Learn how to create Account Custom Fields in this step-by-step guide. This help guide will cover how to create, view, and use custom fields.
Recommended Reading Before Your Start
Content
Custom Fields
Creating Custom Fields
Viewing Custom Field Data
Reporting on Custom Field Data
Custom Fields on Standard Forms
Importing & Batch Updating Custom Field Data
Segmenting Email Audiences using Account Custom Fields
Account Custom Fields
Custom Fields enable you to collect and track any information not already available as standard account fields. Account Custom Fields are the most useful type of custom fields because account custom fields:
- appear on both individual and company accounts.
- are available as search criteria and columns in most reports.
- can be added to your standard and custom Neon forms.
- are supported for self import and account batch update.
Creating Account Custom Fields
1. To access and configure Account Custom Fields, navigate to Settings cog and select Global Settings.
2. Under Accounts - Custom Fields, select All Accounts.
3. Select New Custom Field to add a new account custom field.
4. Enter the Field Name and select a Account Type.
5. Select Display Type. The display type controls the input method for the field. Make a text input field using the one-line or multi-line text types. To allow the user to select one or more options from a preset range, use a drop down, checkbox, or radio. It is important to select the appropriate input type to ensure that your data is collected in the desired format.
Viewing Account Custom Field Data
All account custom fields will appear in the About section of the account detail page.
If you've created groups for your account custom fields, each group will have its own configurable widget that you can move around the About section as needed. All non-grouped fields will appear together in a single widget.
All account custom fields will display in the About section, even if the field does not contain any data for the account which you are viewing.
Reporting on Account Custom Field Data
You can also search on account custom fields using the Account Custom Fields search category in reports.
Account custom fields can be viewed in reports by clicking the Edit Columns button.
From the field selector, enter the search term "(C)" to find all account custom fields, as shown below.
Custom Fields on Standard Forms
When you create a custom field, it is available for use on your standard forms, but it is not enabled. You must add the field to each form.
The Read Only setting can be used if you want logged in constituents to have access to view this information but you do not want them to be able to change the data shown. If left un-checked, constituents can log in and modify this answer at any time.
When you finish editing, click the Save button and your custom field will be saved.
If your created a radio, checkbox, or drop down field, then you will be prompted to arrange the order of your field options, as shown in the example below.
Click Submit to save.
Your custom field will now be included in the list of available fields when customizing your front-end forms.
Importing & Batch Updating Account Custom Field Data
You can import and batch update Account Custom Fields using the Import Manager. These are the only types of custom fields supported by account batch update. When importing new accounts or batch updating existing ones, you can find your Account Custom Fields under the Custom Field mapping column, as shown in the example below.
Segmenting Email Audiences using Account Custom Fields
Account Custom Fields are useful for segmenting your email lists. When creating an Email Audience via a database search, you can limit the scope of the search to constituents that have a specific custom field or field option. You can search on account custom fields using the Account Custom Fields search group in the Email Audience Report used to build audiences.
For example, you might want to create a field to ask donors whether or not they wish to receive email from your organization. Create an Account Custom Field to track this data. You can then add that custom field to your standard donation form. Add a new database search to include/exclude people from your email audiences based on their response to this account custom field.
Similarly, you could create a custom newsletter subscription forms using an account custom field to collect email preferences.