Contacts

Why are there blank contacts in my database?

Contacts that show very little information — sometimes nothing more than a phone number or an email address — are normal in JourneyCARE, not a sign that something is wrong. JourneyCARE creates a contact record automatically whenever someone interacts with your organization in a way that needs to be tracked, and the record starts with only the information that interaction provided. Before deleting one of these records, trace where it came from: in most cases it represents a real person and a history worth keeping.

Why blank contacts appear

JourneyCARE automatically creates a contact record whenever someone interacts with your account in a way that needs to be tracked. Examples include:

  • Submitting a form

  • Completing a survey or quiz

  • Sending a text message

  • Calling your organization

  • Sending an email

  • Interacting through a connected social media channel

  • Beginning a payment or registration process

  • Other automated interactions that need to be recorded

If the system only knows one piece of information about that person, such as a phone number or an email address, that's all that appears in the contact record at first. The record is updated automatically as additional information becomes available.

Some records start with almost nothing because the interaction itself was minimal. For example, a survey can create a contact after the first slide when partial contact creation is enabled, and an inbound email workflow can create a contact from a single message when automatic creation is turned on. CSV imports and automation actions that create contacts can also produce records with few populated fields.

Why this isn't a problem

Think of your contact database as a history of every interaction your organization has had.

Not every interaction comes from someone who fills out a complete membership application. Sometimes someone simply sends a text message or starts a conversation. Rather than losing that information, JourneyCARE creates a contact so that:

  • The interaction is preserved

  • Future conversations remain connected to the same person

  • Additional information can be added over time

  • Your team has a complete history of communications

Having contacts with limited information is generally expected and does not negatively affect your database.

How to tell where a contact came from

Two places in the Contact Record reveal why a contact exists: the activity timeline and the contact source information.

Option 1: Review the activity timeline

Open the contact record and open the Activity section using the clock-shaped icon in the right column. The timeline shows events in chronological order, making it easy to determine whether the person submitted a form, sent a text, called your organization, registered for an event, completed a survey, or triggered another automated process. The earliest activity often explains why the contact was created. See Viewing Member Activity for how to read the timeline.

Option 2: Check the contact source

Open the contact record and look near the bottom of the left-hand information panel. JourneyCARE records how the contact was originally created: the date created, the method of creation, and the user or process that created the record. Depending on the interaction, you may see details indicating that the contact came from a form, workflow, import, conversation, API, or another source. This is often the quickest way to understand why the contact exists. The full walkthrough is in Find where a contact came from.

The source tells you how the record was created; the activity timeline shows what has happened since. Review both for the complete picture.

Should I delete blank contacts?

Usually, no. Even a contact with very little information may represent an important communication history, and deleting the record removes that context.

Deleting a contact also removes its conversations, notes, opportunities, tasks, appointments, manual actions, and community group owners, and stops any active campaigns and workflows for that contact. Deleted contacts can be restored within 60 days, except in HIPAA-compliant accounts where restoration is not available.

Consider deleting a contact only if you're confident it was created accidentally and contains no information or history you need to preserve. The deletion steps are in Create and manage contacts.

Best practice

Instead of thinking of JourneyCARE as a list of members, think of it as the complete record of everyone who has interacted with your organization.

Some contacts will eventually become members, customers, donors, volunteers, or event attendees. Others may simply represent a single question or conversation. Both are valuable because they provide a complete picture of your organization's relationships over time.

Was this helpful?
Was this helpful?