The Vacant Address Identified Task

Description

The Vacant Address Identified Task is a Data Stewardship Task. To create the task, TrueGivers reviews the address vacant field returned by USPS. When the address vacant value returned is 'Y' or Vacant, TrueGivers will mark the address as bad in your CRM. This means your address is considered a non-mailable address.

An address is marked as vacant when the CASS/DPV services has found the address in the USPS vacant table. This happens when an address was considered active in the past, but is currently unoccupied. An address is found to be vacant when it has been unoccupied for over 90 days or for these reason's indicated by USPS: vacant notice.

Addresses with an address vacant field of Vacant should not be mailed to.

Criteria

  • address_vacant = 'Y' (yes, vacant)
  • address_move_record_type = 'A'
  • no move address is returned
  • donor is not deceased

TrueGivers reviews the address status returned by USPS and that no move has been identified.

Task Details

Tasks will include a caption indicating the Donor's address had been identified as vacant by USPS. The description indicates that the you should review the address and confirm it with your donor. Here is an example:

Vacant Address Identified Task Details
Vacant Address Identified Task Details

Due Dates and Expiration Dates

TrueGivers adds Due Dates and Expiration Dates to your tasks so that you do not waste time reviewing 'old' tasks that are no longer relevant.

The Vacant Address Identified Task has a Due Date set for 3 days after the task was originally created, and a no Expiration Date set. We do not set expiration dates for Data Stewardship Tasks because we want you to take an action on these tasks. Data Stewardship Tasks should at least be reviewed to ensure your data is up to date.

Example

In the CRM, Jane Doe's primary address was downloaded the following address:

1410 N Marion St
Apt 7
Denver, CO 80218

This address is considered valid, but USPS returned an vacant flag. We will create a task recommending that you confirm that this is your donor's current address.

TrueGivers will create a task because of vacant address flag. Let's say this record was sent for processing on 5/1/2019:

  • The Due Date will be set to 3 days after 5/1 which is May 4, 2019.
  • The Expiration Date will not be set.

Steps You Should Take

Remember: Stewardship Tasks provide a specific action you can take on a specific record to improve data stewardship – and ultimately your relationship with your donor. Stewardship Tasks serve two purposes.

  1. They help you keep your database as clean and ready-to-use as possible. This helps you practice regular maintenance and avoid clunky batch updates. These are the Data Stewardship Tasks like this one!
  2. Tasks are designed to help you stay in regular communication with your donors by leveraging the data in your CRM. We prompt you to take small steps that bolster your relationships. These are Donor Stewardship Tasks.

TrueGivers will provide some simple steps within the task itself. Use the Task Buttons to help keep track if you have started and completed a task or if you decided to ignore a specific task. TrueGivers provides the following buttons:

  • Approve
  • Complete
  • Decline
  • Delete

After you have determined what action you would like to take on the task, your first step is to review the data. Because TrueGivers uses third party data, you should always confirm the data provided is correct.

For the Vacant Address Identified Task, review the street number, street name, city/state, and zip code. Use the free tool - SmartyStreets - to help you pinpoint if this address is still considered vacant. Confirm with the donor their address. Then, update the address within your CRM and remove any 'Do Not Contact' or Bad flags on the account. Complete the task once you have made these data decisions.

NOTE: If USPS does not remove the vacant flag on this address, we will continue to mark this address as vacant. If this is happening and you have confirmed that your donor lives there, you can turn off updates on their individual account within TrueGivers. Just login, search for their account, and switch the Updates toggle to Off.


Data and Donor Stewardship Tasks

TrueGivers processes your database daily to look for new data matches to existing accounts, new accounts, and accounts you made edits to. With each process your database receives CASS/DPV/NCOA/RDI, Deceased Information, and Individual & Household data enhancements. Then we create Stewardship Tasks.

Want to learn more about our tasks? Head over to our Stewardship Tasks page.