Getting started

Learn what contacts are, how to navigate the module, and how to add and manage your records.

Contacts vs. Investors: What's the difference?

A contact is an individual record in Carta CRM — a person, not a company or fund. Contacts are the people your team interacts with: bankers, attorneys, portfolio company executives, advisors, and limited partners. Unlike Deal or Investor records, a contact captures the person's professional identity: their name, email, job title, organization, and relationship history with your firm.

Contacts are available in both Deal CRM and LP CRM configurations. In LP CRM, contacts can also function as investor contacts — individual LPs who have committed to your funds.

Navigating the Contacts module

To access Contacts, navigate to:

Carta CRM › People

Your contacts are organized by list. Switch between lists in the left sidebar, search your full directory, or apply filters to find a specific segment of your network.

Key navigation elements

Contact lists (left panel): Select a list to filter the contact table to that segment. Lists group contacts by relationship type — for example, LP – Family Office or Advisors.
Search bar: Search by name, email, or organization across all lists. Results update in real time.
Filters: Filter by field value — for example, by organization, tier, or any custom field your firm has configured.

Adding a contact

There are two ways to add a contact in Carta CRM — Automatic and Manual. Both are accessed from the same entry point.

Go to Contacts: Select Contacts from the left navigation.
Click + Add Contact: Select the button in the top right of the contact table. A modal will open with two tabs: Automatic and Manual.

Automatic

Use Automatic when you want Carta to find and pre-fill the contact's details from their name.

Search by name: Type the contact's name in the search field and click Search. Carta will return matching results from enrichment data.
Select the contact: Click the correct result. Carta will auto-populate available fields — name, title, organization, LinkedIn, and more.
Click Save: Review the pre-filled details and click Save.

Manual

Use Manual when you want to enter the contact's details yourself, or when Automatic doesn't return a match.

Switch to the Manual tab: Click Manual in the modal header.
Enter the contact's details: At minimum, enter a first name and last name. These fields are recommended for full enrichment:
- Email 1 (primary email)
- Primary location
- LinkedIn profile link
Click Save: Click Save in the bottom right of the modal. If an email address was provided, Carta CRM will automatically begin enriching the contact's profile in the background.

Editing a contact

To edit a contact:

Open the contact: Go to Contacts and click the contact's name to open the record.
Click Edit: Select the Edit button in the bottom right of the contact modal.
Make your changes: Update any fields as needed — name, email, title, location, work experience, and more.
Click Save: Click Save to apply your changes.

Contact fields reference

Carta CRM organizes contact data into three categories: native fields built into the platform, custom fields configured by your firm, and enrichment data populated automatically from a contact's email address.

Native fields

These fields are available on every contact record without any configuration required.

<table style="width:100%; border-collapse:collapse; font-family:'Plus Jakarta Sans', sans-serif;"> <thead> <tr style="background:#f0f0f0;"> <th style="text-align:left; padding:10px 12px; border:1px solid #ddd;">Field</th> <th style="text-align:left; padding:10px 12px; border:1px solid #ddd;">Description</th> <th style="text-align:left; padding:10px 12px; border:1px solid #ddd;">Notes</th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td style="padding:9px 12px; border:1px solid #ddd;"><code>firstName</code></td> <td style="padding:9px 12px; border:1px solid #ddd;">Contact's first (given) name</td> <td style="padding:9px 12px; border:1px solid #ddd;">Required</td> </tr> <tr style="background:#fafafa;"> <td style="padding:9px 12px; border:1px solid #ddd;"><code>lastName</code></td> <td style="padding:9px 12px; border:1px solid #ddd;">Contact's last (family) name</td> <td style="padding:9px 12px; border:1px solid #ddd;">Required</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="padding:9px 12px; border:1px solid #ddd;"><code>middleName</code></td> <td style="padding:9px 12px; border:1px solid #ddd;">Middle name</td> <td style="padding:9px 12px; border:1px solid #ddd;">Optional</td> </tr> <tr style="background:#fafafa;"> <td style="padding:9px 12px; border:1px solid #ddd;"><code>emailDetail</code></td> <td style="padding:9px 12px; border:1px solid #ddd;">Primary email address</td> <td style="padding:9px 12px; border:1px solid #ddd;">Triggers auto-enrichment when provided</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="padding:9px 12px; border:1px solid #ddd;"><code>emailDetailSecond</code></td> <td style="padding:9px 12px; border:1px solid #ddd;">Secondary email address</td> <td style="padding:9px 12px; border:1px solid #ddd;"></td> </tr> <tr style="background:#fafafa;"> <td style="padding:9px 12px; border:1px solid #ddd;"><code>phone</code></td> <td style="padding:9px 12px; border:1px solid #ddd;">Primary phone number</td> <td style="padding:9px 12px; border:1px solid #ddd;"></td> </tr> <tr> <td style="padding:9px 12px; border:1px solid #ddd;"><code>businessPhone</code></td> <td style="padding:9px 12px; border:1px solid #ddd;">Business / office phone</td> <td style="padding:9px 12px; border:1px solid #ddd;"></td> </tr> <tr style="background:#fafafa;"> <td style="padding:9px 12px; border:1px solid #ddd;"><code>title</code></td> <td style="padding:9px 12px; border:1px solid #ddd;">Job title</td> <td style="padding:9px 12px; border:1px solid #ddd;">E.g., Managing Director, Partner</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="padding:9px 12px; border:1px solid #ddd;"><code>headline</code></td> <td style="padding:9px 12px; border:1px solid #ddd;">Professional summary</td> <td style="padding:9px 12px; border:1px solid #ddd;">Sentence-length bio, distinct from title</td> </tr> <tr style="background:#fafafa;"> <td style="padding:9px 12px; border:1px solid #ddd;"><code>jobs</code></td> <td style="padding:9px 12px; border:1px solid #ddd;">Employment history</td> <td style="padding:9px 12px; border:1px solid #ddd;">Includes company name and title per role</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="padding:9px 12px; border:1px solid #ddd;"><code>tags</code></td> <td style="padding:9px 12px; border:1px solid #ddd;">Free-form labels applied to the contact</td> <td style="padding:9px 12px; border:1px solid #ddd;">Array of strings</td> </tr> <tr style="background:#fafafa;"> <td style="padding:9px 12px; border:1px solid #ddd;"><code>notes</code></td> <td style="padding:9px 12px; border:1px solid #ddd;">Internal team notes</td> <td style="padding:9px 12px; border:1px solid #ddd;">Visible to all CRM users</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="padding:9px 12px; border:1px solid #ddd;"><code>socialLinks</code></td> <td style="padding:9px 12px; border:1px solid #ddd;">LinkedIn URL and other social profiles</td> <td style="padding:9px 12px; border:1px solid #ddd;"></td> </tr> <tr style="background:#fafafa;"> <td style="padding:9px 12px; border:1px solid #ddd;"><code>location</code></td> <td style="padding:9px 12px; border:1px solid #ddd;">City, state, country</td> <td style="padding:9px 12px; border:1px solid #ddd;">E.g., New York, NY, USA</td> </tr> </tbody> </table>

Custom fields

Your firm may have additional fields configured during implementation — for example, a Contact Type classification (LP, Advisor, Banker, Portfolio Staff) or a Priority field to indicate how actively your team tracks a given person. These appear in the contact record alongside native fields. Custom fields are firm-specific and vary by configuration.

How to Add, Edit, and Manage Contacts in Carta CRM