How Does the NCOA Update Process Work?

Even the cleanest data can get stale over time. Over 60 million people and businesses in the United States move each year. With that in mind, it's no wonder that the address data in your database will need to be refreshed regularly to avoid sending mail to your supporters at the wrong address.

The easiest way to keep your addresses fresh is by running an NCOA update on your data. This article provides a detailed FAQ on the NCOA process.

Table of Contents

1. What is an NCOA Update?
2. What is the Difference between an NCOA, C-NCOA and PCOA+?
3. What Are The Steps To Process An NCOA?
4. Do I Need to Complete a Processing Acknowledgement Form?
5. Will I Get Results for Every Record I Submit?
6. How Long Does It Take?
7. Can I Append International Data?
8. Can I Review Results Before You Make The Update?
9. How Are We Billed?
10. What Is The Zip File Sent To Me After The NCOA Runs?
11. What If An Address I Know Is Correct Is Flagged As A Bad Address?

What is an NCOA Update?

NCOA, which stands for National Change of Address, is an automated process that matches name and address data of Contacts to the USPS National Change of Address file. The append process identifies new addresses for anyone who has moved and completed a permanent change of address form with the postal service within the last 4 years and adds this data to CRM+. Note that not everyone who moves fills out a change of address form with the US Postal Service, but most do.

Since this process is based on data provided by the US Postal Service, NCOA updates are only applicable for US addresses. We recommend focusing primarily on households, as opposed to Organizations or Foundations, as you will typically yield a better match for household data.

What is the Difference between an NCOA, C-NCOA and PCOA+?

While the PCOA+ append service searches for address information of your supporters like NCOAs and C-NCOAs, there are small differences between the three data appends.

• National Change of Address (NCOA): The NCOA looks at 4 years of change of address data and standardizes addresses for US Households. We recommend running an NCOA at least one time per year.
• Canadian National Change of Address (C-NCOA): The CNCOA looks at 4 years of change of address data and standardizes addresses for Canadian Households. We recommend running a CNCOA at least one time per year. PCOA+ appends are not available for Canadian households. Click here to learn more about C-NCOAs.
• Proprietary Change of Address (PCOA+): The PCOA+ looks at 35 years of change of address data, standardizes addresses, appends deceased information, and possible change of name information for US Households. We typically recommend the PCOA+ instead of an NCOA if you have not run an NCOA in several years.

If you are not sure which data append service is best for your organization, the Virtuous Professional Services team can help create a custom plan to support the hygiene of your database. The plan will vary based on your needs and may include running both an NCOA to the most relevant address updates and also a PCOA+ for additional addresses that were not picked up from the NCOA. To get started with a custom data append plan, open a support ticket with the Virtuous Support Team.  Click here to learn more about submitting support tickets.

What Are The Steps To Process An NCOA?

Follow these steps to request an NCOA Update:

1. Navigate to the Data Health screen and then click on the Addresses tab.
2. Select the Actions button on the right, click, and select Request NCOA.

3. This will bring up a form that allows you to view the pricing details and configure your NCOA request:

• Contact Query: To run an NCOA Update, you will need to select a saved Contact query that contains all of the records you'd like to submit to find potential address updates. We recommend the following:

  • Create a Contact Query in CRM+ and name it Data Append: NCOA. Filter for:
    • Contact Type > is> Household (as household data typically yields better results)
    • Address > is known
    • Country > Is > USA, US, or is blank
    • Any other groups you wish to exclude (e.g. deceased, included in recent NCOAs, Tagged with Do Not Mail or other exclusion Tags)
    • Additionally, we recommend only using Primary addresses and contact methods. Additional values can skew results.

  Once you select a Query, you'll see the number of Contact records included and the price quote for your NCOA update.

