Smart fields are fantastic tools for all sorts of reasons. With a few quick clicks they provide complex calculations powering:
Quick views into constituent engagement and giving
Segmentation
Ask Ladders
Reporting and Data Analysis
Actionable grouping mechanisms
And more
Within the smart field line-up there are the obvious cast of characters...your most recent gift, largest gift, lifetime giving, years on file, etc.
But have you ever needed to know more than just one data point for a particular smart field value? Or run into an issue with export definitions not allowing you to filter down to the level you need? For example, let’s say you need the latest gift designation, appeal, and revenue category. You may think that multiple custom smart fields would be needed to pull those, but there is an often overlooked yet powerful smart field definition that can actually help you here! It’s the “Constituent Revenue application” smart field, and rather than a singular amount, date or count, it returns any field(s) in the revenue application (or revenue split) query view for the particular criteria you define.
How you ask? Set up a new “Constituent Revenue application” smart field, using “Revenue Application” as the source view when prompted. Configure parameters as you normally would for most revenue application smart fields, specifying things like what type of value to return, for revenue or recognition, for which transaction/application types, what date ranges, etc. Then run your smart field.
After you process, you’ll notice this smart field does not show up on the constituent record smart field tab. That is because it is designed for use in query where its really shines. So head to query and beneath the Constituent>Smart Fields node you will see a new node just for your smart field. This allows you to pull any queryable field for the gift meeting the criteria you set up in the smart field definition, and also ensures that exports containing multiple data points about a particular gift remain aligned.
What ways have you or could you use this flexible smart field to power your work?