How Duplicates Are Found

BetterUnite uses one set of rules to decide whether two records are the same person. The same rules apply when someone checks out or registers, on the Duplicate Contacts page, in the warning shown while you add or edit a contact, and in the Better.AI duplicate insight card. So a pair flagged on one screen is treated the same way everywhere else.

How a supporter is matched at checkout and registration

When someone buys a ticket, gives, registers, signs up or is imported, BetterUnite looks for an existing contact in this order:

The same email address, in either the primary or the secondary email field. Capital letters and extra spaces are ignored. If several contacts share the address, the one whose first and last name match is used. After that, the primary email wins over the secondary, an active contact wins over an inactive one, and the oldest record wins.
No email given: the same first and last name and the same phone number, in any format. For example, (303) 555-0100 and 303.555.0100 are the same number.

A matching name alone is never enough to attach a gift to an existing contact. When nothing matches, a new contact is created.

What the Duplicate Contacts page lists

Label	Meaning
EMAIL MATCH	The records share an email address, in either email field, and the names agree or are missing. Almost always one person entered twice.
SHARED EMAIL	The records share an email address but belong to people with different names. This is usually a couple or a family using one address, which is not a duplicate. Check before merging.
PARTIAL MATCH	Individuals with the same first and last name, or organizations with the same name. Records that also share a phone number are listed first.

Records of the same group are listed together, with email matches first. Capitalization and extra spaces are ignored everywhere, so "Jane@Example.org" and "jane@example.org" are the same address.

Keep a record off the list

If two records share details but are different people, open one of them for editing and turn on Exclude from duplicate checks. Excluded contacts are left out of the Duplicate Contacts page, the warning shown while editing and the Better.AI duplicate card. Checkout matching still uses them.

Merge duplicates

On the Duplicate Contacts page, select two or more records from the same group and choose Merge Contacts. Giving, registrations, bids, memberships, pledges, activity and relationships all move to the record you keep.