• Bad Address Tag(s): Admins will need to select a Tag to be associated with the NCOA runs, so each contact indicated as a bad address is flagged. Additionally, another tag will automatically be created for all NCOA runs to include the specific date of the NCOA bad address flag. This enables reporting based on all bad addresses (for instance, if three NCOAs were run this year) and allows for drilling down to a specific run using the system-generated tag by date.

  For instance, if your Bad Address Tag was "Bad Address," then the NCOA request would tag all bad addresses with "Bad Address" as well as "Bad Address NCOA 9/20/25." However, if you prefer to have only one tag, you can always delete one of the tags. Note: Only users with Admin permissions can create new tags.

• Contact Note Type: For records that do have an updated address, when Virtuous updates the address data, these updates will be tracked as Contact Notes. Select the Note Type to be used for these. We recommend creating a new custom Note Type to make it easy to query for updated records. The body of the note will say "NCOA Update: Moved/new address provided."
• Address Label: When new address information is available, the Virtuous team member will add the new address to a Contact as the Primary Address (the previous primary address will remain on the record, but will no longer be flagged as primary and will have an updated label of Previous Address). All addresses in Virtuous CRM+ must be identified with a label (i.e., Home, Work, Secret Mountain Lair). Enter a value to be used as the label for all new addresses created as part of the NCOA update. Your organization’s preference for address labels depends on how this information needs to be retained. Some organizations prefer labels that reflect the address type (Home, Business, Mailing.) Others use NCOA in address labels to indicate their confidence level in that specific address (NCOA Update mm/yy) or just to clean out older or questionable addresses. If you are unsure of which approach you wish to use for the address label, your designated support person can help make recommendations.
• Primary Address Action: These actions determine if the new address data will be added to the record or will replace the existing address.
  • Add: If a good new address is found, the new address will be added and set as the primary address. If no good new address is found, a Bad Address Tag will be added to the Contact record. The old address will remain primary, but we don’t recommend mailing to it.
  • Overwrite: If a good new address is found, the new address will replace the old one and become the primary address. If no good new address is found, a Bad Address Tag will be added to the Contact record. The old address will remain primary, but we don’t recommend mailing to it.

4. After you have selected the values for your NCOA update, click Request NCOA to submit your request for processing. This automatically opens a support ticket.
5. A member of the Virtuous Support team will contact you with an invoice for your request, if relevant, and any follow-up questions. The Virtuous team will check if your organization has an existing Processing Acknowledgement (PAF). If your organization’s PAF is new or expired, we will provide detailed next steps.
6. Once records are matched, the updates will be made to your CRM. The Virtuous team will notify you with your results, noting the number of Contacts submitted and the records that were successfully matched with new addresses. You'll be sent a zip file of the raw data containing line by line information on what was submitted, what was updated, and how it was updated to keep as a record.
7. After your NCOA update is made to CRM+, we recommend making the most of your new data by reviewing all Contacts Tagged with Bad Address to filter out of future mailings, reaching out to collect updated information, or to consider archiving the record.

Do I Need to Complete a Processing Acknowledgement Form?

In order to process your request, a member of the Virtuous Support team may contact you via email to request that you complete a Processing Acknowledgement Form (PAF) with an electronic signature prior to completing your update. The USPS requires this form for all organizations wishing to use NCOA data to update records. If you receive an email for the PAF, complete the following steps: 

1. Select the link in your email. This brings you to OnlinePAF.com.
2.  Here, select the I am the list owner button.
3. Enter Business Name and Address for your organization.
4. Enter the NAICS number. If you are unsure, use the search feature to look up the NAICS code for direct mail (e.g. 541860)
5. Enter your Name (first and last)
6. Agree to the terms and Submit. 

Will I Get Results for Every Record I Submit?

Yes. If an address update is available, it will be returned. Otherwise, the existing address will be standardized and validated.

How Long Does It Take?

Data appends typically take between 2-3 business days to process after the Support Ticket has been opened. Timing may vary based on weekends and holidays, if any questions arise, or if there is a delay in completing the PAF. 

