Assign employees, volunteers, organization chapters, etc. (entered as constituents in your database) as being the responsible point-person (however you define that) for your constituents who live in a specific postal code range. Once you have this module configured, you are able to query on the person responsible for constituents in a certain area or send emails to the responsible constituent directly from an associated constituent record. This is useful, for instance, if you wish to assign delivery drivers or solicitors to a geographic range of zip codes.

Permissions

Prior to using the Geographic Responsibility module, you must first assign the Data-Related Permissions to the appropriate user(s). Without this permission assigned, a user will not be able to access the Geographic Responsibility Module.

There are two permissions related to Geographic Responsibility: Geographic Responsibility and Geographic Responsibility Type. The Geographic Responsibility option is for assigning permission to Add, Edit and Delete information on the Records tab and the Lookup screens. The Geographic Responsibility Type option enables and disables the Add, Edit and Delete buttons on the Responsibility Types tab.

1. From the main menu, select Manage > Roles.
2. On the Roles panel on the left-hand side of the screen, highlight the Role which will be working with Geographic Responsibility.
3. On the Data-Related Permissions panel, located on the lower half of the Roles screen, select the appropriate Add, Edit, View, and Delete permissions located next to the Geographic Responsibility Configuration and/or Geographic Responsibility option.
4. Click the Save button to apply these changes.

Configuration

Prior to working with Geographic Responsibility, you will need to configure the module to meet your needs.

1. From the main Salsa CRM menu select Tools > Geographic Responsibility > Configuration. The Geographic Responsibility Configuration window opens. Two tabs are presented: Records and Responsibility Types.
2. To start configuring Geographic Responsibility, click the Responsibility Types tab first. This tab enables you to enter the different areas of responsibility a constituent may be assigned in regards to the population you serve. Responsibility Types are the areas of responsibility a person may have within specified postal code ranges. For instance, you may have an individual who is responsible for a defined area so they would be a Responsible Constituent or an ‘arm’ of your organization may be a Responsible Chapter.
3. Click the Add button to add new responsibility types.
4. Click OK.
5. Once you have configured your Responsibility Types, click the Records tab. The Records tab is where you will select the constituents responsible for certain postal code ranges. Responsible constituents can be individuals or organizations, based on your need, but must be constituents in your database.
6. On the Records tab, select the Add button. the Add Geographic Responsibility window opens.
7. Click the Responsibility Type from the dropdown field. These are the responsibility types you configured previously.
8. Choose the Responsible Constituent. This field works in the same way as the Constituent Search field.
9. Enter the Start and End Ranges. These ranges are based on postal codes entered in your database. If you have a constituent, employee, chapter, etc. that is responsible for dealing with your clients in a specific postal code range, enter the postal code information in these fields.
   
   NOTE: You can add partial values for the postal code ranges, but if you use 150 to 152, for example, it will include the postal code range 15000 — 15199 only.
   
   
10. Enter a Note if necessary and select the Save button. This constituent now appears on the Geographic Responsibility list.
11. Continue to enter responsible constituents as necessary.

If you enter a responsible constituent with a Start or End Range that overlaps with another responsible party, the Range Overlap Warning window will open. This alerts you if different constituents have been entered as being responsible for any of the same postal code range. You can click OK to accept this overlap or Cancel to cancel saving this entry.

Search by Postal Code

The Geographic Lookup screen allows you to search specifically on the Responsibility Types and postal codes entered in your database. This allows you to pull quick information based on the constituents assigned to specific postal codes.

1. From the main Salsa CRM menu, select Tools > Geographic Responsibility > Lookup. The Geographic Responsibility Lookup screen opens.
2. Select the Responsibility Type for which you are looking to view.
3. The Lookup after field allows you to enter the number of characters that must be entered in the following Postal Code field before Salsa CRM will return any matches in the Results panel.
4. Enter the Postal Code for which you are searching for those responsible. The Results are returned in the bottom panel.
5. From the information returned, you are able to open the Responsible Constituent record by selecting the name line. You can also send an email or print an envelope or label by selecting the corresponding icon next to the listed contact information.
   
   NOTE: If more than one person is assigned to the specified postal code, then all responsible constituents will be listed side-by-side with all pertinent information listed.

Constituent Based Geographic Responsibility

The Geographic Responsibility module makes it easy to see who has been assigned as the Responsible Constituent or 'point person' for an individual constituent.

1. Open the constituent record for which you wish to view the Geographic Responsibility information.
2. Click the Other Contact Info link.
3. On the Address Panel, select the icon  for the Geographic Responsibility information.
   The Geographic Responsibility pop-up window opens.
4. The top portion of the window lists the address of the constituent record which you are viewing while the bottom panel of the window displays the responsible person for the postal code range that is entered on the constituent’s record. From this pop-up you can select the name of the Responsible Constituent to view their constituent record.
   
   NOTE: If no Responsible Constituent is assigned, just the address shows on this pop-up window.
   
   
5. Select the Email icon, located next to the email address, to send the responsible constituent an email. When you select this icon, an Email window appears on which you can enter all necessary information and add an attachment. By default, the Subject line is populated with, “Salsa CRM Information for: constituent name”. NOTE: To prevent, potentially, hundreds of emails from being saved as a note to the Responsible Constituent's record, the Create Constituent Note function has been disabled.
6. Select the Printer icon next to the Address listing to print an envelope or label.
   
   NOTE: If there is more than one Responsible Constituent for the postal code entered, the responsible constituents will display side-by-side.