CS Data Managers, LLC Frequently Asked Questions

We have tried to make these FAQ's as easy to navigate and understand as possible. For each question, there will be the basic explanation, and if a more detailed explanation is required there will be a link that will open a pop up window for that. If you have any problems with these faq's please feel free to email us.

On the upper right hand side of the main screen, there is a white drop down box where searches can be done. To search for a person, type in the last name, then a comma, then the first name and click the Find button. The percent sign can be used if spelling is in question. Type in a few of the first letters of the last name and then the percent sign a comma and first name. For example, "Schu%, tom", would pull up a list of people with the first name tom (or some form of that name: tom, thomas, tommy) and whose last name starts with the letters Schu. ( Schultz, Schultze, Schumacher etc).

To search for a business, type in the name as it is. The percent sign can also be used with this type of search. "Inter%" would pull up a list with all business that names start with "Inter" such as International, Interchange, Intercontinental. Detailed Information

Once a record is found, click on the Edit Record button on the upper right hand side of the screen to edit that record. In the Edit screen, information in that record can be added to or changed. To navigate through the fields, either use the mouse to click on the field you want to edit, or use the tab key to move from one field to the next. When the edit button is first clicked, the mouse is placed in the first field in the record. When done adding to or editing information, click on the Save button on the bottom right hand side of the edit screen. Detailed Information

To add a record. click on the Add New Record button (or use Alt, a ). This will open a blank record. After all the information for that record is entered, then click on the Save button on the lower right hand side of the screen to save that record. Detailed Information

In some rare cases a record will need to be deleted. To do this, first and foremost, make sure you really want to delete the record. Have the record showing on the screen that needs to be deleted. Click the Delete Record button. A message box asking if you are sure you want to delete the record will pop up. You can either click the Yes to delete it, or click the Cancel button to cancel deleting that record.

To combine duplicate records first make sure that the records are indeed duplicates.

Some things to check for: are they Sr. and Jr. records, check for middle initials, check the phone numbers etc.

Once duplicate records are verified, note the Record Number of the duplicates. This id number is in the upper right hand corner of the screen.

Click on the Combine Two Records button near bottom right of the screen and another screen will pop up. It looks like the above example.

Place the first record number in the first field at the top of this screen and the second record number in the second field.

Click on the lookup button and information for each record displayed under the record numbers will show up.

When you are sure these are the 2 records you want to combine, click on the Next button on the lower right side.

There are several tabs that will need to be gone through. Click the Next button when finished with each screen. In each of these tabs you can change the information by clicking in any field and editing.

The last tab will be the Finish tab. Once this button is clicked the 2 records are combined. When the database is finished combining them, the new combined record will be displayed on the screen.

Please make sure and go back over the record that you have just combined. One thing you need to double check is any businesses that may be listed. When the combine record feature is used, Powerbase does it's best to combine any businesses that appear to be the same.

However, in each seperate record (before the combine) someone may have added the businesses with different spellings. For example, Missouri Chiropractic Association may be added and spelled out like this. And someone else may have created the duplicate with the business listed as MO Chiropractic Assoc. In this case, when the combine feature is used, Powerbase will combine both records into one but will add 2 business listings (one with each spelling as above) in the new combined record.

One thing you need to be extreemly careful about when deleting duplicate businesses in a record....make sure that there aren't any contributions associated with that business before you delete it. If you delete a business from a record and it has contributions attributed to that business...when you delete it, the contributions are also deleted.

You can check this by scrolling to the right in the contribution section at the bottom of the main record until you come to the column heading "NUM". This shows which business (or person) the contribution is attributed to. 000 means the main person gave the money. 999 means the spouse gave the money...and then each business in that record that has given money will be listed as 001, 002 003 etc.

You need to go into each contribution (click 'Edit',then doubleclick on the contribution attributed to that business and use the pull down menu at the cop of that screen to choose the one business that you will be keeping (moving it's association away from the business you will be deleting.

If one of the duplicates has just a very few contributions listed, and the other basic info is the same in both records (names-or if one dupe is a seperate record for a spouse or the main person; address, phone etc), it is usually better to just note down the few contributions from the duplicate record, delete it. Then go into the first record and add the contributions you noted from the duplicate one.

To split up a record because of a separation or divorce make sure the record to split is on the screen.

