“Dear Bob” works fine on a family membership renewal. On a thank-you letter to a board member who just gave $25,000, it can read as careless. Many Altru organizations want donors addressed formally, members casually, and organizations by contact name, and they’d like Altru to apply the right style automatically depending on who the constituent is.
The short version: Altru’s name format defaults are set once for the database, not by constituent type, segment, or constituency. As far as we know, there is no native way to say “use this default for major donors and that one for members.” If you need to confirm that for your version, test it in a sandbox or ask Blackbaud support. What you can do is get very close with a few deliberate setup choices.
How name formats work in Altru
Each individual constituent can carry one or more name formats: an addressee line (who the mail is to) and a salutation (how the letter opens). When a record is created, Altru applies the database-wide defaults, so every new constituent gets the same style. Name formats are also typed, which means a single record can hold several, for example a formal addressee and a casual salutation, each labeled with its own type.
That second point is where the workaround lives. Instead of trying to make the default different per group, you give different groups different typed formats and choose the type when you send something.
A setup that gets you most of the way
1. Pick a default that suits the majority
Look at who makes up most of your constituent records. At most museums, zoos, and gardens that’s members and ticket buyers, so a friendly default (first name salutation, full name addressee) usually makes sense. The goal is for the default to be correct for most records, so you only manage the exceptions.
2. Create named format types for your exceptions
Set up a small number of clearly labeled types, such as:
- Formal salutation for donors and board members (“Dear Dr. Alvarez”)
- Joint addressee for couples, including partners with different last names
- Recognition name for donor walls and annual report listings, if you track that separately
Keep the list short. Five well-used types are worth more than fifteen that nobody remembers to fill in.
3. Add those formats to the constituents who need them
For a small group, such as your board or top donors, adding formats by hand on each constituent record is realistic and lets you get every honorific right. For larger groups, check whether a global change or import can add name formats in bulk in your environment. Test on a few records first, because a bad bulk change to names is painful to unwind.
4. Choose the format type in each communication
When you set up acknowledgment letters, appeals, renewal mailings, or exports, select which addressee and salutation type to use. Most outputs let you specify a preferred type with a fallback to the default when a record doesn’t have it. That fallback is what makes this approach work: the donor letter asks for “Formal salutation,” and anyone without one quietly gets the standard version instead of a blank line.
Keeping it from drifting
The weak point is new people. A member who becomes a major donor next spring won’t automatically get a formal salutation, because nothing in Altru triggers it. Plan for that:
- Build a gap query. Find constituents in your donor or board group who have no formal salutation on file. Run it monthly, or before each major mailing, and work the list.
- Make it part of gift processing. When a gift above a set amount comes in, checking the name formats becomes part of the acknowledgment step.
- Watch records that change. Marriages, divorces, deaths, new titles, and new household members are the usual sources of wrong salutations. Whoever updates the record should update the formats too.
- Spot-check before big sends. Export the addressee and salutation columns for a large appeal and scan them. Odd results like “Dear Mr. and Mrs. Smith and Jones” are easy to see in a list.
Households and organizations
Households and organizations don’t behave the same way as individuals. Household names are usually built from their members, and organizations are typically addressed through a contact person. If your mailings combine individuals and households, check how each output handles them before assuming one format type covers everyone. A quick test with a few households of different shapes (married couple, single parent, two adults with different last names) will show you what you’d actually be sending.
When the workaround isn’t enough
Sometimes the rule is more complicated than typed formats can handle, for example a salutation that depends on giving level and a personal preference flag. In that case, some teams export the data and build the final name fields in a spreadsheet or mail merge, using the Altru formats as raw material. It works, but it lives outside Altru, so write down the logic so the next person can repeat it.
Quick answers
Can I set one default for donors and another for members?
Not natively, as far as we know. Use a single default plus typed formats for the exceptions, and pick the type in each communication.
Will changing the database default update existing records?
Don’t assume it will. Defaults generally apply when records are created. Test in a sandbox before changing anything, and plan a separate cleanup for existing constituents if you need one.
