This page describes what you should record when adding a new donation. This page describes only the fields on the Main tab of the page. Fields at the top of the screen, above the tabs are required to be filled in before the donation can be saved. The rest of the fields on this screen are optional but by no means unimportant.
To add a new donation, select the Add button from the toolbar, then select Gift. The New Donation screen opens.
Required Donation Fields
Batch
- Enter the Batch Name and hit the Enter key. If you do not know the Batch name, click the Batch button to open the Batch search box. You may select just the Search button and all open batches will be displayed.
- Double-click the appropriate batch or add a new batch. For more information on Adding a Batch, please refer to this article on Adding a Batch.
- Once the batch is added or found, the data entry field is replaced with a hyperlink field that links to the existing batch.
Click on the hyperlink to open the Batch Details screen in a new browser tab.
Donor
- After entering your batch, enter the appropriate search parameters for the Donor, such as Last or Organization Name and First Name into the Donor field. If the parameters such as the Last Name are not known, you may use the * as a wildcard or select the Search button. If there is an exact match, Salsa CRM will populate the Donor field using the returned name.
- If there is not an exact match, a list of possible matches is returned in the Constituent Search window. Double click on the desired donor. If only one constituent matches the parameters, that constituent will automatically be selected and the Constituent Search dialog box will close. If there is no match, select the Add button and enter a new constituent following the steps in the Add New Constituent article. Once the donor is added or found, the data entry field is replaced with a hyperlink field that links to the existing donor's constituent record.
- Click the Anonymous checkbox if the donor wants their donation to report as anonymous. The donation record will still list the constituent as the primary donor but the List As field will display as Anonymous rather than the donor’s name. The individual’s constituent record will still reflect the donation. It is important when printing donor lists for your various printed materials whether you are referencing the donor or the List As Name. Most internal reports reference the donor and not the List As Name.
NOTE: If the donor also wishes to be completely anonymous, we recommend that you create an individual Constituent with the word Anonymous in the first and last name fields. Assign any completely anonymous donations to that constituent record.
Co-Donor(s)
The Co-Donor field is a Smart Search field. If a Co-Donor is associated with this donation, with your cursor in the Co-Donor field select the Enter key on your keyboard. The majority of the time Co-Donors are related to the donor; if there are any relations associated with the Donor they will return in the constituent search box. You may also search for the Co-Donor following the same steps you used for adding a donor. In this example, husband and wife, Dr. Jones & Mrs. Bolton have made a donation.
NOTE: if in error, you selected the wrong co-donor, click the Co-Donor button and from the menu select Remove Link.
List As Name
The List As name field is populated with corresponding information from the Donor and Co-Donor entered on the donation. This is typically how you would want to format your donor information when listing donors. For example, a list of donors in your annual report, quarterly newsletter, website, etc.
NOTE: The configuration of the List As name field can be set by going to Manage, Configuration, and on the General screen selecting the tab, Salutation Preferences. Please refer to Salutation Preferences article for more information. Unless otherwise indicated in the Salutation Preferences settings, Salsa CRM will use the default List As name.
Donation Amount
Enter the donation Amount. In this example, the donors have donated $100.
Received Date
Enter the Received Date by typing the date or select the Calendar button.
NOTE: It is recommended that you enter the date on which the donation was actually received at your organization so that the donor is credited appropriately, for example, for year-end giving.
Fund(s)
Select the Fund. If you need to divide the donation into multiple funds select the Split button. A list of all Funds currently active in Salsa CRM will be displayed. Check the Include box for each of the Funds you wish to include. Our donors stated that they want their donation to be split equally between the Building Fund and the Capital Fund.
Salsa CRM will automatically distribute the donation evenly across all Funds. If you wish to modify the amount applied to each fund, select the amount you wish to modify for that Fund and type a new Amount.
At the bottom of the Split Fund screen, Salsa CRM will display the Total amount presently allocated and the Remaining amount to allocate. Once the entire donation has been allocated, select OK.
NOTE: The OK button cannot be selected until 100% of the donation has been allocated. If the allocated amount was entered in error, the Allocated Amount and the Remaining Balance will be in red if it does not equal the donation amount. If the allocated balance is greater than the donation the amount will appear as shown below. Correct the amount and click OK to close the window.
Payment Type
Select the drop-down arrow in the Payment drop down box and select the appropriate payment type. Payment types include...
- Check—Include Check Number and Check Date as required fields for this entry.
