Defining ParishSOFT designations
Head of Household (abbreviated as HOH): this field drives the Family DUID, so it should always be active unless all members of the household are inactive. In most cases, the husband is designated as HOH, and the wife is entered as “wife” in the member field. But this is not always the case, so in the event the husband is inactive, the wife should be set up as HOH.
For example, Mr. and Mrs. Brown: Mr. Brown is not active, but Mrs. Brown is. Mr. Brown should be marked as “husband” under the member field, and Mrs. Brown should be entered as HOH.
Active: a parishioner who is active at their parish. Active status should not be determined by monetary donations (ie, whether or not they used their envelopes). There are also elderly and homebound people who remain a vital part of a parish, and they should not be excluded. Also, parishioners who simply are not attending Mass should still be considered Active.
Inactive: a person who has actually left the parish, such as, by moving away, by death, by registering in another parish, by specifically asking to be removed from the parish rolls. A person who is not contributing and/or not attending Mass should NOT be marked inactive.
ActOther: a non-Catholic who is active at their parish. Most often this is the spouse of a Catholic.
If they are married the active spouse should be made HOH (Head of Household), ie, the husband is not Catholic, then the wife should be made HOH. Husband should be listed as “Husband”.
Contributor Only: person who gives a donation to the parish or the diocese who is not active at a parish and/or the diocese. This could be a person who does not live in our diocese (perhaps they did previously), or a non-Catholic who wants to support a given effort of a parish or the diocese. A Contributor only will be excluded from mailing lists, because we have donors who give to multiple parishes: they are listed as “Active” at their home parish and are listed as “Contributor Only” at the other parishes. If we included Contributor Only, this donor would receive multiple letters.
Deceased: parishioner who has died. NOTE: If they were HOH and were married, the surviving spouse should be moved to HOH. If this is not done, the surviving spouse will not get correspondence.
Unknown: Please do not leave the Family Details or Member Details field blank or use “Unknown”. If you don’t know, please call the parishioner and ask.
Do Not Solicit, Do Not Mail: If a parishioner prefers not to receive any letter with a solicitation (asking for a donation), but is ok with receiving other mail (ie, a greeting or purely informational letter), there is an option called “Do Not Solicit” which Claire K. or Deb Gase can check for you, just email the Family DUID and name with your request. If a parishioner prefers not to receive any mail, please uncheck the “Send Mail” box, at the bottom right of your screen.
Note: Please do not delete inactive accounts, as this data is still relevant. Simply mark them Inactive and Unregistered, or Deceased (mark them deceased only if all members of the family are deceased).