What is Matching?
Matching refers to how Organizer matches profile data that you import and enhances those profiles by matching with Atlas by Murmuration data. Matched profiles in Organizer display a combination of the data that you have imported and the Atlas by Murmuration data. Unmatched profiles contain only the data that you’ve imported.
The matching logic in Organizer emphasizes unique, identifying information on a profile, such as first and last name, contact information, unique IDs, and data of birth, to determine whether or not profile data should be merged with prior imported profile data. Matching logic also determines whether there is an Atlas record to which a profile should match. Organizer’s logic takes the following fields into account:
- First and Last Name, and Middle Name/Initial if present
- Email Address
- Phone Number
- Address 1, City, State, and Zip Code (and Address 2 if present)
- Date of Birth
- Profile ID or Murm ID
- External ID
The overall matching logic is straightforward. The more of these data points potential matches have in common, the more likely it is that they describe the same person; if too many data points conflict or the data points in common are not unique or specific enough, the case might not be strong enough for the platform to make the match.
For example, when you import a profile and the platform identifies potential matches:
- Two records with the same first name, last name, phone, email and full residential address likely represent information for the same person and the records are matched
- Two records with the same last name and phone number but different email addresses, first name, and first initials may not be the same person, so are not a match
- A record that you imported has the same first and last name, state, zip code, and year of birth as an Atlas record, so the records are match and the profiles displays the data you imported enriched by the Atlas data
- If you import more data such as address 1, email, phone, then Organizer matching logic will run again and may or may not match with the same Atlas record.
How Unique IDs and Identifying Information are Used In Matching
Organizer uses specific profile fields to merge profiles and find matches in Atlas. In the “Unique IDs” and “Identifying Information” sections below, you will find explanations of how these fields contribute to match rates and match accuracy, along with our recommendations.
Unique IDs
We highly recommend including one of the three types of unique identifiers (IDs) in your imports. Including an ID (particularly the Murm ID) will give you the best possible match rates and match accuracy. Including other identifying information may also improve accuracy.*
- Profile ID is sufficient for Organizer to merge the records in your file with the specified profiles
- Murm ID is sufficient for Organizer to merge the records in your file with the appropriate Atlas profiles, based on the specified Atlas records
- External ID is sufficient to merge the records in your file with Organizer profiles that have the same External ID (of the same type), in most cases.*
*If your import has too many data points that conflict with the data in Atlas (such as different first name, last name, email, and phone), the record may not be matched.
Identifying Information
When you are unable to include a unique ID in your imports, you should include as much identifying information as you can. As outlined in the table below, the more specific and unique identifying information you include, the better your match rates and match accuracy will be.
| Field | How is this used in Matching? |
| First + Last Name | First + Last Name is used in combination with other information to help Organizer find a match in Atlas or profiles that you’ve imported. Mismatches of name can also break potential matches. Typically, First + Last Name is not unique or specific enough to cause a match on its own; there are, for example, multiple John Smiths in the same state. For truly unique names in Atlas, First + Last Name can be sufficient for a match; but the match would be improved with other information such as phone, email, address, or date of birth. |
| Phone and Email | Phone and Email used in combination with First Name and Last Name will help Organizer find a match in Atlas or profiles that you’ve imported. Particularly unique emails or phone numbers alone may be used for matching without the name if other information such as year of birth or state and zip code are included. |
| Physical Address | Physical Address used in combination with First Name and Last Name will help Organizer find a match in Atlas or profiles that you’ve imported. Including as much of the address as possible will lead to better matches. For example, for a less common name the state may be enough to find a match, including the city and state would help lead to a better match. Full Addresses would lead to much better matches than partial addresses. |
| Date of Birth | Date of Birth used in combination with First Name and Last Name will help Organizer find a match in Atlas or profiles you’ve imported. Year of Birth can also help identify matches but may not be unique enough. |
Prioritizing Contact Data
When there are multiple email addresses, phone numbers, names, and other identifying information included in a profile, Organizer prioritizes one for primary display whenever only one is needed, such as in the individual profile view in your Organizer Communities. For Physical Address, one address will be displayed for each contact type: personal, professional, or unknown), and voter registration.
The prioritization follows this approach:
- Your data is prioritized over Atlas data because you are the expert on your own profiles and communities, especially for individual profiles.
- More recently added data is prioritized over older data because it’s more likely to be the most up-to-date. This includes profile data collected during outreach.
In addition, Organizer will not display contact data that has been marked “unusable” or “opted out” during your outreach efforts and will not use that contact information in outreach efforts.