- Cash
- Credit Card—A Salsa Merchant Services account is required to charge cards within Salsa CRM. See Entering a Credit Card Donation for information on entering credit card information. If entering transactions manually because they were charged via another merchant source, include the following as required fields for this entry:
- Card Type (Visa, Mastercard, Discover, American Express, etc.)
- Last 4 digits of the account number.
- Expiration Date (format: MMYYYY or MMYY)
- Authorization Code
- Gift In Kind—These donations include silent auction gifts or gifts of food, clothing, etc. Include Gift In Kind Description as a required field for this entry. NOTE: See the Gift in Kind information article on how to enter an in-kind donation as Inventory.
- Wire Transfer—This entry is typically used when transferring large donations. Include Wire Transfer Description as a required field for this entry.
- Payroll Deduction—Typically this is one transaction that represents many individual donations or pledge payments. Include a Payroll Deduction Description as a required field for this entry.
- Stock—Use this entry when someone donates gifts of corporate stock or securities and include the required Stock Name. The value is simply based on what the stock or other security sold for on the exchange on the day of the donation (use the average price between the highest and lowest quoted selling prices on the donation date).
- Other—Include Other Payment Description as a required field for this entry.
- Pledge—Pledges are promises to pay a certain amount over a defined period of time. For example, a donor might pledge $4800 to be paid over four years, by installments of $100 per month. Pledges can be conditional, meaning payment comes due only when a condition is met or unconditional where there are no strings attached. Pledges need further details like the total amount of the pledge, the payment frequency, and whether it will be paid by credit card or not. Please see the section on adding a pledge for more information.
- Recurring—Recurring transactions are credit card transactions that happen repeatedly on a set schedule. Recurring transactions need further details like the total amount of the pledge, the payment frequency, and the card that will be charged. Please see the section on adding a recurring transaction for more information.
NOTE: Recurring credit card transactions should not be confused with Recurring Batch Templates.
Optional Donation Fields
Soft Credit
Soft Credit is credit that is given to a constituent (individual or organization) that made the donation happen, but did not pay out the funds. If an employee has an employer who matches a donation, the employee gets soft credit for the matching portion that the employer pays.
For example, if someone donates $100 and they're the only donor, they are recorded as the primary donor and will receive credit for 1 donation of $100. If their company then pledges to match double that gift, their company will be the primary donor of the matching $200 gift, and the original donor will receive Soft Credit of 1 other gift for $200.
Enter any Soft Credit(s) in the same manner you entered the Donor.
Donation Solicitor
- Enter the name of the person who made the ask by selecting the Solicitor. This will allow you to search for the solicitor’s name as you would any donor. The solicitor is the person who made the “ask” of the donor.
NOTE: If the name of the current Salsa CRM user is appearing as the Solicitor, close the donation screen and then go to the My Settings screen. Click on the Other tab. On that screen, uncheck the option at the bottom of the screen, ‘Automatically set the current user as the Donation Solicitor’.
Honor/Memorial Gifts
Salsa CRM allows you to enter and track donations made in honor of or in memory of someone. Please review this documentation on adding tributes.
Online Dedications
With Engage, we provide you with a form field that allows your supporters to make a tribute donation, or a donation in honor or in-memoriam of someone.
If you wish to manage that tribute data in the CRM, you can address those donations in the Unresolved Dedication queue.
Matching Gifts
Many employers sponsor matching gift programs and will match charitable contributions made by their employees. Salsa CRM provides you with a way to define an organization's program policy and how foundations can track those matching donations. Salsa CRM provides reports identifying the current match rate that you are collecting and the ability to project higher collection percentages.
If this donation is to be matched by another donor, record who that other donor is with this Matching field. Enter the Matching constituent in the same manner you entered the Donor.
Donation Documents
You may select the Document button if you wish to associate a document, such as a check that has been scanned into an electronic image file, with this donation. The Select Document Source dialog box appears. Select the document from where it was stored on your hard drive or network.
Campaigns and Appeals
Choose the Campaign and Appeal as needed. Each campaign or appeal is independent of the Fund(s).
Campaigns are large-scale fundraising events, such as a capital campaign when you are raising money for buildings, land, etc., or a Golf Tournament. These donations fund the activities of the foundation, or the Funds defined above.
Appeals are individual activities within a Campaign, such as the 'Spring annual appeal letter' within the Annual Campaign, or 'Registrations' within the Golf Tournament, or a 'Buy a Brick' event for the Capital Campaign. Think of them as 'sub-campaigns'.
Deductible Amount
When you enter a new donation, the Deductible field automatically populates with the same amount you entered into the Amount. However, you can adjust that field manually or CRM will automatically change that amount based on items assigned with the Assign Incentives button.