There is a button on lower right side "Split record into 2". Click on this button and a message asking if you are sure you want to split the current record (following screenshot) will pop up. Choose Yes if you are sure you want to split the record, and No if you want to cancel.

A confirmation message showing the two new Record ID numbers will pop up. Click on the OK button finish.

A contribution can only be added while you are in the Edit screen of a record. Once in the Edit screen click on the Add Contribution button to open the contribution screen. This screen has several fields in it. The first is where you would put the amount of the contribution. The second is for the date the contribution was received. Next choose if the contribution is counted towards the Primary or General Election. Next there is an Event Code field. There are 3 places to place any Host Code you may have. Next place the Reference number for this contribution in. Next put the deposit number in. There is also a place for you to place the check number from the check in. Make sure the Who Contributed matches who the contribution actually was from. The field right after who contributed is for the type. Make sure if the money was from an individual, that the type is also individual. If the contribution was from a business choose Partnership etc. Once all the contribution information is in click on the OK button on upper right side to save that contribution. Then once all contributions for a record are added click the Save Record button. After
your contributions are saved, you will see them listed as shown in the example below (of course the following is a test example, so yours will have the amount, date and campaign code you've entered)

When a contribution is from a business that is a Partnership, it is handled differently. When you need to show that a business partnership gave money, and keep track of how much of that contribution is attributed to which partners you would do it as the following describes.

You would chose which business name contributed, then pick "Partnership/LLC in the "Type" dropdown box(#1). Then fill in the rest of the information like you would for a contribution from an individual. You then go to the partner in that record and click their name for "Who Contributed", make sure and pick "Individual" for the "Type", fill in the rest of the information again...YOU MUST REMEMBER TO CLICK THE "Memo Entry" box for the partner though. If you don't click the memo entry, it will show up as a double entry for that contribution. You then go to however many other partners are being attributed with that one contribution and do the same for them, remembering to check mark the "Memo Entry" box for each of them.

For example: ABC Cleaning Company, LLC gave $2000 to your campaign. There is a signature from John Doe (who we guess is one of the partners). You would then contact the company to see how they wanted that $2000 split between the partners, ( if they haven't specified already with paperwork accompanying the check). They tell you they have 3 partners, John Doe, James Smith, and Jack Alope. They want to split it evenly between the partners.

So you would put in one contribution that is under the business (entering it in one of the three partners record in the database), ABC Cleaning Company, LLC for the full $2000 (with partnership/LLC marked and "Memo Entry" NOT marked.

Then for each of the partners you would enter their portion (in this case 2 of them would get $666.67 and one $666.66) as a contribution, with Individual marked in "Type" AND the "Memo Entry" box CHECK MARKED then down in the "Other Info" field you can put the name of the partnership (business) that gave the money.

So in this example, each of the three partners have records in your database each with the business ABC Cleaning Company, LLC listed as their business. John Doe would have 2 contribution entries (the contribution attributed to the Business/Partnership-$2000, and the partner entry-$666.67), and James Smith and Jack Alope would each have one entry (partner entry-$666.67 and $666.66 respectively)

To delete a contribution you must be in the Edit screen of a record, highlight the contribution that needs to be deleted by clicking on it, then click on the minus button on the lower left hand side of the screen. A confirmation message will pop up

Notice how the information for that contribution shows on the confirm delete message box. When sure this is the contribution that needs to be deleted, click on the Yes button. The contribution selected will be deleted. Remember to then Save the record.

To pull or create a list from the database, first do an advanced search to get the list with the criteria needed. Once the list is on the screen notice the options available at the bottom of the screen. Records can be selected by clicking on the Select All button, then copied by clicking the Copy to Clipboard button. You would then open the spreadsheet software you are using and paste the information from your search list into it. Or you can use the Copy to Spreadsheet button, in which case your default spreadsheet program will open up. It will be blank still, but you can use the spreadsheet's "Edit - Paste" function, and the list will be copied over to it.

Call sheets can be printed from here too. Notice the Print Callsheet for Selected Records button.

To do a mail merge letter you would use the advanced search options to get the list of people you want to mail to. Then you would open the spreadsheet program you are using and follow the instructions in that for mail merging.

To generate thank you letters you would need to first get your list of your donors that need thank you letters. Do this by clicking on Tools, Thankyou File. You will get the Thank You Screen as shown above.

