What Types Of Attributes Does Vega Have?

Attributes allow you to classify and organise contacts using labels that are meaningful to your organisation. They make it easier to segment contacts, build queries, automate workflows, and report on your data.

An Attribute Type is the category that groups similar attributes together.

An Attribute is the individual value assigned to a contact within that category.

For example:

Why use Attributes?

Attributes provide a simple way to identify contacts who share common characteristics, regardless of how or when those characteristics were recorded.

For example, you may run multiple events throughout the year. Each event records who accepted the invitation or attended, but if you want to find everyone who has ever attended any event, searching each individual event can be time-consuming.

Instead, you can automatically assign an Event Attendee attribute whenever someone attends an event. This allows you to:

• Easily find everyone who has attended an event.
• Build mailing lists for future events.
• Report on event attendees without searching multiple event records.
• Trigger automated communications based on attendance.

Similarly, when a contact makes their first donation, you could automatically assign a Donor attribute. If they later join a recurring giving programme, they could receive a Regular Donor attribute. These attributes can then be used to trigger onboarding or stewardship workflows.

Common Attribute Types

Below are some examples of how organisations commonly use attributes.

Contact Preferences

Use attributes to record communication preferences, such as:

• No Email
• Email Only
• No Phone Calls
• Newsletter by Email

Contact Type

Identify what kind of contact the record represents.

Examples include:

• Individual
• Corporate
• School
• Trust
• Media
• Client
• Sponsor

Contact Source

Track how a contact first engaged with your organisation.

Examples include:

• Website
• Facebook
• LinkedIn
• Event
• Prospecting

Donor Type

Classify contacts based on their giving relationship.

Examples include:

• Prospect
• One-Off Donor
• Regular Donor

Major Donor Journey

Attributes can also be used to track where a supporter is in a stewardship journey.

Examples include:

• Prospect
• Research
• Proposal Requested
• Proposal Accepted
• Proposal Rejected
• Pledge Received
• Gift Received

Ethnicity

If appropriate for your organisation, attributes can also be used to record demographic information.

Examples include:

• European
• Māori
• Samoan
• Chinese

Best Practice

Attributes work best when they describe information that you are likely to query, report on, or use in automations.

Before creating a new Attribute Type, ask yourself:

• Will I want to search for contacts with this characteristic?
• Will this information be useful for reporting?
• Will this trigger communications or workflows?
• Could an existing Attribute Type already be used instead?

Thoughtfully designed attributes make your database easier to manage and help ensure your data remains consistent over time.

“Some content in this article may have been developed with the assistance of AI tools and reviewed by staff.”