# Direct Contacts

A **Direct Contact** in PEARS tracks the people you reached through direct education during a specific time period. Each record captures the unit, program areas, communication methods used, and demographic data of the people contacted.

## Getting Started

To access Direct Contacts, hover over the **Engage** menu in the top navigation bar and click **Direct Contacts**. The Direct Contacts list displays all of your records with options to search, filter, sort, and create new entries.

![Screenshot: The Direct Contacts list view showing the records table with columns for reporting period, date range, unit, program areas, and status, along with the search bar, filters, and Add Direct Contact button](https://2560412328-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2Ff0820LrBGQ9ZA8SC4BR1%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-0108b36bcef14bd7dccbeadf42e75aae01cff2de%2Fdirect-contacts-list-view.png?alt=media)

## Workflow

Creating a complete direct contact record involves several steps:

{% stepper %}
{% step %}

#### General Information

Enter the reporting period, unit, program areas, and other basic details.

[Create a Direct Contact](https://support.pears.io/engage/direct-contacts/create-a-direct-contact)
{% endstep %}

{% step %}

#### Demographics

Enter the number of people contacted and their demographic breakdown by communication method, gender, age, ethnicity, and race.

[Add Demographics Data](https://support.pears.io/engage/direct-contacts/add-demographics-data)
{% endstep %}

{% step %}

#### Mark as Complete

Once all required sections are finished, mark the direct contact as complete.

[Mark a Direct Contact as Complete](https://support.pears.io/engage/direct-contacts/mark-a-direct-contact-as-complete)
{% endstep %}
{% endstepper %}

{% hint style="info" %}
**TIP:** Each unit can have only one direct contact record per date range and reporting period. If a record already exists for your unit and date range, you will need to edit the existing record instead of creating a new one.
{% endhint %}


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