SmartyStreets integration now live!

Ever wish you could just type someone’s street and ZIP Code information within LGL and get a full address nicely populated (not to mention CASS-certified)? Now you can, with help from SmartyStreets.  SmartyStreets “makes address verification easy” and best of all, it has an excellent API and provides a free account with unlimited use to non-profit organizations.

What does SmartyStreets do? 

SmartyStreets provides address verification, or address validation, which is used to determine the deliverability of a specific address. During the address verification process, addresses are cleaned and standardized according to USPS guidelines. Spelling mistakes are corrected, and the standard 5-digit ZIP Code is expanded to the more precise ZIP+4 Code. This process can be used to qualify for discounts on bulk mailings.

How does the integration with LGL work?

Once you set up integration with SmartyStreets, you can get access to the verification tools whenever you are adding or editing a constituent mailing address. You can type the full address with information in each field, and then click the “Verify” button to check its accuracy/validity, or you can just type all the information in the Street field. SmartyStreets really is smart, and does a great job parsing that into a real address. You can also enable automatic updates to your addresses, if desired. With this option enabled, LGL will work its way through all your existing data and update/clean/verify any unambiguous and verifiable addresses.

Image: Example of an address that’s been cleaned up and verified by SmartyStreets.

Note: SmartyStreets’ address verification services will let you know if a specific address is real and deliverable, but it doesn’t confirm who is living at the address. According to SmartyStreets, verifying occupants is quite difficult to do with a high degree of accuracy, and it is not a part of the service. However, the US Postal Service maintains a list of people who have submitted a change of address form, called the National Change Of Address (NCOA) registry. There are several services who will perform NCOA services, including PeachTree Data, as mentioned in SmartyStreets’ FAQ.

To learn how you can set up this integration in your Little Green Light account, please visit our Knowledge Base.

Interested in trying LGL? Set up a free 30-day trial account to see how LGL can help you organize all your donors and your fundraising activites in our easy-to-use, affordable, cloud-based system.