At the bottom left side you can choose "not sent" and you will get a list of those that you've received contributions from, who have not been marked as having a thank you letter sent yet.

You would now click on the Copy & Open Spreadsheet to open your default spreadsheet program. You would then click Edit, Paste (in your spreadsheet program) to get that list transfered to the spreadsheet.

You can now use your companies mail merge program to transfer the donor info over to your Thank You letter and envelopes.

Note, if you want to have the Thank You letter sent to a different person then the actual donor, you will need to manually do this alteration on your spreadsheet. For example, if a wife gave money, but you want the thank you to go to both the husband and wife. Once you have the thank you info in the spreadsheet, you would just need to make the changes to Mr. and Mrs. etc there in the spreadsheet.

Numbering the contributions you receive and your bank deposits, by a special reference number that you designate saves times and confusion later on. Most times, starting with "1" for check copies and continuing on works best. All checks that are in one deposit will be noted with that same deposit number. In the example shown above, the deposit number is '101' (D101) and the reference numbers are 44 through 47.

In the Add Contribution screen there are fields to place the check/deposit numbers (as shown by the arrows in the above image). Place these reference numbers on the check copies in order to find this certain contribution at a later time. It works best to place the check/deposit numbers on the upper right hand side of the check copy, preferable in red ink. This makes them stand out and easier to find. A good rule of thumb is to also place the deposit number for any given deposit on the deposit ticket which should be stapled to the front page of that deposit. By using reference numbers you cut your time in finding any particular contribution check copy later on.

To verify that the bank deposit matches what is entered into the database, select Tools then Verify Deposit. This will pull up a screen with a field at the top to enter the bank deposit number you have assigned to that deposit. After entering the deposit number and clicking on the Lookup button, a list of all contributions with that deposit number will show up in the space below it. When you are going thru and checking a number of deposits, you can use the up and down arrows on the Lookup deposit number field to move forward/backward through your deposits.

Clicking on any of the dark blue bars on top of the columns will place them in order by that column information. For example, clicking on the top bar of the Name field will put the list will in alphabetical order by the name. Clicking the top bar of the Reference number field will put the list in order numerically by the reference number. At the bottom of this screen the total for that deposit, the total number of records with that deposit number and the total for inkind for that deposit number are listed.

If you notice something in a deposit that you've just entered that needs changed on each recored in that deposit you may do so with the "Update ENTIRE deposit with..." button. For example, you've entered a batch of 35 contributions that should have all been coded ML01 for Mailing #1. However you forgot to put the code ML01 in the Event line of the Add Contribution screen. You can do a lookup of the deposit number you just entered. Say it was deposit #5. Enter 5 in the top field to look up that deposit. Once you get the list of all contributors that have that deposit number, click on the Update ENTIRE deposit with... button. You will get a screen that gives you 4 options you can choose from. They are pretty much self explainatory. Once you've chosen the change you want to make you must check mark the box to the bottom left. The Make Changes button will not become available to use until you've marked this box. Once you've checkmarked the box a message will pop up letting you know that the Make changes button will become accessible.

However you need to make certain that the change you are wanting to make to the deposit is for EVERY record in that deposit. Each and EVERY record in that deposit will get the changes that you specify (date change, event code change, host code change, or election change). You must be certain you want every record changed in the deposit. There IS NOT an UNDO option for any changes made here. You would have to go back in to each record and change each record manually in order to try to undo a change you've made thru the Change Deposit option.

To file a report you would click on Reporting then Preview/Generate at the top of the main screen. You will get a popup window with the information necessary for you to file your report. There are 8 tabs across the top that are used for various parts of the report (receipts/expenditures etc). Most of the tabs and information inside the tabs is extreemly easy to understand and any options you may have are for the most part self explanitory. The first tab is the Select report period. Choose the reporting period, then you click 'Retrieve Report Data' button on the right side. This will pull in your contributions/expenses etc. You then need to go thru each of the tabs to double check your information. Once you are sure everything is correct you can eithor Save it or Print it

When someone dies, if it is a record with a single person on it, it is better to keep that record in but to make sure it is marked so no mail is sent to their address.. If you were to just delete the record, you run the risk of someone at some later time re-adding that person to your list. Remove the address from both home and business, putting in "Deceased" in street address. Then on the Additional Info tab, choose the # 1 option for "Receives no mail". Also, a code should be made for this, DECD for example, with the meaning of Deceased. Then add this code into their record. Go to the Additional Info tab, click on the Codes/Keywords Plus button. Type in your code (in this example DECD) and click the add button. Then save the record.

