Using Custom Fields Strategically

Custom Fields are one of the most powerful ways to help your Virtual Engagement Officer (VEO) deliver more personalized, relevant donor outreach.

While standard Portfolio File fields provide core information about a donor, Custom Fields allow you to share additional CRM context that helps the VEO better understand who someone is, what they care about, and how they engage with your organization.

This article provides recommendations for selecting high-impact Custom Fields and explains how the VEO uses them.

To set up custom fields:

Here is an article about Custom Fields that explains how to add them to your Portfolio File.

Custom fields are set up at the organizational level and are not portfolio-specific.

Please note that each organization is limited to 10 custom fields.

Think of Custom Fields as additional information the VEO knows about your donor

When selecting Custom Fields, ask yourself:

"What information would help a gift officer better understand this donor?"

The most effective Custom Fields provide meaningful context that can influence:

  • Content selection
  • Message personalization
  • Stewardship conversations
  • Two-way donor interactions

In general, Custom Fields should help answer questions such as:

  • What is this person's connection to our organization?
  • What topics might interest them?
  • How do they engage with us?
  • What giving behaviors or indicators are important to know?

How the VEO uses Custom Fields

The VEO primarily uses Custom Fields in two ways:

1. Content targeting

This is the most common use case.

In this scenario, the VEO uses Custom Fields behind the scenes to determine which content is most relevant for a donor.

The Custom Field value itself may never appear in the message, but it helps determine who receives the message.

Example

A university publishes an article about its Business School.

The VEO could prioritize that article for donors whose Custom Field indicates:

PRIMARY_DEGREE = Business     

The resulting message may never mention the degree itself, but the donor receives the message because the VEO knows it is likely relevant.

Similarly, a donor whose Custom Field indicates:

SPORTS_PLAYED = Soccer     

may receive content about athletics, student-athlete success, or alumni athletic events before someone who never participated in sports.

2. Variable data and personalization

Some Custom Fields can be used directly in donor-facing messages.

In these cases, the VEO incorporates the field value into outreach as a personalized detail.

Example: Class Year

Custom Field:

CLASS_YEAR = 1998     

Example message:

Hi Susan! It's Alex from Charles River University. As a member of the Class of 1998, you've seen firsthand how CRU helps students discover opportunities and build lifelong connections. I was curious—what's one memory from your time at Charles River University that still makes you smile today?

In this example, the Class Year becomes part of the message itself.

Affiliation vs. Custom Fields

We generally recommend using the AFFILIATION field for a donor's primary relationship to your organization.

Examples include:

  • Alumni
  • Volunteer
  • Board Member
  • Employee
  • Parent
  • Patient
  • Friend

Custom Fields should then be used to supplement that primary affiliation with additional information.

For example:

Affiliation Custom Fields
Alumni Class Year, Degree, Volunteer, Consecutive Years Giving
Volunteer Event Participation, Areas of Interest, Membership
Employee Department, Years of Service, Volunteer Activities
Patient Volunteer, Event Attendance, Consecutive Years Giving

This approach creates a more complete donor profile for the VEO.

The best Custom Fields vary by organization type, but some consistently provide strong personalization value.

Higher Education and Schools

Highly effective Custom Fields include:

  • Class Year
  • Primary Degree
  • School or College
  • Sports Played
  • Alumni Association Member (Y/N)
  • Planned Giving Indicator
  • DAF Indicator
  • Current Volunteer
  • Former Volunteer
  • Consecutive Years Giving
  • Event Attendee (Y/N)
  • Areas of Interest

Why these work

These fields help the VEO connect donors with:

  • Relevant campus news
  • Academic content
  • Athletic updates
  • Reunion activities
  • Volunteer opportunities
  • Stewardship messaging

Nonprofits

Highly effective Custom Fields include:

  • Volunteer
  • Membership Status
  • Giving Society Membership Status
  • Planned Giving Indicator
  • DAF Indicator
  • Newsletter Subscriber
  • Merchandise Purchaser
  • Consecutive Years Giving
  • Areas of Interest
  • Event Participation

Why these work

These fields help the VEO better understand how supporters engage beyond making donations.

