merge Duplicate Donor Captures? is off, or the email/phone didn't match an existing donor. Matching is by email or phone only.

What does "This profile has already been updated" mean? The submission was already applied (or the donor submitted twice). Nothing further is needed.

A donor filled in my form but I can't find them — where do they go?
Requesting updated information from a donor
Configuring donor settings and capture forms
Merging duplicate donors
Editing a donor's details