If it is a husband/wife record and the wife dies, change the prefix to just "Mr." and tab down to the second prefix, hit delete, leave the wife's name in first name field but placing (dec'd) after it. Make sure and change the salutation field to read just the husbands name.

If it is the husband that has passed away, change the prefix to just "Mrs." place the wife's name in the first name field. Then delete the second prefix and place the husbands name in the second first name field again with the (dec'd) after it. Change the salutation to read the wife's first name alone. Remember to save the record once this is all corrected.

If you should receive a request from someone to be removed from your mailing list, it is better to keep that record in but to make sure it is marked so they are not contacted again. If the record is just deleted, the risk of someone re-adding that person to your list is there. This could cause problems when the person again receives mailings etc. from your campaign. It is better to remove the street address (in home and business), phone numbers and email addresses then place a note in the Notes Tab (Ex. 01/01/2004: Mr. Smith requests we remove him from our mailing list. Please do not contact.") Down in the Additional Info tab you would then choose the # 1option for "Receives no mail".

To check on what the codes mean click on the Codes:Add/Edit/Lookup button on bottom right side of the main screen. Another screen will pop up, where you can lookup, add or edit the codes in your database. A code can be looked up by the actual code itself, or by the meaning. To see if there is a code in the database with a certain meaning, make sure the radio button "Meaning" is checked. For example, to see the codes that have to do with the city of Kansas City, type in "Kansas City", then click on the radio button "by Meaning" and a list of all the codes that have the name Kansas City somewhere in the description will show up in the results table.

To add a new code must first make sure that code isn't already in the database. Type in the code, making sure the radio button "by Code" is marked. Then hit the Search button. If that code is already in, it will show up in the results table. If it isn't in the database then the result table will be blank. To add the code click on the add arrow to the left side of the results table, it will place the cursor in the first column. Then type in the code, tab over to the description and place the description of that code there. Remember, a good description saves confusion later on. Then tab again and choose what kind of code that it is, Host, Event etc. Once all the fields are filled in click on the Save button on the bottom right of window to save that code.

When adding a contribution, you can enter who the host was or what event it was by using the codes you have made up for that person/event. By using these codes you can then later go in and do a search to find out how much money a Host or an Event has raised for your campaign. By doing an advanced search you can look for specific codes. Use the advanced search to search for the host code or event code that you want to know the dollar amount for. Detailed description here.

Event codes are codes (usually 3 or 4 letters or numbers) that you make up to track what event raised that contribution. Using event codes helps to keep track of the total money raised for any given event. You need to make sure that when the contribution is added in the contribution screen, that the event code is entered also. A good way of making up these codes would be to use letters and numbers to show where the event took place (LA04 - Los Angeles event in 2004 or KCAT could be Kansas City attorney event).

Before you can add a new code you need to make sure it isn't in the database already. To do this click on the Code Lookup button on the lower right side of the main screen. You will get a screen that looks like the above image. If you know what code you are wanting to check on type it in the Code /Meaning text area at the bottom and click the Search button. If this code is in it will show up up in the results table above. If it isn't in you will get no results in the table. Once you are sure the code you want to use isn't already in you can add it.

To add it simple click on the Add Code button on the upper left side of the screen. You then type in the code, meaning, type of code (event/host etc) and click on the Save/Search button (which will automatically change to say Save/Search when you start adding a new code.) Make sure the description you use states the event/date or if it is a host code the full name of the host and date also.

When you are first searching to see if a code is already in, you can search by meaning if you aren't sure what the code would be. For example if you wanted to see if there was a code already for a St. Louis event, type in "St. Louis" in the Code/Meaning text area, and click the "by Meaning" radio button, then click the Search button.

Host codes are codes (usually 3 or 4 letters) that you make up to track who the host of the fundraiser was. It is usually easier to use the first letter of the first name and then the first 3 letters of the last name. (Ex. Tom Smith would be TSMI) You will more then likely run into times when this method results in a duplicate code. When this happens you need to use your best judgment for the letters on the new host code. If you have a host named Tom Smithe, you could go with TIMS, or TSME.

Call CS Data Managers, LLC now and talk with our technical expert Scott Sorrell at 573-364-4950.

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