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Melissa Data Address Validation

 

This integration replaces the Address Validation Core Tool and provides the recommended best practices for continuity. 

Basics

Melissa Data SmartMover is one service that runs on two schedules. No matter which schedule you use, all submitted records are evaluated the same way. The difference is which records are submitted to Melissa Data for review.

SmartMover Evaluation

Every time a Contact record is submitted to the SmartMover service, the first question is whether the Contact has submitted a Change of Address Notification form.

  • If no COA Notification form has been submitted, the associated Address record will be validated.
    • If the address is valid, the Address record is updated. The Validated field is set to "Yes," the Last Validation Attempt date is added, and additional information is added so that it conforms with USPS standards. See the Nightly Schedule for all the details.
    • If the address record is not valid, it is added to the "Fix: Address Validation Unsuccessful" View on the Addresses page so it can be corrected. The address will not be resubmitted for validation until it has been updated.
  • If a COA Notification form has been submitted:
    • The information is added to the Notification workflow so it can be reviewed and updated.
    • The old address will not be validated.
    • When a new address is added, it will be validated that night.
Records Submitted
  • With the nightly schedule, only Contact records associated with eligible addresses are submitted to SmartMover for review. Because (after the first night) these addresses will be new to your system: 1) it will be a smaller data set; and 2) there should be few (if any) change of address notifications. While the nightly schedule will also check for address changes, the results returned will primarily be validations.
  • With the monthly schedule, all Contact records associated with all Addresses are submitted to Melissa Data to determine whether any of those Contacts submitted a Change of Address Notification form. This will be a larger data set and the results will include both validated addresses and change of address notifications. While the monthly schedule will also validate addresses, the results returned will primarily be address changes.

Please note that any time this service runs (nightly or monthly), it returns both address validation and change of address notification data. And because it is evaluating both address validation and change of address notifications, the SmartMover Service will evaluate the Contact records associated with eligible addresses, not just the Address records. That's how it knows whether an individual has filled out a Change of Address Notification form.

Also note that Melissa Data does NOT geocode address records, meaning it doesn't add the latitude and longitude.

Choosing Your SmartMover Schedule

So which SmartMover schedule is right for your church? Here are some scenarios that might help you decide.

  • Gail's church does a lot of communication via postal mail and she needs to make sure that all of their address are up to date all of the time. This ensures their glossy pledge campaign mailers, summer mission trip update newsletters, and Christmas cards get delivered to the right addresses, but it also provides peace of mind when the Senior Pastor wants to send a last-minute postcard. Gail sets it and forgets it by leveraging both the nightly and monthly schedules.
    • Gail configures both the nightly and monthly schedules.
    • The first night after configuration, most addresses in the system are validated. Fewer addresses are submitted on subsequent nights because there are fewer to check.
    • The first night after configuration, the Address Change Task User receives the change of address information.
  • Rachel wants to make sure that every address in her system is correct and that every new address is entered correctly. But she's done a cost/benefit analysis and determined that they're comfortable relying on receiving updated address information from their people without relying on the SmartMover monthly schedule. Rachel can configure her system for the nightly schedule, and rest easy knowing that she's serving her church well.
    • Rachel configures the nightly schedule.
    • The first night after configuration, most addresses in the system are validated. Fewer addresses are submitted for validation on subsequent nights. See the Bonus Points information for a handy tip.
  • Because Andrew's church has moved to almost entirely electronic communication, he only thinks about postal addresses once a year, during statement season. Andrew configures the Melissa Data SmartMover to check only Donor addresses using both the nightly and monthly schedules in mid-December to: 1) validate all donor addresses, and 2) catch any donor address changes before sending out financial information.
    • Andrew makes a selection of Donors and carefully mass assigns the Validated and Do Not Validate fields to "No" on their associated Address records. He also creates a selection of non-Donors and carefully mass assigns the Validated and Do Not Validate fields to "Yes" on their associated Address records. This ensures that only addresses associated with Donors will be submitted to the SmartMover service.
    • Andrew configures the nightly and monthly schedule to run on January 1st, and the SmartMover service will validate the addresses and catch any change of address notifications.
    • The first night after configuration, the addresses associated with the Donors are validated.
    • The first night after configuration, the Address Change Task User receives the change of address information for the donor addresses.
    • Andrew is satisfied that the Donor addresses are correct, so he removes the Melissa Data Key from the Domain record. Addresses are no longer submitted for validation.

Bonus Points: Don't plan on leveraging the monthly schedule? No problem! However, we strongly recommend you populate "Address Change Task User" before the nightly routine runs for the first time. Why? If your church has never validated Addresses, it's likely there are dozens (or hundreds) of aging Addresses that are now outdated.

Remember, both schedules check for CASS + NCOA. If a move is found and the "Address Change Task User" is empty, no one is notified of this move. And that same move will be found again tomorrow night for that Address, and no one will be notified... and the night after that... and every night after that for as long as there is no "Address Change Task User." So we strongly suggest selecting one of the options below to ensure you're not resubmitting changed addresses (and using credits) multiple times.

  • Best Plan: Populate this value for the first night to handle moves, then leave it empty going forward if desired.
  • Good Plan: If you'd rather not manage moves at all, consider mass assigning any unvalidated addresses to "Do Not Validate" after the first night. If the Record did not validate and did not go into the Fix View, it is likely a move was found, but no User was specified for notification. This prevents the addresses from being resubmitted for validation.