Animal Rescues/Advocacy

Highly effective Custom Fields include:

  • Adopter
  • Foster
  • Volunteer
  • Event Participation
  • Membership
  • Planned Giving Indicator
  • DAF Indicator
  • Has Signed Petitions

Why these work

These fields help the VEO better understand how supporters engage with your mission and the animals in your care.

Event participation matters

For animal welfare organizations, the specific event attended is often more valuable than simply knowing someone attends events.

Examples:

  • Walk for Animals
  • Gala Attendee
  • Adoption Event Participant
  • Foster Appreciation Event

This helps the VEO connect donors to causes and experiences that are meaningful to them.

Healthcare Organizations

Important: Custom Fields should be limited to engagement and relationship data. Do not include protected health information (PHI), treatment details, diagnoses, procedures, or other sensitive medical information in Custom Fields submitted to Version2.

Highly effective Custom Fields include:

  • Grateful Patient (Y/N)
  • Former Patient (Y/N)
  • Caregiver or Family Member
  • Volunteer
  • Foundation Event Attendee
  • Planned Giving Indicator
  • DAF Indicator
  • Consecutive Years Giving
  • Areas of Interest
  • Most Recent Foundation Event Attended (You can add Event Date as a separate field if recency of event attendance is relevant to your organization)
  • Registration Status (for run/walk use case)

Why these work

Healthcare philanthropy is often deeply personal. These fields help the VEO better understand how a donor is connected to your organization and what aspects of the mission may be most meaningful to them.

For example:

  • A Grateful Patient may receive different stewardship content than a volunteer.
  • A gala attendee may receive future event-related content.
  • A long-time donor may receive stewardship that recognizes their years of support.

These fields help the VEO personalize outreach while respecting donor privacy.

Strong healthcare examples

Good examples:

  • GRATEFUL_PATIENT = Yes     
  • VOLUNTEER = Yes     
  • FOUNDATION_EVENT_ATTENDEE = Annual Gala     
  • CONSECUTIVE_YEARS_GIVING = 12     
  • PLANNED_GIVING_INDICATOR = Yes     

Avoid:

  • Diagnoses
  • Medical conditions
  • Procedures
  • Physician names
  • Treatment information
  • Clinical departments associated with care
  • Dates of service
  • Any other information that could be considered PHI

As a general rule, if the information would not typically be shared publicly by the donor themselves, it should not be included as a Custom Field.

Characteristics of strong Custom Fields

The best Custom Fields are:

  • Stable over time
  • Easy to maintain in your CRM
  • Meaningful to donor engagement
  • Relevant to future communications
  • Available for consistent export

Good Custom Fields help explain who a donor is and what they care about.

Characteristics of weak Custom Fields

Custom Fields are generally less effective when they:

  • Change constantly
  • Are difficult to maintain
  • Contain information the VEO cannot meaningfully use
  • Exist only for reporting purposes
  • Serve as exclusion flags
  • Contain data where each value needs to be defined

For example:

  • Internal codes
  • Temporary workflow statuses
  • Do Not Solicit flags
  • Do Not Email flags

Note: Custom Fields cannot be used for exclusion logic.

Start with quality over quantity

Organizations may include up to 10 Custom Fields, but more is not always better.

A few well-chosen fields often create more value than a large number of fields with limited relevance.

When evaluating a potential Custom Field, ask:

If a gift officer knew this about a donor, would it help them have a better conversation?

If the answer is yes, it may be a strong candidate.

Additional guidance

Custom Fields work best when they complement—not replace—the information already provided in the Portfolio File.

Use the AFFILIATION field to identify a donor's primary connection to your organization, then use Custom Fields to provide additional context that helps the VEO better personalize outreach, select content, and engage donors in more meaningful ways.

Need support?

If you would like guidance on selecting or implementing Custom Fields, please contact your Customer Success Manager or email version2support@givzey.com.

For technical setup requirements, field formatting rules, and submission instructions, please see the Custom Fields FAQ article.

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