Salesforce.org recommends using the Affiliations object to address the complexity of tracking donors who have relationships with many different Accounts. The Affiliations object is designed to manage and represent the various roles and relationships that a Contact can have with multiple Accounts. This is especially useful for non-profit organizations that need to track complex and multifaceted relationships between donors and organizations.

Understanding Affiliations in NPSP:

Affiliations are used to track the various roles a Contact has with different Accounts.

Each Affiliation record links a Contact to an Account, along with a Role and a Status.

This allows organizations to manage and report on the different ways Contacts are connected to multiple Accounts.

Setting Up Affiliations:

In NPSP (Nonprofit Success Pack), navigate to the App Launcher and select "NPSP Settings."

Under the Affiliations section, you can configure different settings related to Affiliations, such as default role values and Affiliation mappings.

Creating and Managing Affiliations:

When creating a new Contact or updating an existing one, you can add Affiliation records to link the Contact to various Accounts.

Navigate to the Contact's detail page, and in the Affiliations related list, click "New Affiliation."

Fill out the required fields such as Account, Role, and Status, then save the record.

Using Affiliations for Reporting:

Affiliations can be included in reports to analyze the relationships Contacts have with multiple Accounts.

For example, you can create a report to show all Contacts and their respective roles in various organizations, which helps in understanding the network and influence of donors.

Benefits of Using Affiliations:

It provides a structured way to manage complex donor relationships.

Enhances reporting capabilities by allowing detailed analysis of donor connections.

Improves data accuracy by avoiding duplicate records and ensuring each Contact's relationships are properly tracked.