Overview
A duplicate is where two or more constituents in Donorfy appear to be the same person or organisation. Donorfy uses a set of matching rules and a confidence score to identify possible duplicates so you can review, merge, or ignore them.
Duplicate checking can happen:
While adding constituents (manually, via integrations, Forms, or imports), and
Across your entire database, either automatically each week or on demand.
You can then resolve duplicates from Data Management, Duplicates using tools such as Single Matches, All Matches, and Auto merge.
Enabling or Disabling Duplicate Checks
Duplicate checking can be switched on or off in your settings.
Go to Settings, then click Configuration.
Select Duplicates Settings.
Enable or disable the duplicate check as required.
⚠️ Important:
Only users with access to Data Management will see the Duplicates option when duplicate checks are enabled.
How Duplicate Checking Works When Adding Constituents
Constituents can be added to Donorfy in several ways:
Manually via the user interface
Automatically via Donorfy’s standard integrations
Through Forms
Imported via the File Uploader
In each case, Donorfy uses the data supplied to reduce the chance of creating duplicates.
Manually via the Keyboard
When you add a new constituent manually (using the orange Add button at the top of the screen):
As you type details (name, email, address, etc.), Donorfy searches for matches or near matches.
Possible matches are displayed on the right-hand side.
You can either:
Continue and add a new constituent, or
Click one of the suggested existing constituents if the person or organisation is already in Donorfy.
This helps prevent duplicate creation at the point of entry.
Donorfy’s Standard Integrations
When constituents arrive via standard integrations, Donorfy uses the confidence score algorithm (see below) to find possible matches.
If a match is found with a confidence score of 13 or above:
Donorfy does not create a new constituent.
Instead, it uses the existing constituent that was matched.
If multiple safe matches are found, Donorfy uses the oldest constituent (the one with the earliest Date Added).
Through Forms
For constituents added via Forms, Donorfy also uses the confidence score algorithm.
For Individual constituents:
A match is made to an existing individual where the confidence score is 13 or higher.
If the score is below 13, a new Constituent is added.
For Organisation constituents:
Donorfy matches to existing organisations where there is an exact match on:
Organisation name, or
Organisation name and postal code.
In these cases, the Form uses the existing Organisation profile.
Non-exact or multiple matches result in a new Organisation being created.
Imported via the File Uploader
When importing constituents via the File Uploader, Donorfy checks for possible matches using:
First name.
Last name.
Email.
Phone numbers.
Address line 1.
Postal code.
Donorfy applies a similarity algorithm to cope with misspellings and variations:
Email must be an exact match.
Phone numbers must be at least a 90% match.
Name and address fields must be at least a 50% match.
Constituents that meet these thresholds are presented as possible matches, and the import row is ignored until you action it (e.g. confirm a match or proceed as new).
For more information, see the related article on importing constituents.
Checking for Duplicates Across All Constituents
You can scan your entire Donorfy database for duplicates in two ways:
Weekly Automated Check
Donorfy runs a weekly duplicate check at weekends.
If potential duplicates are found, emails are sent to users who have opted in under Manage your Notifications (accessed from your profile button, top right).
If no users have opted in, the notification emails are sent to all Administrators instead.
Manually Initiated Check
You can start a manual duplicate scan at any time:
Go to Data Management, then click Duplicates.
Click Re-scan for Duplicates.
This starts a background job. The scan can take several hours depending on the size of your database. You can continue to use Donorfy while it runs.
You will receive an email when the scan has completed.
How the Confidence Score Algorithm Works
Each constituent is checked against every other constituent using a series of matching rules. Each rule adds a confidence score. Higher scores indicate a stronger likelihood that two records represent the same person or organisation.
General rules:
Personal addresses are used for individuals.
Work addresses are used for organisations and groups.
Constituents that share a linked address will not be matched.
A group will not be matched with its main contact.
Constituents of different types (e.g. Individual vs Organisation) will have their score reduced to 2, even if they match a rule.
Match Methods and Confidence Scores
Below are the match rules and their scores:
National ID + First name + Last name – score 15
Only applies when Preferred language and culture is set to da-DK in Settings > Configuration > System.
Email (where there is no First Name, Last Name, First line of address, Mobile or Phone) – score 15
Email + First name + Last name – score 14
Email + First name – score 13
First name + Last Name + Address line 1 + Postal code (all 4 fields must contain data) – score 13
Phone or Mobile (where there is no data in Email, First Name, Last Name, or Address fields) – score 13
External Key – score 12
Email + Last name – score 12
Email (where profiles feature conflicting data – e.g. both First and Last name fields contain conflicting content) – score 10
Phone – score 10
Applies where there is no Email, First Name, Last Name, first line of address, Mobile, or Phone; or where those fields may be populated but do not match.
First line of address + Postal Code (exact match) – score 9
First line of address + Postal Code (fuzzy match) – score 8
National ID (where profiles feature conflicting First and Last name data) – score 7
Only applies when Preferred language and culture is set to da-DK.
Postcode + First Name + Last Name – score 6
Postcode + First Name – score 5
Postcode + Last Name – score 5
First name + Last name – score 4
Used where there is contradictory content in any of First line of address, Mobile, Phone, or Email fields.
If all these fields are empty (no contact information), it will not be considered a match.
Email Type Matching
Email matches must also match on email type:
Personal.
Work.
Other.
If two constituents share the same First name, Last name, and email address, but the email is recorded as Personal for one and Work for the other, they will only match on First name + Last name, not on email.
Resolving Duplicates
You can review and resolve duplicates from:
Data Management, Duplicates.
The screen is divided into two main sections:
Single Matches.
All Matches (Multiple Matches).
The number of potential matches is shown in brackets next to each section.
Viewing and Filtering Matches
Use the number drop-down to increase how many matches are displayed per page.
Use the confidence score slider to filter by confidence range (e.g. focus on high-confidence matches first).
You can also use the Search box to find specific constituents. The search applies to whichever view you are currently on:
Single Matches.
Multiple Matches (All Matches).
Single Matches vs Multiple Matches
Single Matches – where a 1-to-1 potential match has been found.
For more detail, see Duplicates – Single Matches.
Multiple Matches (All Matches) – where one constituent has numerous potential matches.
For more detail, see Duplicates – All Matches.
From these screens you can choose to:
Merge records.
Mark pairs as Not duplicates.
Leave them for later review.
Auto Merge
To reduce manual work, Donorfy offers an Auto merge option that uses high-confidence matches.
Auto merge uses matches with a confidence score of 13 or more.
Only those pairs that meet this threshold are merged automatically.
For setup steps and full conditions, see the Duplicates – Auto merge article.
Logs and History
Donorfy keeps a record of duplicate decisions and merges.
Not Duplicates
View the list of constituent pairs marked as not duplicates at:
Data Management, Duplicates, Not Duplicates.
Deleting a pair from this list means they will be reconsidered in the next duplicate check.
Merged
View the merged log at:
Data Management, Duplicates, Merged.
This shows all merges performed via:
The Duplicates tool.
Constituent profiles (manual merges).
Communication Preferences on Merge
When two constituents are merged, communication preferences are resolved as follows:
Donorfy takes the most recently updated value from either the target constituent or the source constituent.
This excludes the yellow “unknown” state, which is not considered a preference.
This ensures that the most up-to-date, explicit preferences are kept after a merge.