Migrate from MRI Software to Mailchimp

MRI tenant contacts map directly to Mailchimp members within the target audience. Each tenant gets a member record with email, name, and address fields populated from MRI. Lease metadata is carried as merge fields rather than as a separate object.

MRI owner contacts map to Mailchimp members with an OWNER tag applied. Property-owner relationships are not natively represented in Mailchimp — we use tags to distinguish owner contacts from tenant contacts so campaign segmentation remains viable. This ensures owner-specific messaging can be targeted without impacting tenant communications.

MRI vendor contacts (maintenance contractors, service providers) map to Mailchimp members with a VENDOR tag. Vendor email addresses are included in the migration so property-to-vendor communications can be initiated from Mailchimp if needed. These contacts can be used for maintenance alerts, invoice delivery, and service announcements.

MRI property records — name, type, address, unit count — have no direct equivalent in Mailchimp. We merge these into member-level merge fields: PROPERTY_NAME, PROPERTY_TYPE, and address fields on the member record. Multiple properties per contact are handled via additional merge fields or tag logic.

MRI lease data (start date, end date, monthly rent, deposit) is extracted per contact and written as Mailchimp merge fields. Active versus expired lease status is carried as a LEASE_STATUS value-mapping field. Lease details cannot be stored as a related object in Mailchimp — they flatten onto the member record.

MRI's contact type discriminator is translated into Mailchimp tags applied at import time. Tags are additive — a contact with multiple roles in MRI receives multiple tags in Mailchimp. Tags drive segmentation for campaign sends targeting specific audience segments. Allowing precise filtering for property-related announcements.

MRI unit identifiers and unit types (studio, 1-bedroom, 2-bedroom, etc.) map to a UNIT_NUMBER and UNIT_TYPE merge field on the Mailchimp member. This enables campaign personalization by unit type, which is common for rentincrease or maintenance broadcast communications. Allowing targeted messaging based on specific unit characteristics.

MRI lease financial fields — monthly rent and security deposit — migrate as currency-formatted merge fields. Mailchimp does not perform financial calculations; these fields are stored as reference values for merge-tag personalization in email content rather than for reporting. To support dynamic content like rent reminders and lease renewal notices.

MRI records each contact's create and last-modified timestamp. Mailchimp's native timestamps reflect the migration import date, not the original MRI record creation date. We preserve the MRI create date as a custom ORIG_CREATED merge field for audit continuity. This ensures historical data integrity across systems.

MRI's internal record identifier is stored on the Mailchimp member as MRI_CONTACT_ID. This enables delta-run deduplication on subsequent migrations and traceability back to the source MRI record for reconciliation. The ID also supports rollback workflows and cross-referencing during data validation.