Add a Contact

Overview

This guide explains how to add a new contact record to the Operative system. In Operative, contacts are categorized as either Individuals or Organizations. This process allows you to create a record for a person, capturing their personal details, contact information, and any relevant notes or tags.

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. From the main dashboard, navigate to the Contacts section using the left-hand menu.
2. Click Person in the navigation panel under Contacts.
3. In the top-right corner of the screen, hover your cursor over the New person button.
4. Click the + New Person button.
5. You will be directed to the Add new person form. Fill in the necessary information for the contact.
   • Required Fields: At a minimum, you must provide a First name and a Last name.
   • Optional Fields: You can also enter the following information for more complete records and reporting:
     • Contact address (Street Address, City, Zip Code, State, Country)
     • Email address
     • Phone number (optional)
     • Occupation
     • Employer Name
     • FEC ID number
     • External ID
6. (Optional) Scroll down to the Add a note field to include any custom notes about the individual. These notes will not appear on an FEC report.
7. (Optional) Use the Add tags field to create or assign relevant tags for filtering and organization.
8. Once you have entered all the desired information, click the Add person button at the bottom of the page to save the record.

Expected Results

After successfully completing the steps, the new individual's record will be created and saved in your workspace. You will be redirected back to the Person contacts list, where the newly added contact should now appear.

Troubleshooting

• If you are unable to save the contact, ensure that you have filled out the required "First name" and "Last name" fields.
• If you do not fill out a complete contact record (missing address, occupation, etc.), the contact record may be flagged as “Not Ready”. This will prevent the contact and associated transaction from being included in reports. See System Flags for more details.

Additional Notes

• While only a first and last name are required to create a contact, filling in additional fields is highly recommended for reporting and data management purposes.
• You can create a new record for an Organization using a similar process by first navigating to the Organization view from the Contacts section of the left-hand menu. Organizations have a similar set of fields, as well as the ability to add an EIN.
• When adding an Organization, at a minimum you must provide an Organization Name