Duplicate Comparison & Merge

When you open a duplicate suggestion, the comparison view lets you review both records side-by-side, choose which data to keep, and merge them into a single record.

Similarity Score

The Similarity percentage shows how closely two records match based on weighted field comparisons. The score considers names, email addresses, phone numbers, and physical addresses. Higher scores indicate a stronger match.

The Match Analysis section lists the specific criteria that contributed to the score, such as "Exact email match" or "Similar name."

You can click Recalculate Score to re-evaluate the similarity if either record's data has changed since the suggestion was created. If the score drops below the detection threshold, the suggestion is automatically removed.

AI Recommendations

Pro Feature

AI-powered merge recommendations require the Dedupe & Merge add-on.

When available, AI analysis provides:

• Recommended Action — Either "merge" or "dismiss," displayed as a badge
• Confidence Level — A percentage indicating how certain the recommendation is
• Summary — A brief explanation of the recommendation
• Key Factors — Specific reasons supporting the recommendation

Choosing a Survivor

Select which record will be kept after the merge. The surviving record retains its ID and URL. All resources, contact methods, and relationships from the other record are transferred to it. The other record is permanently deleted.

Each record card shows:

• Name, avatar, and contact information
• Creation date
• A Resources section listing counts of associated data (donations, recurring profiles, pledges, tickets, etc.)
• A warning icon if the record appears in multiple active duplicate suggestions

TIP

Choose the record with the most associated data as the survivor to minimize the number of resources that need to be transferred.

Selecting Field Values

For each field (Display Name, Title, First Name, Last Name, etc.), choose which value to keep:

• Record 1 value — Use the value from the first record
• Record 2 value — Use the value from the second record
• Custom — Enter a custom value

Fields default to the survivor's values. When you switch the survivor selection, fields that were set to the old survivor automatically update to the new one. Custom values are preserved.

Contact Methods

Select which email addresses, phone numbers, and addresses to keep for the merged record. All contact methods from both records are listed with checkboxes.

• Contact methods are selected by default
• Duplicate entries are automatically removed during the merge
• You can edit any contact method before merging to correct typos or update information
• If a contact has a portal user account, their email cannot be deselected

WARNING

If both contacts have portal user accounts, you must deactivate one portal account before merging.

Relationships & Roles

For contact merges, select which relationships and roles to keep:

• Contact Relationships — Links between contacts (e.g., spouse, sibling)
• Organization Roles — Roles held at CRM organizations
• Household Roles — Memberships in CRM households

All relationships and roles are selected by default. Deselect any that should not be transferred.

Merging

After reviewing your selections:

1. Click Merge Contacts (or Merge Organizations / Merge Households)
2. Confirm in the confirmation dialog
3. The merge is queued and processed in the background

WARNING

Merging is permanent and cannot be undone. Review your selections carefully before confirming.

All resources associated with the absorbed record — donations, recurring profiles, pledges, installments, registrations, tickets, auction bids, pages, teams, and more — are transferred to the surviving record.

Chain Review

After a successful merge, the system automatically checks whether the surviving record has any new duplicate suggestions. If additional duplicates are found, you can:

• Review Next — Open the next duplicate suggestion for the survivor
• Done — Close the comparison view and return to the list

This allows you to resolve all duplicates for a record in a single session without navigating back to the list.

Merge Audit

After a merge completes, clicking on a merged suggestion opens the Merge Audit view. This shows a complete record of the merge:

• Surviving Contact — The record that was kept, with a link to view it
• Merged By — The admin who performed the merge, with the date and time

Field Decisions

Each field shows what happened during the merge:

Label	Meaning
Kept	The surviving record's original value was retained
Moved	The value was taken from the absorbed record
Edited	A custom value was entered during the merge

Contact Method Status

Shows whether each email, phone, and address was kept, moved, or discarded. Edited methods display the original and updated values.

Resources Moved

A summary of all resources transferred from the absorbed record to the survivor, grouped by type with counts.

Validation

The audit includes a validation check that compares the merge results against the original selections. If any discrepancies are detected, they are listed for review.

Dismissing

If two records are not true duplicates, click Dismiss to mark the suggestion as reviewed. Dismissed suggestions move to the Dismissed tab and won't reappear unless scores are recalculated.