John Smith. Johnny Smith. Jonathan Smith. Is this the same guy or three different people? If you don’t know for sure, how can you ensure the accuracy of your volunteer database? The sad reality is you can’t – without a deduplication tool. In a time when volunteer hours are increasingly more valuable, you simply can’t afford to be guessing who is who.
Here’s the good news: VolunteerHub has a built-in feature we call “intelligent” deduplication. What makes this feature special or, as we say, “intelligent”? Good question. Let’s take a look.
The Problem with Traditional (i.e. Manual) Deduplication Tools
Here’s the problem. Many so-called deduplication tools simply help you administer the manual deduplication process. If guesswork is still involved, our research indicates that list quality suffers greatly. In some cases, more harm than good can be done, especially if the user is unfamiliar with your system or your volunteers.
When researching this topic, this is the type of feedback we received regarding manual deduplication tools:
- “I still end up having to guess whether or not the record is a duplicate.”
- “We have over 1,000 volunteer records. Having to guess which records are duplicates still consumes substantial resources at our organization – tool or no tool.”
- “Personally, I don’t like how the user has the discretion to guess whether or not a record is duplicated or not. That’s a big risk that we’re still dealing with.”
Our Intelligent Deduplication Is Super Easy – Just Point & Click
You may be wondering what makes VolunteerHub’s Deduplication feature so “intelligent.” Well, as the name implies, our tool does most of the thinking for you. The secret lies in our proprietary deduplication algorithm. We won’t bore you with all the technical details. Instead, let’s look at an example.
Step 1: Open the deduplication tab. From the main navigation, click “People” and then select “Deduplicate.”
Step 2: VolunteerHub automatically runs its deduplication algorithm, instantly identifying those records most likely to be duplicates. Simply point and click on the desired action for each record. When done, click “Process Duplicates”, and you’re good to go.
Voilà! In a matter of minutes (or possibly seconds), your Hub is purged of duplicate records, allowing you to spend more time on volunteer engagement.
[Summary] Intelligent Deduplication
So let’s recap. What makes VolunteerHub’s approach to deduplication so “intelligent”? Here’s a breakdown:
- No guesswork – Our proprietary deduplication algorithm does the thinking on your behalf.
- Fewer errors – Since we take the thinking out of the equation, your volunteer information will be more accurate than ever.
- More time for engagement – Our automated approach to deduplication will save your team hours of frustration. Spend that extra time engaging – instead of dedup-ing.
- Saves money in the long run – Since most volunteer systems (such as VolunteerHub) are priced based on the number of volunteers in your database, our intelligent deduplication will ensure your volunteer list is lean. An accurate list translates into less money spent on duplicate volunteer records.
Learn more about VolunteerHub’s volunteer database solution.