Assign Incentives
Your organization may offer incentives for donations, like thank-you gifts for supporting public television. The Assign Incentives button tracks assignment of that thank-you gift within the Donation record.
- Click the Assign Incentives button. The Stock window appears, containing all available Inventory items.
- Click once on the row that contains the item to assign to the donor.
- Click the Assign button in the bottom right. The Checkout window appears. Do not click the Add button in that same area. That is to add new inventory. The primary donor should be listed in the Assigned To button at the top of this screen.
- Click Save in the bottom right corner of this screen.
- The inventory item has been assigned but the donation record deductible amount has remained the same. Click the Calculate button next to the Deductible Amount to deduct the Value of the gift(s) from the Deductible Amount of the donation.
- Save your donation record.
The Incentives tab describes what items were previously entered into inventory and are now assigned to the primary donor to be delivered to them.
Gift Acknowledgment Letters
Gift acknowledgment letters or receipts will either be printable or emailable. When you Preview the letter you will either print it or email it to the recipient.
If you have selected a Summary Letter or Summary Receipt, please see the article on Summary Letters and Summary Receipts.
NOTE: In order to send an email to the donor, the donor must have a valid email address on their constituent record.
Once you Save the donation, you may choose Preview (magnifying glass) to read or to edit the thank you document. Print your mailed letters from that screen as well.
If you are previewing an email that you have configured to have an attachment, you will see an Action Required pop-up appear. This will allow you to view the Email Content and/or Attachment.
NOTE: If you have the Word Processor option set to ‘Use Salsa CRM’s built-in word processor’, and are trying to preview, print or send a thank you letter that was not created using the built-in Word Processor, Salsa CRM will display the Unsupported Document Type window.
NOTE: These letters and emails are form letters created in Salsa CRM’s Word Processor; please refer to the Salsa CRM's Built-in Word Processor article for more information on configuring form letters.
PRO TIP: If you do not want to print each letter or send each email individually, you can print or send them all at once by going to Manage on the main menu and selecting Batches. Please refer to the article on Batch Management for more information.
The Sent field will automatically populate with the date the letter was printed or the email sent, signifying that the letter has been printed or the email sent.
Receipts
The Receipt field is used in the same manner as the Letter field, except that it was specifically designed to accommodate our Canadian clients and the different receipting rules in Canada.
Create the receipt templates as form letters or email documents and identify them as a receipt type of document. On the Form Letters & Receipts Configuration screen, when adding a receipt as a form document, you can select if the Receipt is to be Tax Deductible or Non-Tax Deductible. For more information on setting Receipts as form letters, please refer to the Form Letter & Receipts Configuration article.
If you choose to select a receipt for the donation, when you Save the donation, a Receipt Number number appears next to the Receipt Sent field. This is a unique ID number, similar to the Donation ID on each donation record. The Receipt Number is generated from the corresponding range configured on the Receipts tab in Configuration.
TIP: If you do not set up the Receipts Configuration screen, the first time you try to print a receipt, you will get a popup if you try to add a donation, or assign a receipt to an existing donation. If you see this error, someone with Configuration permissions will need to update the appropriate configuration screen.
NOTE: You are able to query on this information, as there is a specific query for Receipt Numbers. In the results of the query, the Available Field Action lists one of these three action types: Delete (indicating this donation was previously deleted), New (indicating this as a new donation) and Reverse (indicating that this donation was reversed).
Once you have selected a Receipt, printed the Receipt and saved the donation, the chosen Receipt and Sent Date are ‘locked down’ to prevent any future changes to this information. NOTE: Any modifications made to the Receipt after it has been printed or sent will be saved but not update the receipt.
Acknowledge
If this gift is an honorary or memorial gift and you would like to send a letter to the honoree or family of the person being memorialized, you will want to leave the Acknowledge checkbox selected. This prompts the Acknowledgment Wizard to include these letters the next time you run the Acknowledgment Wizard. Please refer to the Acknowledgment Wizard article for more information.
Save the Donation
If this is the only donation you have to enter select the Save button. If there are other donations to process, as when processing web donations, select the Save and Next button, it will automatically bring up the next donation. The Save and New button will save the current donation and open a new donation screen with the previous batch, fund, appeal, and campaign pre-populated.
NOTE: De-selecting the Allow Donation back-dating checkbox (on the Manage, Configuration, General screen) will cause the Received Date on the donation screen to become inaccessible. Once you have entered the donation and saved it, the payment, donor, fund, campaign and appeal fields on the donation record all become inaccessible as well.