Summary
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ABE allows people to be tracked in various cohorts according to how they are linked together. Options include organizing people by groups, committees, attributes, educational involvement, and personal/organizational relationships.
Key Takeaways
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When determining where best to track constituents you want to treat as a group in ABE, you have the following options:
Group
Constituents who have something in common with a school or college, a campus unit or WFAA AND with each other. Members of groups can be assigned roles and start/end dates. Examples are the Chancellor’s Olin House Neighbors or the Wisconsin Real Estate Alumni Association. To aid in searching, all ABE group names begin with a site code and end with the word “Group” (e.g., CHO Olin House Neighbors Group can be found by entering CHO*Group in the constituent search).
Committee
Constituents who serve on UW and WFAA governing boards, councils, and committees. Like groups, members can be assigned roles and start/end dates. Unlike groups, the committees themselves have the options to give anonymously, coordinate events, solicit revenue, set fundraising goals and set committee goals. Also unlike groups, a committee is a type of constituency and has a dedicated Committee Search. Committees in ABE all begin with a site prefix (e.g., School of Education Board of Visitors, UW Hospital Authority Board). For tracking non-UW-affiliated board members, see Organizational Relationships, below.
Affinity List Attribute
Constituents that a campus/school/college/unit wants to track for communication purposes, but otherwise would not be included through other data elements in the system (such as donor or degree information). These lists tend to be “Friends of” lists to track people who want to receive communications or be invited to events. An example is the Wisconsin School of Business UPDATE magazine list, which includes people who want to receive the magazine but who do not otherwise have a direct affinity to the WSB through degrees, donations, or employment. In ABE, affinity list attributes all begin with a site code prefix (e.g., BUS Friends of UPDATE Magazine Mail List).
Educational Involvement
Constituents who participated in campus-sponsored activities, received an honor or award, or completed a medical residency/fellowship while attending the UW as a student. Educational Involvement categories in ABE begin with a site prefix (e.g., BUS MBA Consortium or ISP Study Abroad). They are stored with a constituent’s educational history in the Education tab.
Organizational Relationships
Constituents who serve as board or special committee members of non-UW-affiliated organizations, such as the Madison Symphony Orchestra or Wisconsin Manufacturer’s & Commerce. Although these organizations are not directly affiliated with UW–Madison, university units might have relationships with the board members or the organizations and have a vested interest in tracking them for communications or events.