Merging duplicate organization records combines two records into one. The organization you keep is the master, and the organization you merge from is the source. After the merge, Rhythm deletes the source and updates every record in every Rhythm application that pointed to it, so those records point to the master instead. Like a contact merge, you cannot undo an organization merge.
Before You Begin
Prerequisites
- You need the organization merge permission. Staff with the power-user or administrator role have it by default. If you do not have this permission, the Merge option is disabled.
- Before you merge two organizations that look like the same company, review their history. Check whether either record was already merged or deleted, then decide which organization ID is the authoritative one to keep before you merge, remove, or escalate anything.
- If the organizations still need to be billed or paid separately, do not merge them yet. Bill or invoice each organization on its own first, then merge them after that separate billing is complete.
Starting a Merge
- Open the organization you want to merge. Rhythm uses this organization as the source that will be deleted by default, but you can change it in the next step.
- Select Organization Options, then Merge.
- In the Merge Organization dialog, confirm or change Source Organization (will be deleted):, and choose Merge Source Organization Into (Master Record): — the organization that will remain.
- Select Start Merge Wizard.
The dialog reminds you that Rhythm will delete the source organization and update every reference to point to the master. Both fields are required, and Rhythm shows an error if you choose the same organization for both.
Resolving Conflicts
The next page shows each field where the two organizations have different values. Rhythm never shows the organization identifier as a choice. The master appears under MASTER RECORD, with the source shown beside it.
- For each row, choose whether the master keeps its current value or uses the source's value. Each row defaults to the master's value when it has one, and to the source's value when the master's value is empty.
- Select Merge Organizations.
- Confirm the warning: "Merging these organizations is irreversible and cannot be undone." Select Perform Organization Merge to continue.
Warning
Organization merges do not include a preview step like contact merges do. The conflict grid and confirmation are your only review before the merge runs. When you leave a field on the master side, the master keeps exactly what it already had. Only fields where you choose the source are changed.
Result
A success message confirms that the organizations were merged, and Rhythm takes you to the master record page. The source organization no longer exists, and records in other applications that referred to it now point to the master.
Warning
For a while after a merge, the deleted source organization can still appear in universal search results or in an organization picker's suggestions because the shared search index has not caught up yet. If you select one of these stale entries, Rhythm returns an error because the underlying record is gone. This does not mean the merge failed; it is a lingering, orphaned search entry. The same thing can happen to any organization record that no longer exists but has not yet been cleared from the index, not only right after a merge. If a stale entry keeps appearing, contact support so it can be removed from the index.
What Happens to Related Records
During the merge, Rhythm updates every application record that pointed to the source organization, such as memberships, registrations, and other application-specific records, so it points to the master. If both organizations had an accreditation in the same program, Rhythm combines the two accreditations into one. Visits, reports, and teams attached to either accreditation are then repointed to the surviving accreditation.
On the organization record itself, Rhythm keeps nothing from the source unless you choose it on the conflict grid. If you leave every row on the master side, the source's different values are deleted with the source organization. The source's own history and activities are not carried over to the master either way; only the field values you choose on the conflict grid come across. Because the source record is deleted and cannot be recovered, anything you did not choose to keep is gone once the merge completes.
Tip
If a child organization's parent link looks stale after a merge, for example a membership edit for that child fails while referencing a parent organization that no longer exists, removing and re-adding the current child organization under the correct parent has been reported to restore the relationship.
Using This to Fix a Duplicate or a Rename Gone Wrong
If your association has two organization records for the same company, such as when a rename created a second record instead of updating the first, merge them to consolidate the records without breaking anything else in Rhythm that points to either one. Keep the organization you want to preserve as the master, and merge the other organization into it as the source. During the merge, references to the source update automatically.
If more than two organization records represent the same company, merge them one pair at a time into the record you want to keep. You cannot merge more than two organizations in a single operation.
Tip
A duplicate organization record is an easy-to-miss reason a membership report shows a blank or zero amount paid for an otherwise active membership. The payment may be attached to a different record for the same company than the one the report returned. If you see that pattern, check for a duplicate organization CRM record before assuming the payment data itself is missing.
If the Merge Fails
If Rhythm cannot load either organization or cannot complete the merge, you see a message explaining the failure. The page stays on the conflict grid with your choices intact, so you can try again. As with a contact merge, if the failure happens partway through moving other applications' records, some of those records may already have been repointed before the failure occurred.
Warning
Some merge failures show only a generic message, such as an unknown error, and do not explain the real cause. If that happens, contact Support and explain what you were doing. The specific cause, such as a field the wizard could not render or a backend validation problem, sometimes appears only in browser console output or logs, not on the page itself.
- The wizard reports it cannot render a field, such as
other_addresses, or shows an unknown error. You cannot work around this from the conflict grid. Contact Support; they may need to complete the merge manually. - You see a failure message, but the source organization is gone when you check for it. The merge may have completed even though you saw an error. Search for the source organization before retrying, so you do not attempt the merge again on an organization that no longer exists.
- The failure happens during conflict resolution with an unclear or generic message. This can happen when the page does not show a specific, actionable cause. Contact Support with the organizations involved so they can look into the specific failure.
Related Reading
Merging contacts follows a similar process and includes an added preview step. See Merge Duplicate Contacts. Changing an organization's status or type, or deleting one without merging, is covered in its own article.