Can I Append International Data?

No, this append only considers US data sources

Can I Review Results Before You Make The Update?

No. If the Virtuous team is making the NCOA update to CRM+, it is processed directly after the data is appended. If you would like to review it, our team can provide the raw data, but you will have to manually update yourself.

How Are We Billed?

NCOA updates validate all the data you submit and are priced starting at $295 for up to 100,000 records, with pricing scaling up for larger requests. Invoices will be processed by your Customer Success Manager. Click here to learn more about all the pricing for the Virtuous Data Services.

If your Virtuous subscription already includes a set number of data appends per year, you will not be billed. If you'd like to add data appends to your contract in the future, contact your CSM or reach out to customersuccess@virtuous.org.

What Is The Zip File Sent To Me After The NCOA Runs?

After the NCOA is processed and the updates are made to your CRM, you will be sent a zip file of the raw data containing line by line information on what was submitted, what was updated, and how it was updated. This zip file does not require any action, however, it may be helpful to use these files to spot check the updates the Virtuous team made to ensure all records have been updated correctly. Some organizations keep these files for a few months as a backup of their original data. These files include the following reports:

• Address Quality Report: Summary of how well your addresses matched USPS databases and highlights issues like invalid ZIP Codes or unconfirmed delivery points. It provides an overview of address cleanliness before NCOA updates were applied.
• CASS Report: The USPS-required certification showing your list was processed using CASS-certified software, which standardizes and validates addresses for postal discounts. It documents processing dates, software versions, and coding results for compliance purposes.This is often required by mailhouses and bulk mail processors. 
• Data Quality Summary: A high-level snapshot showing how many records were ZIP+4 coded, DPV confirmed, flagged as vacant, or matched through NCOA. It gives a quick overall scorecard of the hygiene of your address list.
• Layout Report: Explains the structure of the output NCOA file. It includes each field, its length, and what data it contains. It aligns directly with the CSV so the results can be correctly interpreted. It serves as a data dictionary for all standardized, DPV, and COA fields returned after processing.
• NCOALink Report: Provides details on all Change-of-Address (COA) matches, including how many moves were identified, what types (individual, family, business), and whether forwarding addresses were provided. It also includes return codes explaining why records did or did not match, and shows which addresses are deliverable versus recommended "do not mail."

What If An Address I Know Is Correct Is Flagged As A Bad Address?

When addresses are flagged as Bad Address during the NCOA process, it means the USPS database indicated an issue with that address at the time of the NCOA run. This doesn't necessarily mean the address is permanently incorrect. The USPS flags include Vacant, Moved with no forwarding address, or Unverifiable. These flags reflect USPS data at a specific point in time. However, situations change, and the USPS data may not reflect the current reality.

Understanding Address Verification in CRM+

When you manually type an address into CRM+, the system automatically verifies it and uses the same USPS data that NCOA relies on. This means if an address shows as invalid during NCOA processing, it will also be flagged when entering it manually in CRM+. In some cases, your donor may confirm their address is correct, but according to USPS records, it's flagged as invalid. This isn't a CRM+ issue but rather a discrepancy in the USPS database itself. While rare, this does happen occasionally.

If this invalid address warning occurs, you are still able to save this address. To help your team recognize that this address has been donor-verified, we recommend you create a custom Tag such as Verified Address or Exclude from NCOA and apply it to the record. This will signal to your team that it's safe to ignore the validation warning for this contact.

The NCOA process is still a valuable and reliable tool for maintaining your mailing list. This is just an unusual exception.

Need More Help?

Need hands-on help cleaning up your data? Virtuous Professional Services offers solutions to optimize your CRM data and improve data hygiene through deduplication, Pledge & Recurring Gift clean up, and data appends. These services are geared to improve your donor segmentation, streamline your marketing Campaigns, and ensure accurate reporting. Click here to learn more about our Professional Services offerings, or contact your Customer Success Manager to get started!