Automated address finder (AAF)

Overview:

Boiler plate
How it works
The AAF in the donation and petition overview
The AAF in the donation detail view
 

Boiler plate:

Our Automated Address Finder (AAF) validates every signed up address as soon as it is uploaded to our server. The validation reviews the address and calculates the percentage the entered address matches the validated address. An algorithm then decides which address is used for the export. This feature allows you to achieve higher address quality without additional effort!

How it works:

Any address collected via a donation or petition form is automatically validated by our AAF. The record then contains the original address entered by the Fundraiser and the address our AAF has found, as the best possible match from all addresses stored in the system. Then the AAF compares those two addresses and calculates the deviation of the signed up address from the validated address. If the deviation is small, the validated address is automatically used for the export. This allows you to achieve higher address quality without any effort. If the address entered on the form can not be validated, or if the entered and the validated address match only slightly, the donation / petition is automatically set to "Held". Affected records are NOT listed in our API.
To clear the record for exporting you have to first decide which address shall be used for the export (see: The AAF in the "Donation detail" view). If you work with CSV exports, you always find the original and the validated address in the export.
 

The AAF in the donation and petition overview:

If the AAF is activated, you will see percentages displayed in the "Address quality" column in both the donation overview and the petition overview. These show the percentage the entered address matches the validated address. Basically there are three possible results of validation: 

1. If the percentage is 100% the signed up address is correct and is not changed
   
   
2. If the percentage is lower than 100% but larger than 70% and the AAF-algorithm marks the validated address as correct, the validated address will be used on exports.
   
   
3. Records that show a red sign and have a low matching-percentage the AAF can either not find a validated address based on the signed up address or the validated address deviates to much and it is not safe to say that the validated address is correct. Those records are set "Held" and a human needs to decide whether to keep the signed up address or the validated address.

Enter the donation detail view by clicking the donation ID to determine which address is used for exports and to remove "Held" the AAF has set.

The AAF in the donation detail view:

Here you can see both the "Original Address" and the "Validated Address". In the drop-down "Address used in exports" you can see which of the two data sets is used for the export.

If the dataset was set to "Held" due to insufficient address quality, you can adjust the status at any time under the "Donation Status" section, as with any donation record. There, you have the option to redefine the status according to your requirements and additionally provide a reason ("Status reason") as well as a comment for your adjustment.