batch updating our membership database

[GloriaS78]

our members pay dues each year. if they do not pay their dues by a certain date they are suspended. When they pay we capture the check number. what is the best way to implement this in constant contact database. Can we use a CSV file to apply batch updates? should we just create a new membership list field for each year. List called "2023Paid"..."2024Paid"...etc ?

[William_A · Accepted solution]

Hello @GloriaS78 ,

I think your ideas would be most sound, either have:

• a single custom field for "Dues to-date" that'll have yes or no for the contact, or
• make a new custom field each year called something like "Dues status 2023" that'll have "paid" or "unpaid" for the individual contacts' info.

Updating this info will be simple, as once you have the custom field created, the file you keep with that info can be imported and match the contacts' updated statuses to the corresponding custom field. 

Otherwise, if you want really simple, you could just re-import the contacts each year via that file, and have lists devoted to their paid status - "2023 paid members," "2024 paid members," etc. that you'd be sending to.

Another option as well would be to use tags, and tag the contacts accordingly as "2023 paid" or "2023 unpaid." This way you can create lists based on the tagging, narrow-by-tag when scheduling, etc.